We make an annual diving pilgrimage to Niigata Prefecture's Sado Island each summer, ideally timed to fall into the narrow window between the end of rainy season and the start of jellyfish season. The lumbering three-hour trip on the car ferry is to us the sign that summer has at long last arrived -- certainly an occasion to celebrate. But what to drink on such a hot, salty trip?
Beer seems a bit pedestrian, wine perhaps overwhelming in the heat, and Champagne a touch too hoity-toity. We were perplexed, but when a friend poured us a glass of a wonderfully aromatic, ever-so-faintly sparkling Moscato d'Asti, we knew we'd found the perfect summer drink.
Almost all Moscato d'Asti are delicate, low alcohol (5.0-5.5 percent) wines that are crisp in the mouth but loaded with pronounced flavors of peaches and apricots. The slight sparkle, known as frizzante in Italian, makes them wonderful aperitifs, but also allows them to complement fruity desserts or salty foods.