These wines were samples for review.
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Sea-Fog Sauvignon Blanc 2010, Napa Valley, receives a trace of oak aging, that is, to the extent of 10 percent of the juice going into 11-year-old French barrels for three months; I like the thoughtful deliberation of that choice. This is 100 percent sauvignon blanc from a single vineyard in a warm area of Calistoga, at the foot of Mount Saint Helena, and the wine is beautiful, sleek, suave and tremendously appealing. Enticing aromas of tangerine, nectarine and lemongrass are woven with hints of roasted lemon, ginger and quince, bay leaf and thyme and a floral element — jasmine and honeysuckle — that seems to wreathe itself around your head. The wine practically shimmers with crisp and crystalline acidity and a burgeoning limestone character that support winsome flavors of lemon balm, orange rind and just a wisp of mango. Paradoxically, for all its sensual allure, the Sea-Fog Sauvignon Blanc 2010 finishes with spareness and a touch of astringency, as if grapefruit gets the final word. 14.1 percent alcohol. Production was 380 cases. Now through 2014. Excellent. About $25.
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The Grade Cabernet Sauvignon 2008, Calistoga, Napa Valley, spent two years in French oak, 40 percent new barrels. Sporting a dark yet radiant ruby-purple color, the wine feels like classic Napa Valley in its scope and dimension, its intensity and concentration, its remarkable presence and tone, vibrancy and resonance. The bouquet is a beauty, a beguiling and fairly exotic amalgam of cassis, black raspberries and mulberries buoyed by lavender, violets and sandalwood, thyme and cedar, with back-notes of fruitcake, black olive and graphite. In the mouth, the wine forgoes a bit of its seductive power for a more solid, brooding aspect, though there’s nothing heavy or obvious here. Ripe and spicy black and blue fruit flavors are permeated by clean loamy earth, granite-like minerality and dense, grainy tannins that grow in import through the long, slightly austere finish; all these aspects are wrapped around a core of bittersweet chocolate, potpourri and a bit of iron. Power and elegance seamlessly allied. 14.3 percent alcohol. Production was 270 cases. Now through 2018 to 2020. Excellent. About $80.
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These wines were samples for review or tasted at a wholesaler’s trade event.
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Ferraro-Carano Bella Luce 2011, Sonoma County. 13.4% alc. Chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, muscat canelli, gewurztraminer, viognier, pinot blanc, muscat giallo. Pale straw color; think apples and apples and pineapples, Asian pear and lemongrass, hints of lemon, peach and camellia; in the mouth touches of honeydew melon, more peach but spiced and macerated, honey, hay and a flirtation with fresh rosemary and its slightly resinous, tea-like quality; juicy, lush but balanced by bright acidity and limestone minerality. Quite charming. Drink through the end of 2012. Very Good+. About $16.
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Morgan Winery R&D Franscioni Vineyard Pinot Gris 2011, Santa Lucia Highlands, Monterey County. 13.5% alc. Pale straw-gold color; yellow plums, roasted lemon, bay leaf, cloves; a whisper of oak for spice and suppleness; ginger and quince, hint of leafy fig; deft balance between crisp, sprightly acidity and an almost dense texture; ultimately light on its feet, delicate; long, dry, savory finish. 1,265 cases. Excellent. About $18, and a Great Bargain.
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Chateau Graville-Lacoste 2011, Graves, Bordeaux. 12% alc. 70% semillon, 25% sauvignon blanc, 5% muscadelle. Sleek, suave, elegant; lemon, lemon balm and limestone; very dry, touch of chalk, a little austere; nuances of thyme and tarragon, slightly grassy; quite fresh, clean and appealing yet high-toned, classy, stylish. Now through 2013. Excellent. About $20.
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Domaine de Reuilly “Les Pierres Plates” 2011, Reuilly Blanc, Loire Valley. 12.5% alc. 100% sauvignon blanc. So damned pretty, so fragrant, so lively, heaps of personality; spiced pear and lemon, hint of peach; lots of flint and limestone, some austerity on the finish but never less than fresh, vibrant and attractive. Now through 2013. Very Good+. About $20.
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Priest Ranch Sauvignon Blanc 2011, Napa Valley. 14.4% alc. Pale straw-gold; very clean and fresh, crisp and lively; lemon balm and lemongrass, hint of tangerine and orange rind; back-notes of dried thyme and tarragon; burgeoning limestone element; lovely, seductive texture, almost soft and talc-like but with superb tautness and reticence. Totally beguiling and just enough complexity. Excellent. About $26.
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The French rosés here were tasted at a wholesaler’s trade event; the others were samples for review.
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Saint Martin de la Garrigue “Tradition” Rosé 2011, Coteaux du Languedoc. 13.5% alc. 50% cinsault, 30% syrah, 20% grenache. Pale melon color with a slight violet tinge; classically proportioned, dry, austere; raspberry and a touch of tart cranberry, dusty and herbal, wet stones, flint and chalk. Very Good+. About $15.
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Eric Chevalier Pinot Noir Rosé 2011, Vin de Pays du Val de Loire. 11.5% alc. Ruddy copper-salmon color; dried currants and raspberries, hint of mulberry; provocative whiffs of thyme and white pepper; chalk and limestone, crisp, tense acidity, with a spicy, flinty finish. Excellent. About $15, representing Great Value.
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Domaine de Fontsainte Gris de Gris Rosé 2011, Corbières. 12.5% alc. 70% grenache, 10% each mourvèdre, carignane, cinsault. Pale copper-salmon color; very floral, very spicy, compote-like maceration of strawberries and raspberries highlighted by dried spice; limestone and flint, slightly dusty and earthy, touch of dried thyme; crisp and lively. Super attractive. Very Good+. About $16.
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Bonny Doon Vin Gris de Cigare 2011, Central Coast. 13.5% alc. 73% grenache, 10% mourvèdre, 8% grenache blanc, 5% roussanne, 4% cinsault. Pale yet radiant melon-copper color; fresh and dried strawberries and red currants, hint of watermelon with an overlay of peach skin; a little dusty, earthy and brambly; very dry, spare, elegant, an infusion of macerated fruit with scintillating liquid limestone. Excellent. About $16, a Real Bargain.
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Domaine de Reuilly Pinot Gris Rosé 2011, Loire Valley. 12% alc. Very pale onion skin color; dried raspberries and red currants, quite dry, spare, elegant; lots of stones and bones and crisp acidity; hints of roses and lilacs; buoyant tenseness and tautness balanced by an almost succulent texture. Really attractive and tasty. Excellent. About $20.
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V. Sattui Rosato 2011, North Coast. 13.5% alc. Grenache, syrah, carignane grapes. A Florida of a rose, that is, florid, floral, the color of hibiscus, the scent of roses, violets, strawberries and raspberries, cloves, hints of orange rind and peach; more layered and substantial than most rosés, like what in Bordeaux is called clairette, falling between a rosé and a full-blown red wine; savory limestone and spice-laden finish. This could age a year. Excellent. About $21.75.
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Charles Joguet Chinon Rosé 2011, Loire Valley. 100% cabernet franc. Very pale melon color; ripe and fleshy yet cool, dry, packed with limestone and bright acidity, a touch austere; spice-infused red currants and raspberries. Very Good+. About $22.
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La Rochelle Pinot Noir Rosé 2011, Santa Lucia Highlands, Monterey County. 12.5% alc. Very pale shimmering onion skin color; very dry, spare, austere; imbued with nuances of spiced and slightly macerated red currants and raspberries and, as in a dream, an evocative and fleeting scent of dried rose petals; structure is all clean acidity and honed limestone. A superior rosé. 119 cases. Excellent. About $24, and Worth a Search.
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A sample for review.

Pine Ridge bottles separate cabernets from each of its appellation vineyards, but the focus of the Pine Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon 2009, Napa Valley, is a general sense, as far as it can be manifested, of the region itself and its character as an ideal location for the grape, a character cemented after Prohibition by Beaulieu Vineyards, Louis M. Martini and Inglenook and built upon by many other wineries over the decades. The wine is a blend of 76 percent cabernet sauvignon, 14 percent petit verdot, 6 percent merlot and 4 percent malbec, drawn from Pine Ridge’s estate vineyards, mainly in Stags Leap and Rutherford. It aged 18 months in 60 percent French and 40 percent American oak barrels, of which 50 percent of the barrels were new.

If your ideal of a Napa Valley cabernet is a brilliantly dark-hued wine that exudes cool aromas of pure and elemental (and slightly briery) cassis and black cherry freighted with dusty cloves and thyme, graphite and iron with undertones of cedar, tobacco, black olive and bittersweet chocolate; if that ideal wine embodies a marriage of elegance and power in its balance among a sleek supple texture, a dense chewy structure and a combined sense of deftness, fleetness, substance and dynamic energy; and, finally, if that ideal Napa Valley cabernet would feel packed with spice and warm, ripe and slightly macerated black and blue fruit flavors supported by clean earthy granite-like minerality, burnished oak and prominent but modulated tannins: Well, brothers and sisters, this is the wine for you. And, in fact, for me. A sensible 14.1 percent alcohol. Drink now through 2017 or ’18, especially with a crusty medium-rare strip steak right off the smokin’ grill. Excellent. About $54.

A sample for review.

These were all samples for review.
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Toad Hollow Eye of the Toad Rosé of Pinot Noir 2011, Sonoma County. 11.5% alc. Pure strawberry and raspberry with undertones of pear, melon and peach skin; a hints of orange rind, almond blossom and limestone; quite dry but soft and juicy; more stones and bones on the finish. Delightful. Very Good+. About $13, a Great Bargain.
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Craggy Range Kidnappers Vineyard Chardonnay 2011, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand. 13% alc. A lovely, delicate, elegant chardonnay, yet very spicy, slightly resinous (as in a hint of rosemary), touched of roasted lemon, pineapple and grapefruit with a tinge of mango; underlying richness and complexity, quite dry, always mindful of balance and poise. More than charming, attractively individual. Excellent. About $21.
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Nickel & Nickel Truchard Vineyard Chardonnay 2010, Carneros, Napa Valley. 14.5% alc. Rich but beautifully balanced, bold but not brassy; classic pineapple-grapefruit scents and flavors deeply infused with cloves and allspice, hints of lemon and honeysuckle; a golden and sunny chardonnay with a sheen of deft oak, ripe and slightly creamy yet with a prominent limestone edge. Pure, intense, sophisticated. Excellent. About $50.
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Naked Earth 2009, Vin de Pays d’Oc (though the front label says “South of France”). 12.5% alc. Merlot 50%, cabernet sauvignon 25%, grenache 20%, carignan 5%. Certified organic. Surprising character for the price and geographic anonymity; dark ruby color; cedar, tobacco, black olives; black currants and plums; lavender and violets, touch of new leather; dry, dusty tannins, almost velvety texture, spicy black fruit flavors, lipsmacking acidity. Worth seeking out. Very Good. About $12, representing Real Value.
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Green Truck Zinfandel 2009, Mendocino County. 13.5% alc. Certified organic. A generic red wine with wild berries and brambles, very dusty tannins and heaps of graphite-like minerality. People searching for organic wine deserve better. Good. About $14.
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Murphy-Goode Merlot 2009, California. 13.5% alc. Medium ruby color with a lighter rim; toasty oak, caraway and celery seed; cherries, plums and raspberries; very dry, disjointed plus a vanilla backnote. Not recommended. About $14.
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Murphy-Goode Cabernet Sauvignon 2009, California. 13.5% alc. Better than the merlot but still fairly ordinary; attractive heft and texture, ripe and spicy black currant, black raspberry and plum scents and flavors, nice balance among fruit, acidity and mildly dusty chewy tannins. Very Good. About $14.
Note that both of these Murphy-Goode products carry a California appellation instead of Sonoma County and are “vinted” rather than “produced,” which means that consumers have no idea whence within the state the grapes came or where the wine was made. Jackson Family Wines acquired Murphy-Goode in 2006.
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Mark West Pinot Noir 2010, Santa Lucia Highlands. 14.2% alc. Dark ruby color with a paler ruby edge; black cherry and leather, cola and cloves; hits all the necessary points without being compelling; dense, chewy tannins, swingeing acidity, very dry with a dusty, earthy, mineral-flecked finish. Very Good. About $14. (Sorry, the price is actually about $19.)
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Davis Bynum Pinot Noir 2010, Russian River Valley. 14.5% alc. You gotta like wood to like this one. At first, subtly woven black cherry, mulberry, smoke, cola and woody spice (cloves, sandalwood), then you feel the oak sneak up, as it were, from the back to front, smothering everything in its path. Not my cuppa tea. Good. About $35.
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Anyway, here’s a roster of full-flavored, full-bodied wines that we have tried recently on Pizza-and-Movie Night, as well as a syrah and grenache blend that we drank with barbecue ribs. Not that these labels and recommendations are fused in iron; most of these wines, with their rich ripe fruit and stalwart tannins, could match with a variety of hearty grilled or roasted fare.

These wines were samples for review.
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Las Rocas Garnacha 2009, Calatayud, Spain. Gallo bought Las Rocas, which was launched in 2003, from its American importer and his Spanish partner in 2009; a smart move, since Las Rocas Garnacha is an incredibly popular, inexpensive red wine. Made completely from garnacha or grenache grapes, the version for 2009 is as we would expect: very ripe, floral and spicy, with teeming amounts of black currant, plum and mulberry scents and flavors bolstered by earthy and dusty graphite elements, moderately grainy tannins and bright acidity. The fruit qualities taste a little fleshy and roasted, and there’s a bit of heat on the finish, testimony to the exceptionally dry, hot weather in 2009 along that plateau in northeastern Spain. Quite enjoyable, though, for its frank flavors and rustic directness; try with pizza (of course), burgers and grilled sausages. 15.2 percent alcohol. Very Good. About $14.

With this wine came Las Rocas Red Blend 2009 ($14) and Las Rocas Viñas Viejas 2009 ($20) which I did not find appreciably better or much different.

Imported by Las Rocas USA, Hayward, Ca.
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Feudi di San Gregorio Rubrato 2008, Irpinia Aglianico, Campania, Italy. Campania is the province that surrounds the city of Naples and extends east from it. This area is almost the exclusive arena of the unique, rangy and rustic aglianico grape, though it also makes the DOC Aglianico del Vulture in Basilicata, to the southeast. The grape originated in Greece and was brought to central Italy by the Phoenicians, so it is of ancient provenance, as so much in Italy is. Feudi di San Gregorio’s Rubrato ’08 displays all the character of the grape in full. The color is deep, dark ruby; the heady bouquet is spicy and meaty, an amalgam of black and blue fruit, cloves, fruitcake, black olives, oolong tea, tar and blackberry jam. In the mouth, the wine, which aged eight months in French oak barriques, is rich and savory but firm, dense and chewy, fathomlessly imbued with grainy tannins, brooding mineral elements and teeming acidity. On the other hand, the alcohol content is a relatively winsome 13.5 percent. We drank this blood-and-guts (yet pleasing and user-friendly) red with pizza, but it’s really suited to barbecue ribs or brisket or a grilled rib-eye steak. Now through 2015 or ’16. Excellent. About $18, representing Good Value.

Imported by Palm Bay International, Boca Raton, Fla.
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Sausal Family Zinfandel 2009, Alexander Valley, Sonoma County. Sporting a dark ruby slightly unto purple color, this zinfandel, made from vines averaging 50 years old, is robust and full-bodied, offering spiced and macerated red currants and blueberry with a bare hint of boysenberry; the wine is dense and chewy, permeated by elements of graphite and lavender, fruitcake and potpourri, with a bit of bittersweet chocolate. The wine aged 20 months in a combination of French and American oak, a process that lends firmness to the structure, suppleness to the texture and touches of cloves and mocha. Tannins are fine-grained and generously proportioned, while taut acidity provides vim and zip (sounding like characters in a play by Samuel Beckett). The long finish is packed with black and red fruit and earthy graphite-like minerality. 14.5 percent alcohol. Now through 2014 to ’15. Excellent. About $19, another Good Value.
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Benessere Black Glass Vineyard Zinfandel 2008, Napa Valley. Not a zinfandel that attempts the extracted uber-darkness/super-ripe effect, here the color is medium ruby with a dark cherry center and the bouquet focuses on red and black cherries with hints of sour cherry, plum skin, cloves, fruitcake and hints of earthy leather and brambles. Not that the wine isn’t ripe and rich or packed with juicy wild berry flavors; in fact, this is a remarkably sleek and stylish zinfandel that only shows its more rigorous side when the closely-knit tannins and dense oak — 18 months in new and used French and American barrels — make themselves known through the finish. The spice elements, a backnote of cocoa powder and more brambles and briers also build from mid-palate back, adding verve and depth, aided by lively acidity. 14.7 percent alcohol. A great match for pizzas with hearty topping like sausage, guanciale or spicy salami. Production was 390 cases. Excellent. About $28.
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Amapola Creek Cuvée Alis 2009, Sonoma Valley. Here’s a blend of syrah (55 percent) and grenache (45 percent) fully worthy of its Rhone Valley heritage, but I have to apologize for its lack of wide distribution. In any case, this wine went head to head and toe to toe with a rack of barbecue ribs and did them both proud. The grapes were grown organically at about 900 feet above Sonoma Valley, in a vineyard that lies next to the legendary Monte Rosso vineyard, once the mainstay of the Louis M Martini cabernet sauvignon wines and now owned by Gallo. Cuvée Alis 09, named for Richard Arrowood’s wife and co-proprietor of Amapola Creek, aged 18 months in new and used French oak. The color is an almost opaque ruby-purple with a magenta rim; the bouquet is first earth, leather, smoke, ash, black pepper; then intoxicating aromas of pure blackberry, black raspberry and plum, permeated, after a few moments in the glass, with beguiling notes of sandalwood, cumin and cardamom, ancho chili and bittersweet chocolate. The wine is characterized by huge presence and tone; it’s dense and chewy and powerfully imbued with smooth packed-in tannins and an iron and iodine-like mineral nature, yet it remains vital and vibrant, even a bit poised, while black fruit flavors are spicy, fleshy and meaty. The finish, though, is daunting and rather austere, a quality that deepens as the minutes pass. 14.9 percent alcohol. Production was 95 cases, so mark this Worth a Search. Try from 2014 to 2018 to ’22. I wrote about Richard Arrowood’s Amapola Creek Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 and his history as a winemaker in Sonoma County here, and I rated that wine Exceptional; this Cuvée Alis 09 is no exception, it’s also Exceptional. About $48.
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A sample for review from a wholesaler.

A sample for review.