Mud House Marlborough Pinot Noir, 2009 and Mudhouse Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, 2010

Nadine Worley, the Mudhouse winemaker, is an Australian who says she moved to New Zealand in part because she loves to make cool climate wines. After tasting each of these wines, I would say she knows what she's doing.

The Sauvignon Blanc is bursting with aromas and flavors of passion fruit, guava and other tropical fruits. Very brisk and refreshing.

The Pinot is served to me chilled, but no worry--the fruit and floral smells and flavors are all the more intense. As it warms to a room temperature, the wine takes on more weight, depth and complexity. Very finely focused Pinot fruit that is typical of Marlborough but also in line with classic varietal traits.

Domaine Mittnacht-Klack Alsace Grand Cru Riesling Rosacker, 1993

From a half bottle, this wine is clearly past its prime but still offers some glimpses of its past glory.

The color is very deep, copper colored, and the bouquet also has an oxidized note. When you get past that over-maturity, there are also deep scents and flavors of dried apricots, honey, and minerals. After a few minutes, the roses start emerging. Wow--this is Rosacker, indeed. The vineyards are just outside the walled medieval village of Riquewihr, and there are roses planted at the end of every row.

The vineyards, in fact, surround a guest house where I stayed with my family in 1994. I smelled those roses on my daily run in the early 1990s, and I smell them again. The vineyards that produced this wine are lovely, and they still leave a haunting memory in the glass.

Domaine de l'Oratoire Saint Martin Cairanne Prestige, 1998

This wine is a continuing confirmation of my high regard for the 1998 vintage in the Southern Rhone. I've enjoyed Domaine l'Oratoire Saint Martin nearly every vintage since the early 1990s and found that in most vintages the wine has seen its best by age six to eight. The 1998 continues to improve.

The color is a deep ruby. It's been a couple of years since I've visited this wine, and the bouquet is deeper and broader than I remember. More black fruit tones and more Syrah and Mourvedre qualities are now present. Vibrant cherries on a broad foundation of spices and Provencal herbs. Very deep. Deep berry fruit, cassis, a slight tingle of volatility but no alcoholic heat (13.5%). Remarkable depth. A good example of the domaine and the vintage.

Chateau Patache d'Aux Medoc Cru Bourgeois, 1983

Wine critics love to hand pick a few inexpensive Cru Bourgeois wines and recommend them for early drinking. It's probably because they have never bothered to cellar inexpensive wines and have no idea how well they age. I bought this wine partly on the recommendation of Robert Parker who proclaimed it was a wine for early drinking--in the first five to eight years after the vintage date. Unfortunately, I took his advice and drank five of my six bottles within that time frame. Nearly 20 years later, I drank the final bottle and found that it is by far the best of the bunch.

Medium deep ruby with only a bit of bricking around the edges./ The bouquet is typical of mature Bordeaux--cherries, currants, cassis blended nicely. Very aromatic and intense./ There is more of the same on the palate with notes of leather. Loads of fresh acidity for a 28-year-old wine and clean tart cherry after taste. The blend is 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc.

Domaine Lou Frejau Chateauneuf du Pape, 1998

1998 was one of the last vintages for bargain-priced Chateaneuf du Papes; due to increased recognition of the high quality of these wines, prices have escalated rapidly since that time. Fortunately, I bought and cellared quite a few 1998s and have high expectations for them.

A find of Rhone expert Robert Mayberry of Grand Haven, MI, Domaine Lou Frejau is not very well known...and priced accordingly--about $15 when I bought this bottle. I was impressed when I first tried it at an Ann Arbor Wine Club tasting in 2000 or 2001; it stood out for its light color, delicate body and remarkably intense aromas and flavors. I haven't tasted it since, but for tonight's Valentine's Day dinner of filet mignon and mushroom/Swiss chard gratinee, it was all that I expected and more.

Light crimson color, as I remember. Medium intensity./ A nose of ripe strawberries, red cherries, spice and peppercorn. Very compact, intense dried and fresh fruit aromas. As I remember plus plus./ It's on the palate that the development of the wine is most apparent. Cherries more than strawberries here; considerably more structure and acid than the bouquet suggests. The wine seems to take on weight with each glass poured. The tannins are deep but very fine, and the finish is long, intense and aromatic. Lou Frejau 1998 is drinking beautifully now, and I suspect it will probably improve or at least stay at this level for quite some time.

Wolf Blass President's Selection South Australian Cabernet Sauvignon, 2000

Wolf Blass wines are usually a bit oaky for my taste, but I couldn't resist this President's Selection Cabernet at a closeout price of $6.99 at Harding's Markets in Kalamazoo. The President's Selection is a step up in quality from the widely available Yellow Label that sells for about $10 a bottle. The fruit comes from well located vineyards in McLaren Vale, Langhorne Creek and Barossa.

Medium deep ruby, very good color for an 11-year-old Cabernet./ The bouquet is classic Aussie Cabernet--black currants, coffee oak, very ripe. Big and powerful but not clumsy./ Sweet upfront, then some wood tannins on mid-palate and ripe curranty fruit on the finish. The oak is well integrated, creating a very appealing coffee/chocolate impression. I get a very slight herbaceous streak that might become more noticeble with a few more years in the cellar; I'd prefer what it offers right now.

Chateau Graville-Lacoste Graves Blanc, 2002

Try Graville Lacoste in its youth, and you'll find a lovely white Graves with impressive complexity and depth. Keep it a few years, and you'll find even more to like.

Good deep color but not overly mature./ Nicely understated scents of Sauvignon Blanc--mint, melon, quince and flowers. Now come the rich, figgy aromas of Semillon./ Silky smooth, light to medium bodied and very classy. There is nothing overstated, but the figgy, minty floral flavors just keep coming at you. A perfect match for whitefish Grenoble.

At $15 to $18 a bottle, Graville Lacoste is, in my opinion, one of the very best white wine values.