6 chillable reds guaranteed to cure the summertime blues

It’s about to get John Sebastian singing “back my neck getting dirty and gritty” hot in Portland. Fortunately, red wines with a license to chill can raise goosebumps in all of the right places.

When I load up on

chillable reds

that I intend to drink while my feet dangle in a kiddie pool, I have certain requirements.

First, I want a wine that clocks in around 13% alcohol by volume (ABV). Drinking higher alcohol wines in a heat wave, no matter how chill, just makes me want to curl up in a hammock.

Next, I want acidity that slaps me upside my head and says, “Wake up.”

Finally, I want the wine to taste good while not breaking my wine budget. I don’t need to be taking out loans just to throw a bunch of expensive wines in a Yeti cooler.

I don’t do anything complicated to chill my reds. An hour in my refrigerator before any summertime activity gets them to between 49 and 54 degrees. That’s my optimal chill zone; your preference and refrigerator may vary.

Out of about 20 chillable reds that I have tried over the past several weeks, these are six of my favorites.

2022 Loop de Loop Wallflower Project Dolcetto

My hunt for chillable reds started at a friend’s backyard barbecue party. It was blazing hot, and my sunscreen was screaming “no más” louder than Roberto Duran. I was rescued by a glass of wine called

Wallflower Project Chillable Red

that is made by

Loop de Loop

in Underwood, Washington.

I hunted for this reviving elixir at Providore Fine Foods, a chillable red honey hole, but I struck out. I did, however, find this dolcetto, which took to a chill quite nicely.

The wine’s ripe raspberry aroma reminded me of the Dum-Dums lollipops that always marked a good Halloween haul. After that, bursts of anise and thyme close out the aromatic show. An equally compelling strawberry galette and sage flavor combination is backed by the wine’s lip-smacking acidity.

$25 at

Providore Fine Foods

– 12.% ABV.

2024 Landmass Wines Chillable Red

I discovered this blend of pinot noir, chardonnay and tempranillo at the new Landmass

tasting room

in Northeast Portland. Once properly chilled, it explodes with strawberry bubble gum and orange zest aromas that give you the will to dance on a hot evening.

Red raspberry and Thai basil flavors, mixed with a tart cranberry note, complement the wine’s crisp texture and bright acidity. Pair with salsa music and a rooftop swimming in white twinkle lights.

$26 at

Landmass Wines

– 12.8% ABV.

2022 Swick Wines Chillable Red

A blend of pinot noir, pinot gris and grenache noir,

Swick Wines

’ take on a chillable red smells like a Rainier cherry-flavored snowcone mixed with wisps of blood orange soda and fresh-cut hay.

A winning combination of boisterous acidity and firm tannins support the wine’s tart pie cherry, bay leaf and fresh-cracked black pepper flavors. If you have any plans to eat a pork cubano sandwich or a bratwurst this summer, pair them with this chillable red.

$24 at

Prince Coffee NW

– 13% ABV.

2023 Little Crow Vineyards Picker’s Red

I’m a fan of all of

Jessica Miller

’s

Little Crow

wines, but her Picker’s Red is my choice to throw in the refrigerator when my flip-flops are melting to the sidewalk.

The Picker’s Red, a Willamette Valley pinot noir, leads with aromas of sweet, ripe blackberries and earthy marigolds. The flavors are tart, as not-quite-ripe blackcap raspberry and hibiscus tea flavors blend with a salty note similar to a black olive. You can expect acidity as juicy as a ripe peach.

$24 at Providore Fine Foods – 12.2% ABV.

2023 Iruai Psychic Terroir

While

Iruai

is based in Etna, California, they occasionally raid southern Oregon for fruit. Their Psychic Terroir, for example, is a blend of muscat, syrah, cabernet franc, grenache and gamay from the Applegate Valley.

No other chillable red smells like the Psychic Terroir. Its red plum and thyme aromas mix with a wet modeling clay note that, like red Play-Doh in kindergarten, is impossible to resist.

Once you get around to tasting the wine, you are rewarded with flavors of quince paste, crabapple cider, black tea and orange zest. This chillable red has a rich mouthfeel and a substantial tannic structure.

Winemaker Chad Westbrook Hinds recommends drinking Psychic Terroir while watching Federico Fellini’s “8 ½” or listening to “Gotta Get Away” by the Blues Magoos.

$22 at

Wellspent Market

– 13% ABV.

2024 Division-Villages Les Petits Fers Gamay Noir

This brilliant wine may say 13.6% ABV on its label, but it feels more like 12.6% on my palate.

The gamay noir’s blackcurrant and vanilla cake batter aromas are spiced up by a whiff of black pepper. Its marionberry pie, orange zest and chrysanthemum tea flavors are supported by a rare combination of muscular tannins and bodacious acidity that makes your mouth water.

When Portland’s temperatures eventually hit the surface of Venus territory, this red wine will take up an entire shelf in my refrigerator door.

$26 at

Division Winemaking Co.

– 13.6% ABV.

— Michael Alberty writes about wine for The Oregonian/OregonLive and Wine Enthusiast Magazine. He can be reached at malberty0@gmail.com. To read more of his coverage, go to

oregonlive.com/wine