Putting something away for sunny days

(mark wilson/globe staff)

Economists have hundreds of technical terms to describe how markets work and consumers spend their money. We'll add another: the Wine Buying Horizon. Consumers with a really short WBH buy wine on their way home from work to drink with supper that night.

Not everyone has the interest or means to buy wine to lay down for a decade or so - that would constitute a really long WBH - but expanding your horizon to encompass a single season makes lots of sense. Here's why.

First, buying seasonally puts your wine buying in tune with changes in your kitchen and at your table. Right about now, as local vegetables are making their welcome appearance and grills come out of storage, menus are lightening up. So should your wine. Pick a versatile white and red and buy enough (a case or two of each) to last a couple of months. By late summer, you'll be ready for something new.

This approach will give you a lot less to think about come suppertime - plus, we'd be surprised if going down into your basement, instead of the wine shop, to retrieve a bottle doesn't leave you feeling more like a seasoned enthusiast and less like a feckless newbie.

Stretching out your WBH has other benefits. For one thing, you'll buy the same wine for 10 or 20 percent less, since you'll be buying case lots. For another, your wine shop will almost certainly begin to hold you in higher regard. You might even get a call when a particularly juicy close-out comes along: one-bottle-at-a-time types never will.

In keeping with this seasonal approach, this month's focus is on bright, versatile, summer-weight whites - the kind you can start out tasting as an aperitif on the back porch and later enjoy with a salad of local greens and a piece of grilled fish or chicken. It's a particularly fresh and racy group, one that will do you proud right through a summer of alfresco eating, and - who knows? - maybe even help make sense of the Federal Reserve's last move.

Villa Antinori IGT Toscana 2006. Pleasing, round, crisp, apple-pear fruit with an anise note and interesting mineral elements; lively acidity; a real charmer. Around $12. At Wollaston Wine and Spirits, Quincy, 617-479-4433; Macy's Wine & Spirits, West Roxbury, 617-325-9200; Atlas Liquors, Medford, 781-391-0410.

Cave de Saumur "Les Pouches" Saumur 2007. A Plonkapalooza favorite in a richer, fatter vintage; fragrant sweet peach aromas and flavors; cushy and ripe in the mouth; acidity a trifle low but still refreshing. Around $12. At Winestone, Chestnut Hill, 617-264-0393; Charles St. Liquors, Boston, 617-523-5051; Joppa Fine Foods, Newburyport, 978-462-4662.

Cantele IGT Salento Chardonnay 2006. Bright, crisp, fresh apple-y fruit with fine zip and a super clean finish. Around $10. At Vintages, Belmont, 617-484-4560; Curtis Liquors, South Weymouth, 781-331-2345; Gordon's Fine Wine, Waltham, 781-893-1900.

Kremser Weinzierl Kremstal Gruner Veltliner 2006. Nice, big, satisfying mouthful of fruit here; some good grüner character, soil flavors, and appealingly brisk acidity; scant 11.5 degrees of alcohol will prove ideal at brunch, lunch, or when pulled from a picnic basket. Full litre bottle. Around $11. At Lower Falls Wine, Newton, 617-332-3000; Concord Cheese Shop, Concord, 978-369-5778; Fine Wine Cellars of Chestnut Hill, 617-232-1020.

Semino "La Colombera" Colli Tortonesi 2007. Modest acidity maybe, but generous amounts of pear-like fruit ringed with a garland of minerality; a dutiful little aperitif. Around $12. At Brix, South End 617-542-2749; Cirrus' Wine Cellar, Grafton, 508-887-9463; Vintages, Belmont.

STEPHEN MEUSE

Stephen Meuse can be reached at onwine@comcast.net