Wine of the moment? 'Le Picpoul'

MONTPELLIER, FRANCE — The four women at a nearby table at lunch here in Montpellier's Medieval quarter, , looked as if they had tottered in straight out of a Gallic translation of "Sex and the City": made up, dressed up and hoping for something more than salads. Any silly resemblance ended with their drinks, though, because the waitress was delivering not a tray of cosmos but a bottle of what she cheerily announced as "Le Picpoul."

Rosé might seem a more natural wine to order on a blistering Bastille Day, and not just for devotees of pink. But the foursome's choice is truly the bright white in the Languedoc-Roussillon region of southern France, where the rolling countryside is carpeted in lush vineyards reaching almost to the edge of the Mediterranean Sea.

Citrusy and bright, Picpoul de Pinet is lively enough to be an aperitif, complex enough to drink with cheese or seafood and -- no small consideration -- affordable enough to indulge in a second bottle while waiting for a perfect partner for more than food.

Picpoul has been produced in this area for centuries, primarily around the sleepy little village of Pinet, but its romance had not spread even as Languedoc reds such as Fitou and Saint-Chinian came into vogue. Now, as word gets out about the unique allure of this lively wine, this is shaping up as the summer of Picpoul, and not just for women who wear stilettos to lunch.

Word is that it is a hot wine in England right now, and it has certainly become easier to find in New York City. It is turning up on more and more wine lists in restaurants, sometimes as a special pour by the glass; just about any wine shop with global reach carries at least one Picpoul, enthusiastically promoted as "a great summer wine" if not "five flavors in one glass."

One sip and it is easy to understand why. Picpoul is not a complex grape, but winemakers inevitably bring out sprightly flavor with nuances meant more to be enjoyed than analyzed. Even at its most basic it is crisp and bracing and full of fruit. Like rosé, the traditional summer indulgence, this crisp white wine is as much at home on a picnic table as it is at a dinner party with easy food and a relaxed mood.

In a week in France, in Provence and Languedoc, I drank four Picpouls to every one rosé and have to agree with that assessment. They are nothing like an oaky Chardonnay or insipid Pinot Grigio, the two extremes of the white-wine world. The closest comparison might be to a really good Muscadet, the tart white from the Loire Valley.