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On a blistering hot day, I pour a Spanish rose, a 2008 Castano ($8), fashioned from the Yecla region's Mourvedre grape.

Mourvedre — a grape of monstrous inky reds in France and Spain — is, I learn after a few sips, capable of a bone-dry, chewy blush when given scant time to rest on skins, extracting pigment. Despite its shy blush, this tannin and alcohol counters-punches dry cherry, cedar, bacon, and leathery notes. Serious stuff for blush at 13 percent alcohol.

At a pig picking, this would wallow well, but on a scorching day like this, I yearn for my Rose d' Anjou days. Those days of tippling pink from the French Loire, I confess, well precede the tidal wave popularity of white Zinfandel, if that's any indication how long I've fermented.

I like to think Rose d' Anjou, weighing in at 10 to 11 percent alcohol, saved my life in college.

This was at a time when the libation of choice was called Purple Jesus. PJ was mixed in plastic-bag lined garbage cans, various parts fruit juice and grain alcohol stirred with a canoe paddle, if that conjures the licentious '70s.

A light hand with Everclear could keep a party revved — and on budget. But this was the '70s, so many a mistaken mixologist believed if a little was good, then a lot was great. Everclear was 95 percent alcohol, this when 90-proof (45 percent alcohol) vodka was the bomb.

As a neutral grain spirit, it was never — initially — clear to partygoers how much Everclear was batched. But ultimately, this vile brew made itself clear. Because when a vomiting date decorates your shoes, or you do likewise, this in no way sets an amorous mood.

So by junior year, I found wine — pink Rose d' Anjou to be exact. And at frat parties, if the girls thought it fey — or gay — hey, it was the '70s.

Some misdirection. Some pink wine. Hey, it went a long way to set a mood.

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My Top 10 weird white wines worldwide to survive icky, sticky Dixie. These are bone dry to off-dry, with acidity to refresh.

Albarino: Spain's Galicia region, specifically Rias Baixas (pronounced Ree-ass By-shass), spawns this crisp wine. It matches its coastal lineage — and eats. A shame more U.S. seafood restaurants don't do Albarino. Still, it's showing up in the Triad. Some call it cousin to Riesling or Viognier or Gewurztraminer. Maybe, in muted form. But, I think, there's some sea breeze mixed in.

Assyrtico: Famed on the island of Santorini. A bone-dry, minerally, citrusy wine from Greece that marries well with seafood. In the U.S., often blended with Athiri, another Greek grape, to give roundness and aroma.

Gruner Veltliner: Classic grape From Austria. Crisp citrus and white pepper. Also found in Hungary and the Czech Republic. Another wine for light salads and shellfish.

Torrontes: Perhaps Argentina's signature white — floral, spicy, citrusy, flinty. Goes with light fare, or cruises all alone.

Pinot Gris: From the Alsace of France/Germany (or Oregon) comes a nutty, melony, citrusy, honeyed, often creamy style both refreshingly crisp and fruit-forward complex. You might know this as Pinot Grigio from Italy — often a pale imitation of what this grape can do.

Verdicchio: An ancient white grown in central Italy, somewhat obscure in the Triad, but still found. A fan of higher-acid, crispy whites with finesse? Expect citrus, mineral, almond, sometimes grassy or bitter hints. Spot it by looking for its amphora shaped bottle.

Prosecco: The grape and wine from Italy's Veneto region. Often produced in a dry to off-dry semi-sparkling wine. More enthusiasts are reaching for Prosecco as an inexpensive Champagne alternative. This party wine entered American consciousness in the guise of the Bellini, a blend of peach juice and Prosecco, popular when temperatures spike.

Macabeo: The white grape of northern Spain turns up in the Triad in two guises: white Rioja and Cava (sparkling) wines. Some call the grape Viura. No matter, it produces a clean, crisp, minerally and citrusy wine for easy drinking. The grape also grows in hot regions in France and North Africa.

Seyval Blanc: This French hybrid grape is a pariah in France but found a home in England, Canada, New York's Finger Lakes region and elsewhere in the eastern U.S., including North Carolina. Cold hearty, disease-resistant and prolific, Seyval can be dry or off-dry style. Melon ball, dried peach, minerals and floral aromas.

Chenin Blanc: In the French Loire region, this wine ranges chalky/minerally/crisp to off-dry to sweet with hints of tropical fruit and honey. It even serves as the base for Loire sparklers. No matter the style, expect finesse and the rare ability to grow more complex with 4-6 years of cellaring. This is less the case with Chenin from South Africa and California.

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Two seasons in North Carolina wine country thrill enthusiasts: Bud break in early spring and harvest in late summer.

Wineries are closing in on the latter. There's lots to celebrate the season — festivals, open houses, bands, food-wine pairings. That calendar is way more than we can include in a monthly wine column here.

All the more reason to subscribe to our twice-monthly e-mail newsletter, WilliamsOnWine. The newsletter is free, providing the most comprehensive wine calendar of events in North Carolina and Virginia. Plus you get — did I say this was free? — affordable wine recommendations, food-wine pairings, and other news to make you a savvy wine consumer.

Subscribe at news-record.com Find the search bar atop the page and type in Ed Williams and wine, or williamsonwine.

Ed Williams is public information director for Alamance Community College. This column publishes the first Wednesday of each month. If you have news of an event, e-mail williamsonwine@gmail.com.