The Italians have the loveliest way to eat fresh summer peaches: they pick a nice, ripe peach at the end of the meal and slice it into their last glass of wine.  Then after letting it marinate for a few minutes, they eat the peach slices.   Dinner is over when the last of the wine has been enjoyed.

I watched my grandfather do this many times while I was growing up and it’s one of my favorite summer treats.   The peach’s flavor is brightened and intensified in the wine, which becomes delicately scented and flavored with the fragrant peach juice.

You can also make marinated peaches ahead of time by slicing peaches into a bowl  and pouring a little white or red wine over them, maybe adding a sprinkling of sugar.  The peaches are marinated in the wine for several hours and then served for dessert.

But I prefer the simplicity of the ritual performed at the end of the meal, just you, the peach and the wine.