What to Drink: Broadbent Vinho Verde

Spring is here, and in the South, that means it's about to get hot. Southerners obsess about cold drinks. We love our iced tea, mint juleps, and lemonade (with or without whiskey). We sit on our porches and decks, barbecue everything, and drink heavily. Life is good. Now, most people drink beer on the porch, but the <$10 wine bottle is a frequent visitor as well. It's for occasions like this that I stock a bottle of Broadbent's Vinho Verde. Portuguese wines are generally much better than their price tags indicate, but this stuff could easily stand up to the majority of whites in the under-$20 price range and can usually be found for around $9. Vinho Verde has a slight effervescence, not enough to call it sparkling, but enough to make it interesting. Broadbent's is loaded with citrus fruit and fun. It's a party wine, a wine meant to drink lots of quickly. It has a 9% alcohol content, putting it on the very low end. Vinho Verde, like a number of young, delicate European wines, doesn't travel well. Broadbent remedies this by shipping in a refrigerated container. If you're not sure what to serve with dinner, this is a good bet. It won't offend anything, and the acidity ensures that not much will offend it. Think of this wine as the easiest going company on the planet.