Mittnacht-Klack Clos St. Ulrich Alsace Riesling, 1997

Now this is my idea of what a white wine should be. I paired it with a spicy Mexican-style pulled pork from a Rick Bayless cook book, and it didn't flinch. But it was also beautiful to drink on its own before the meal. It has subtlty as well as power.

The color is medium deep--just right for its age. My wife spots the tell-tale petroleum (she always does), but it's not nearly as prominent as it is in many German Rieslings. For me, the bouquet offers up flowers, honey, botrytis and ripe peaches. In the mouth, it's waxy and big-boned with a full range of spicy concentrated flavors. This is Alsace Riesling, and I love it.

Redwood Creek California Sauvignon Blanc, 2007

This is a pleasing little Sauvignon Blanc for spring and summer drinking. It's very light in color and has fresh scents of mint and citrus with a slight hint of passion fruit. Good acid and plenty of fruit without sweetness that you might expect from an inexpensive New World white. For less than $5 a bottle, I picked up half a case for summer drinking.

Mas de Bouquet Cotes du Rhone, 2007

Compared to the Saint Esprit, this is a more typical blend for a Cotes du Rhone: 70% Grenache, 20 Syrah and 10% Carignane. The color is deep and bluish, could be mistaken for a 2005 or 2006 Grand Prieur. Aromas are already well developed with scents of pepper and spice as well as black fruits. Heady and inviting. In the mouth, the wine comes across as warm and full bodied. A check of the alcoholic content reveals that it is indeed 15%. This is almost as fiery as a Spanish Grenache such as Garnacha del Fuego, but it's still in the tradition of Cotes du Rhone. Mas de Bouquet also produces a Vacqueyras that I plan to try soon.

As for the 2007 vintage, I'm becoming slightly skeptical of the early hype. Robert Parker calls it the best Southern Rhone vintage of his lifetime and urges readers to snap up wines at all levels. So far, I have no reason to question the high quality of the vintage. I have tasted only a few lower level wines, but these wines, at this early stage, have not impressed me as much as did the young CDRs and CDR Villages from 1978, 1998 or 2001.

Mount Langi Ghiran Billi Billi Shiraz, 2003

This wine is a bit older than the Saint Esprit Cotes du Rhone, and it's 100% rather than 75% Syrah, but the two wines offer a good comparison/contrast in terroir and winemaking.

The color is a deep ruby, very similar to the Saint Esprit as they are viewed side by side. Smells are also similar--blackberres, black plums, dark cherries plus a herbal lift that is extremely rare in an Australian Shiraz. Aromas are bright and fresh, probably showing their best right now since this cuvee is not a wine for long-term cellaring. On the palate, there is a full range of fruit flavors plus cassis and black pepper. A deeper wine than the Saint Esprit, at least at this stage of its development.

Mount Langi Ghiran's regular estate Shiraz is a serious ageworthy wine, the equivalent of a French Hermitage, that sells for $35 to $40. It is, in my estimation, one of top two or three Australian wines. Billi Billi also comes from estate-grown grapes, but presumably younger vines, and is made for earlier drinking. I bought this at Sam's in Chicago for about $12.

Delas Saint Esprit Cotes du Rhone, 2007

D&W FreshMarkets offered a case price special on this Cotes du Rhone, and since the 2007 Southern Rhone vintage is attracting a lot of attention, I couldn't resist. Unlike most Cotes du Rhone, this one is 75% Syrah and only 25% Grenache, and it comes from a Northern Rhone producer. The result is a style of wine quite different from the other Cotes du Rhones I buy regularly and provides a pleasant change of pace.

The color is deep and bluish, indicative of the high percentage of Syrah, and the nose also has distinctive Syrah traits--black fruits, berries, herbs, very ripe with a broad appeal. Others at the table immediately perk up. I also find pepper and spice but in a Northern Rhone sense. The flavors are particularly forward and ripe--black and blue berries with a nice acidic herbal tone that you're more likely to get from French than from Australian or Californian Syrah. The mouth feel is very soft, particularly on the second night; I suspect that at least part of the juice was put through carbonic maceration to bring the fruit forward. There is plenty of grip, but this is a wine for enjoying in its youth. Very good.

Villa Giada Suri Barbera d'Asti Rosso, 2005

To accompany pasta with a tomato-based sauce, I usually prefer a red wine--maybe a Cotes du Rhone or Cotes du Rhone Villages. But this sauce featured crab meat and was spiced with lemon and cilantro. Mmmmmmmmm. But how about a wine to match up with the broad flavors of the crab meat and the high acid of the lemon and cilantro? This Barbera d'Asti from the Piedmonte region of Italy turned out to be an excellent choice.

The color is a beautiful deep, saturated ruby red. You can see the good smells and flavors before you even put your nose in the glass. Powerful red cherry aromas with lots of uplift, almost to the point of volatility. Very Italian in its approach, featuring macerated skins rather than oaky tannins. In the mouth, the wine has a silky texture and lovely ripe flavors front to back--as delightful as a bowl of fresh cherries. The acidity is perfect for the pasta dish and keeps me coming back for sip after sip.

Barbera from the Piedmonte is nearly always good. Villa Giada's Barbera d'Asti is particularly fine in the 2005 vintage and is fairly widely available for about $12 a bottle.

La Vieille Ferme Cotes du Ventoux, 2004

I usually think of La Vieille Ferme as a wine to drink within the year of its release, but this 2004--a left over from a string of attractive vintages--changed my thinking. It's drinking beautifully, at least as good as when it was young.

The color is a deep ruby with good brightness and clarity, and the first sniff from the glass is brimming with fresh blueberries, violets and herbs. I sense no come-down in freshness from the 2006 Font-Sane next to it; in fact, La Vieille Ferme is more open and aromatic at this stage in its development. It has everything I expect from a Ventoux with ripe fruit-forward flavors but also a firm tannic structure. On the finish, it lacks the deep red raspberry core that the Font-Sane offers, but that's no insult. The Font-Sane is special; LVF is a worthy match, and I'm looking forward to the 2007s from both estates. Actually, LVF arrived a few weeks ago and is widely available for $6 to $8--probably the best wine value in the market today.