3 Wines to Make Back to School Season a Little Less Chaotic

Summer is over, which means that the kids are finally back in school and no longer racing around the house, battering each other with toys, wandering into your home office while you're on zoom calls with your boss, demanding lunch (of all things!) at lunchtime (the nerve!), and generally causing your family-stress level to skyrocket at times when you should be only dealing with work stress.

Now they’re off somewhere being told to sit down and be quiet by teachers, not you, and eating school lunches from a steam table or else devouring a sandwich smooshed over several hours in a backpack. Thank the Lord.

As many moms and dads know, such a moment requires a celebratory glass of wine. Possibly every night, for several days, in fact. To that end, here are three bottles that you deserve, that also happen to be ideal for drinking during the cusp of summer and fall.

2022 Clay Shannon El Coyote Chardonnay ($20)

Made with organic grapes from the Shannon family’s 1,000-acre Lake County estate, in Lake County, California, this lemon-creamy Chardonnay is rich enough to satisfy old-school Chard lovers yet has enough zip for those who lean towards crisp and zesty options.

The wine goes spectacularly well with a lobster, chicken, and chorizo paella cooked on a grill, particularly when I tasted it by the water in Maine. That’s a bit of a production, admittedly, but it would be equally good with some Spanish chorizo and manchego cheese, either after work or for a dinner party with friends.

2023 Bisol Crede Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore Brut ($26)

One of my favorite late-summer/early-fall activities is sitting in the tree-shaded patio at Popina in Brooklyn, NY during aperitivo hour. A glass of Bisol Prosecco from a family that’s grown grapes since the 16th century and a plate of Don Bocarte anchovies and marinated olives make it easy to forget life’s problems for quite a while.

If you can’t make it to Popina — difficult, for instance, if you live in Nebraska, or Mississippi — this experience is nevertheless easy to replicate at one’s own home; Bisol is widely distributed, and if you can’t find great anchovies, a handful of Castelvetrano olives substitutes nicely.

2023 Domaine Tempier Bandol Rosé ($59)

Not long ago, I made a pilgrimage to Domaine Tempier in Provence’s Bandol region. I have loved the Peyraud family’s wines for years but never managed a visit. Bandol rosés are richer than typical Provençal versions, and Tempier’s is legendary, with a complexity equal to a great white (or red) Burgundy; it’s more than worth its admittedly steep — for a rosé — price.

If you’re searching for something to have for dinner with it, you could do worse than to check out Richard Olney’s great and utterly classic compendium of matriarch Lulu Peyraud’s recipes, Lulu's Provencal Table: The Exuberant Food and Wine from Domaine Tempier Vineyard.