I love rosés. There, I said it and I’m not sorry. Once the temperature goes above 70, I’m ready to be charmed and delighted by these pale, dry, stony evocations of sun and wind and dusty herb gardens and hot stones and bowls of dried or fresh and spiced fruit. Today we look at a group of rosé wines that includes examples from the South of France, their natural home; from France’s Loire Valley; and from diverse areas of California: North Coast, Central Coast and Santa Lucia Highlands in Monterey. The range of grapes is diverse too, mainly reds that we associate with Provence, the Rhone Valley and Languedoc — syrah, grenache, cinsault and mourvèdre — but also pinot noir, cabernet franc and even pinot gris, whose pinky-gray skin — it’s nominally a “white” grape — can impart the slightest pale hue to the wine. Rosés are versatile in their relationship with food, and we tend to drink them throughout the Spring and Summer with just about everything from snacks and appetizers to entrees except fish, which can make the wines taste metallic. Whether you’re feeling carefree or care-worn, a crisp, dry elegant rosé will perform wonders at elevating the mood and creating a fine ambiance.

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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I know, you’re thinking, “F.K., why don’t you just call this weekly series Saturday Wine Sips, since you seem to have so much trouble getting the thing written and posted on Friday?” Well, because Friday is the lead-in to the weekend, and I think of this series as brief reviews of wines My Readers would like to find for their weekend (moderate) drinking enjoyment. So I miss by a day here and there! So what!

A group of Italian wines today, whites and reds from Tuscany and Piedmont, including one of the best wines made from vermentino grapes that I have encountered; there’s also an excellent Dolcetto and Nebbiolo. As usual with the Friday Wine Sips, even when I post on Saturday, I deliberately keep matters brief and decisive by striking to the heart of the thing and eliminating the usual data about history, specific geographical matters, winery personnel and so on. What you read is what you get. The Poggiotondo wines were samples for review; the others were tasted at a wholesaler’s trade event.
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La Scolca White Label Gavi 2010, Piedmont. 13% alc. 100% cortese grapes. Pale straw-gold color, faint green highlights; spiced lemon with a touch of lemon balm, hints of almond and almond blossom, peach and pear; crisp, lively, alert; pleasing texture infused with limestone-and-shale-like minerality; spicy finish. Very attractive for drinking through the end of 2012. Very Good+. About $18.
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Poggiotondo Vermentino 2011, Toscana. 13.5% alc. 100% vermentino grapes. Radiant pale gold; fresh and floral as a spring garden; yellow plums and thyme, roasted lemon and pear; clean, bracing sea breeze and salt marsh astringency; quite spicy, very dry, scintillating acidity and limestone-like minerality supporting ripe stone-fruit flavors; long spice-thronged finish. Now through 2013 or ’14. One of the best vermentino wines I have encountered. Excellent. About $20, a Notable Value.
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Poggiotondo Rosso 2010, Toscana. 12.5% alc. 40% sangiovese, 30% merlot, 30% syrah. I was not as impressed by the Poggiotondo red wines as by the Vermentino, but I definitely liked the Rosso better than the Chianti. Simple and direct and tasty; gushes with spicy red and black fruit scents and flavors balanced by bright acidity and sleek, moderately chewy tannins; the finish adds leather, briers and brambles. A decent quaffer for red sauce pasta dishes, pizzas and burgers. Drink through the end of 2012. Very Good. About $11.
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Poggiotondo Chianti Cerro del Masso 2009, Toscano DOCG. 13% alc. 80% sangiovese, 10% merlot, 5% each syrah and colorino. A curious marriage of bland and harsh; takes rusticity to the edge of roughshod. Sangiovese deserves better. Not recommended. About $15.
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Marziano Abbona Dolcetto Dogliani “Papa Celso” 2009, Piedmont. 14% alc. 100% dolcetto grapes. Dark ruby color with a violet-magenta cast; warm, fleshy, meaty floral bouquet, spiced and macerated red and black currants and plums, undertones of lavender and leather; quite earthy, with touches of moss and underbrush, a little spare and austere yet almost succulent in texture, almost velvety; a graphite-like strain of minerality through the finish keeps it in line. Now through 2015 or ’16. Excellent. About $30.
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Marziano Abbona Barbera d’Alba “Rinaldi” 2009, Piedmont. 14.5% alc. 100% barbera grapes. Dark ruby-purple; leather, plums and mulberries, briers and brambles, a little fleshy and floral; very dry, packed with dried spices and dried red and black fruit flavors; fairly foresty, burgeoning underbrush, austere from mid-palate back through the finish where it picks up some granite-like minerality and a bit of heat. Now through 2015 to ’16. Very Good+. About $30.
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Marziano Abbona Nebbiolo d’Alba “Bricco Barone” 2009, Piedmont. 14% alc. 100% nebbiolo grapes. Classic. Deep ruby-purple; tar, earth, violets and truffles, rosemary and its bit of resiny astringency, black currants and plums; full-bodied, dense, very dry, jammed with finely milled and sifted tannins, graphite elements and woody spices; touches of fruitcake, potpourri and bitter chocolate; long, spun-out finish. Demands rabbit fricassee, game birds, venison. Now through 2016 or ’17. Excellent. About $30.
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Sacre bleu! Here I am, posting the “Friday Wine Sips” on Friday instead of Sunday! I am so freakin’ disciplined and organized and impressed with myself! Ten wines today, a rosé, four whites and five reds. The one product that rates Excellent is the Beni di Batasiolo “Granee” Gavi 2010, definitely Worth a Search. As usual in this series, I do not include historical, geographical or technical data in order to keep the order of business in lean, clean, incisive order. These were all samples for review.
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Montes Cherub Rosé of Syrah 2011, Colchagua, Chile. 13.5% alc. Entrancing cerise-magenta color; robust, earthy, almost muscular for a rosé, yet limpid, transparently delicious; pure strawberry and raspberry with a flush of rhubarb and pomegranate; very spicy; crisp acidity with a flourish of limestone on the finish. Really attractive and food-friendly. Very Good+. About $17 but often discounted as low as $13.
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Albamar Chardonnay 2011, Casablanca Valley, Chile. (William Cole Vineyards) 12.5% alc. A cool-climate chardonnay that channels its inner sauvignon blanc; tastes nice but couldn’t it be a bit more like, you know, chardonnay. Good+. About $11.
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Plantagenet Omrah Sauvignon Blanc 2009, Western Australia. 13.5% alc. A 3-year-old sauvignon blanc that tastes as fresh as the day it was bottled; pure lychee infused with pear and peach and a hint of mango; hints of dried thyme and tarragon and leafy fig; ripe and round but quite dry and crisp, silky texture; a line of chalky limestone that starts mid-palate and drives back through the finish. Delightful. Very Good+. About $15.
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Les Charmes Chardonnay 2010, Mäcon-Lugny, France. 13% alc. A lean, racy, nervy style of chardonnay, built on layers of limestone, chalk and talc suffused with lime peel, roasted lemon and pear; subtly earthy, supple, sinewy but asserts its charm. Ubiquitous. Very Good. About $16.
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Beni di Batasiolo “Granée” Gavi 2010, Gavi del Comune di Gavi, Italy. 12.5% alc. 100% cortese grapes. A superior Gavi. Pale straw color; very spicy; almond and almond blossom, roasted lemons and pears, touch of greengage and peach, high plangent tones of lilac and licorice; scintillating acidity and limestone-like minerality, lovely texture; the finish laden with flint and shale. Excellent. About $18.
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Double Decker Red Blend 2009, California. 13.5% alc. Cabernet sauvignon, petite sirah, barbera. Medium ruby color; pleasant enough, taxes neither your taste buds nor your intellect, quite dry, actually pretty darned tannic with lots of brambles and underbrush. Doesn’t exactly hang together. Good. About $10.
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Hey Mambo Sultry Red 2010, California. (The Other Guys) 13.5% alc. 29% syrah, 26% petite sirah, 13% zinfandel, 12% grenache, 10% tempranillo, 6% cabernet sauvignon, 4% merlot. Hard to know what each grape variety contributes to this kitchen-sink blend; still, sort of “sultry” in an imaginary Mediterranean style; warm, fleshy; spiced black cherries and plums; ripe sweet fruit amid the lip-smacking tannins and acidity; soft almost velvety texture over some graphite-like minerality. Quaff it down. Very Good. About $12.
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Alamos Seleccíon Malbec 2009, Mendoza, Argentina. 13.5% alc. Dark, rigorous, spicy, tannic; did I say tannic already? Needs one of those Argentine grilled meat extravaganzas — beef, pig, lamb, goat — to soften the edges of the oaky, granitic, um, tannic structure. Very Good. About $20.
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Los Vascos Grande Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2009, Colchagua Valley, Chile. (Domaines Barons de Rothschild, Lafite) 75% cabernet sauvignon, 10% carmenère, 10% syrah, 5% malbec. Classic; mocha, tobacco, cedar, black olive; hints of smoked bell pepper and tomato skin; black currants and plums; firm, dense, chewy; very dry, a touch austere through the finish, which is packed with woody spices, burnished oak and finely-meshed tannins. A well-crafted and powerful Bordeaux-like expression of the grape; needs a steak. Very Good+. About $20.
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The Spur Red Wine 2009, Livermore Valley. (Murietta’s Well) 14.5% alc. 32% cabernet sauvignon, 30% malbec, 21% petit verdot, 7% cabernet franc, 6% petite sirah, 4% merlot. A well-made but fairly typical California-ish blended red wine; dark ruby color; fragrant with ripe and spicy and slightly macerated black currants, black cherries and plum with undertones of lavender and black tea; dense, chewy texture but not ponderous; grainy (but not gritty) tannins and vibrant acidity frame juicy black fruit flavors permeated by woody spices, mocha and graphite; a long cool earthy finish. Have fun with it tonight, though you might not remember its name in the morning. Very Good+. About $25.
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Pizza and barbecue ribs don’t have much in common; the first is a form of savory flatbread, while the second is pure meat and bones; the first cooks quickly, the second luxuriates in long, slow heat. Of course pizza often has some form of meat as a topping (certainly the case at my house; I asked LL once if she would like a vegetarian pizza and she replied, “What’s the point?”) and frequently incorporates tomatoes, while ribs are, you know, meat and the basting sauce sometimes has a tomato base, so while we may not be talking about blood-brothers, there may be more going on here than I thought initially.

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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Today we look at seven wines chosen to satisfy the sense of freshness and renewal that comes — or should come — with Spring. In fact, it’s gently raining in my neck o’ the woods at this moment, and all the shades of green in the backyard are pulsing with color. These are mainly delicate wines made for sipping or matching with food more refined that we consumed in Winter, what we had of that season, anyway. There’s a delightful Moscato d’Asti, two wines made in different fashions from the torrontés grape — and I deplore that fact that almost all importers have dropped the accent from torrontés — a robust little Côtes du Rhône red for when you decide to grill burgers, and so on. (I also deplore the fact that WordPress will not allow me to post Macon with a circumflex.) As usual with Friday Wine Sips, I include no technical or historical or geographical data; the idea is incisive notices designed to get at the heart of the wine quickly. The order is by ascending price. With one exception, these were samples for review.
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Callia Alta Torrontes 2011, Valle de Tulum, San Juan, Argentina. 13.5% alc. Not as shamelessly floral as many torrontés wines are, a little more restrained, even slightly astringent; but refreshing, cleansing, chaste, also quite spicy and savory; hints of lemon and lemongrass, zinging acidity and flint-like mineral elements. Screw-cap. Very Good+. About $9, a Raving Great Bargain.
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Trumpeter Torrontes 2010, Mendoza, Argentina. (Rutini Wines) 13.5% alc. Heady jasmine and honeysuckle, orange rind and lemon zest, mango and hints of tarragon and leafy fig; very spicy, very lively, lush texture balanced by crisp acidity; the finish dry, spare, focused. Very Good+. About $13, a Real Value.
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Michel Torino Malbec Rosé 2011, Calchaque Valley, Argentina. 13.5% alc. A beguiling rosy-light ruby color; strawberry and red cherry with touches of peach and rose petal; a darker note of mulberry; bright acidity with a crystalline mineral background; delightful and a little robust for a rosé, try with charcuterie or fried chicken. Very Good+. About $13, representing Good Value.
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La Petite Fontaine 2010, Côtes du Rhône, France. 14% alc. 60% grenache, 20% syrah, 15% cinsault, 5% carignan. Dark ruby color; fleshy, spiced and macerated blackberries, black currants and plums; smoke, briers and brambles, plush but somewhat rustic tannins, very earthy and minerally. Simple and direct, tasty; for burgers, grilled sausages and the like. Screw-cap. Very Good. About $13.
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Luca Bosio Moscato d’Asti 2010, Piedmont, Italy. 5.5% alc. Exactly what you want Moscato d’Asti to be: clean, fresh and lively, with notes of apple, orange and orange blossom and a hint of lime peel; mildly but persistently effervescent, a winsomely soft, cloud-like texture balanced by fleet acidity; initial sweetness that dissolves through a dry, limestone-laced finish. Truly charming. Very Good+. About $17
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Verget Terres de Pierres Macon-Village 2010, Maconnais, France. 13% alc. A lovely expression of the chardonnay grape; fresh and appealing, pineapple and grapefruit laced with jasmine and cloves, quince and ginger; very dry but juicy, sleek and svelte, borne on a tide of limestone and shale; makes you happy to be drinking it. A great choice for your house chardonnay. Very Good+. About $18. (Not a sample; I paid $22 in Memphis.)
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Trimbach Riesling 2009, Alsace, France. 13% alc. Pale straw-yellow; apple, fig and lychee, camellia, hints of pear and petrol; brings up a bit of peach and almond skin; very spicy, crisp and lively, svelte and elegant, nothing flamboyant or over-ripe; delicate flavors of roasted lemon and baked pears; long limestone-infused finish with a touch of grapefruit bitterness. Excellent. About $25.
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Friday again, so soon, time flies, seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, and then it’s like why didn’t I drink more wine? So, here’s your chance! Today’s Friday Wine Sips are mainly from California except for an Argentine malbec I threw in to mess with your heads this morning. As usual, I eschew technical data for the sake of brevity, punch, vim and vigor. Seven wines here, arranged by price; six recommended, one emphatically not. These were all samples for review, as I am required to inform you by the Federal Trade Commission.
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Rodney Strong Chalk Hill Chardonnay 2010, Sonoma County. 14.5% alc. Bright and bold but not flashy or overdressed; classic pineapple-grapefruit scents and flavors freighted with notes of green apple and cloves, a hint of some floral aspect; very dry but juicy, lively and taut with acidity and a sinewy limestone element but a lovely, almost lush powdery texture; a zing of grapefruit and flint on the finish. Very attractive. Very Good+. About $13.50, a Raving Bargain.
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Conundrum, 2009, California. 13.5% alc. The famous mystery white blend from Caymus, though the grapes are chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, muscat canelli, viognier and semillon. Radiant medium straw-gold color; mango and jasmine, roasted lemon and cinnamon toast; you feel the oak in the presence of a touch of toffee and spicy baked pears; quite spicy altogether, hints of lychee, lemongrass and petrol; lovely talc-like texture balanced by bright acidity and limestone. The best Conundrum in years. Current release is 2010 but the ’09 is still widely available. Excellent. About $18.
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Parley The Bookmaker 2009, California. 14.5% alc. 70% cabernet sauvignon, with zinfandel, petite sirah and petit verdot. From Ramian Estate. Pick up a cheeseburger with one hand and a glass of this robust wine with the other. Black currants, black raspberry and plums; laden with smoke and spice, potpourri, thyme and cedar, a hint of graphite minerality; rambunctious and slightly shaggy tannins wedded to svelte oak; long sleek, dusty finish. 570 cases. Very Good+. About $19.
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Morgan Syrah 2009, Monterey County. 13.8% alc. Blackberry and black raspberry with undertones of blueberry and mulberry; lavender and violets, cloves and sandalwood; a deep exotic core of bittersweet chocolate, moss and smoked Russian tea; quite earthy, a little rustic and muscular but eminently drinkable, balanced and integrated. Very Good+. About $20.
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Mer Soleil Barrel Fermented Chardonnay 2008, Santa Lucia Highlands, Monterey. 14.5% alc. Medium gold color with green highlights; big, rich, bold, brassy; very ripe, very spicy, very toasty; mango, pineapple and grapefruit, buttered toast, toffee, brown sugar, coconut crème brûlée, bananas Foster; full-bodied, rampant ripeness and oak; a woody stridently spicy finish. Who would want to make such an exaggerated “chardonnay”? Who would want to drink it? Not recommended. About $32.
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Colomé Estate Malbec 2010, Calchaqui, Salta, Argentina. 14.5% alc. Dark ruby-purple color; intense and concentrated; walnut shell and rosemary, cedar and bay leaf, black currants, black raspberry and blueberry; a combination of austere and juicy with deep, dry dusty tannins and huge reserves of oak and dry woody spices. Try from 2014 to 2018 or ’20. Very Good+ with Excellent potential. About $30.
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Hidden Ranch 55% Slope Cabernet Sauvignon 2007, Sonoma County. 14% alc. 100% cabernet sauvignon. Ripe, fleshy and meaty, intense and concentrated black currants, black cherries and plums; graphite right through the core to the bottom; mint, dried thyme and bay leaf, earthy and loamy; huge power of dynamic fine-grained tannins, vibrant acidity and a great undertow of polished oak, but boy this is lithe and sleek and seductive. A tremendous achievement. Best from 2013 or ’14 through 2019 to ’22. Excellent. About $45.
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One feature of writing about wine that I especially enjoy is trying products from wineries that I’ve never encountered. Such a one is Manzoni Vineyards, a small family-owned and operated estate in Monterey County’s Santa Lucia Highlands. The winery traces its origin to Joseph Manzoni, who left Switzerland for the New World in 1921 and established a dairy business in the Salinas Valley, an area south of San Francisco that supplies a huge amount of the vegetables that Americans consume. (The town of Salinas is the seat of Monterey County.) Manzoni eventually shifted to cash crop farming, a tradition his descendants continue even as the third generation, Mark and Michael Manzoni, maintain their vineyards and make their elegant, understated wines. The winery was founded in 1990, with imported clones planted in 1999.

These wines were samples for review.
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The Manzoni Home Vineyard Pinot Noir 2010, Santa Lucia Highlands, is an individual but not eccentric rendition of the grape, one that embodies pinot noir’s innate balance between elegance and power. The color is dark ruby with a tinge of magenta at the rim; seductive aromas of melon ball, rhubarb and black cherry with a hint of cranberry are woven with cola and sandalwood, earth and leather, rose petal and camellia. You could stop right there and just smell this wine, except that you would miss a lovely satiny texture that robes slightly spiced and macerated black and red fruit flavors beautifully poised and integrated with a subtle, supple oak influence and enough tannins to give the wine a firm but unobtrusive framework and foundation. 14.2 percent alcohol. Production was 441 cases. Drink now through 2014. Excellent. About $26.
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What a pleasure to try a syrah that doesn’t think it has to grab your tongue, plow your palate and run over you with a Harley to make its effects known. What I first want to point out in respect to the Manzoni Home Vineyard Syrah 2009, Santa Lucia Highlands, is that its tannins are beautiful; I don’t think I have said that about a wine in almost 28 years of writing about the subject. These tannins feel as if they had been sanded with very fine sandpaper and buffed with chamois; they fill the mouth, formidably yet softly, almost cloud-like yet with a particular intensity of purpose and integration. These tannins are married to piercing minerality in the infinitesimally-grained granite and graphite range, all of this subject to the authority of lively acidity and deep mossy earthiness. Red and black currants, blackberries and blueberries form the core of the wine’s fruit aspects, permeated by notes of lavender and licorice, smoky potpourri and bittersweet chocolate and, in the finish, a slight bite of wet fur and ash. Absolutely classic. I would rather drink this wine than a thousand over-ripe, over-oaked, high-alcohol blockbuster syrahs. 14.2 percent alcohol. 494 cases. Drink now through 2014 or ’15. Excellent. About $26.
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Sunday is the Big Day, and millions of Americans will gather in their caves around open fires, er, I mean, in their dens, media rooms and home theaters around the hypnotic glow of large-screen televisions to watch Super Bowl XLVI and devour billions of chicken wings, pigs-in-blankets and cheesy barbecue nachos. Many will drink beer, of course, yet there are wines perfectly suited to the hearty, fat-and-calorie-laden snacks that will be crammed into mouths, er, I mean, politely nibbled during the hours when the Giants and Patriots are pummeling each other in Indianapolis. Here, then, are 10 deep, dark, spicy, wild and/or brooding wines that call out to your bowl of chile, your platter of grilled sausages.

As is the case with these “Friday Wine Sips,” I go straight to the brief review and offer no technical, historical of geographical data. What you see is what you get. Unless otherwise indicated, these wines were samples for review. Image from 123rf.com.
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Alamos Red Blend 2010, Mendoza, Argentina. 13.5% alc. 40% malbec, 18% tempranillo, 14% bonarda, 14% cabernet sauvignon, 7% petit verdot, 7% syrah. Very tasty; robust, hearty, deep, dark and spicy; ripe black and blue fruit scents and flavors permeated by briers and brambles, dense and chewy tannins and sifted mineral elements, all bolstered by vibrant acidity. Not a blockbuster, but definitely a bruiser. Very Good. About $13.
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Zanthos Zweigelt 2009, Burgenland, Austria. 13% alc. Black as the night that covers me from pole to pole, this one radiates tarry, earthy spicy black currant, boysenberry and plum fruit edged with leather, graphite and wild mulberry jam. These boots were made for drinking. Very Good+. About $14 and Worth a Search.
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Liberty School Cabernet Sauvignon 2009, Paso Robles, California. 13.5% alc. Miles better than most cabs at the price; loads of character and integrity; weaves the requisite strands of vivid, fresh black currant, black raspberry and plum aromas and flavors supported by spicy oak and clean, tightly-drawn acidity, all spread over a bedrock of earthy, graphite-like minerality and a bit of forest. Delicious intensity and simple purity. It’ll ring yer bell. Very Good+. About $14, a Real Bargain.
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Lee Family Farm Silvaspoons Vineyard Rio Tinto 2009, Alta Mesa, Lodi. 13.4% alc. Made from Port grapes: tinta roriz 34%, touriga nacional 28%, alvarelbo 19%, touriga francesa 19%. Blackish ruby-purple color; spicy oak, spicy black currant, black raspberry and blackberry fruit; did I say spicy yet? Deep and dark, yet placid, smooth, despite grainy tannins and elements of underbrush and earthy graphite; then, a whiff of violets. Manly but not muscle-bound. 400 cases. Very Good+. About $16.
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Lenore Syrah 2008, Columbia Valley, Washington State. (Corvidae Wine Co., by Owen Roe) 14.4% alc. Big, shaggy, juicy; black currants, blueberries and blackberry jam infused with Port; smoke, ash, roasted plums, furry tannins set amid earthy, glittering iron filings-like minerality. A fountain of fortitude. Very Good+. I paid $16, but you see it around the country as low as $12.
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Modern Wine Project Malbec 2007, Columbia Valley, Washington State. (Sleight of Hand Cellars) 14.5% alc. 100% malbec. A Rough Rider of a red wine, robust and rustic, a bit shaggy in the tannin arena, but bursting with dark, smoky and spicy black currant, blueberry and black plum flavors — a little fleshy, a little meaty — framed by polished oak and dusty graphite. Neither bashful nor apologetic. Very Good+. Prices all over the map, but look for $19 to $22.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Anka 2008, Maipo Valley, Chile. (Vina Pargua) 14% alc. Cabernet sauvignon 57%, merlot 16%, cabernet franc 15%, carmemère 7%, syrah 4%, petit verdot 1%. Wildly floral and berryish; black and red currants, mulberries; licorice and lilac; smooth but dense, chewy texture, full-bodied, sleek and sculpted yet vibrant, something untamed here, woolly and roguish. Luaus and late dates. Very Good+. About $20.
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Maquis Carmemère 2009, Colchagua Valley, Chile. 14% alc. Dry, dusty and earthy; blatantly spicy, earthy and mineral-laced; very intense and concentrated; the blackest and bluest of fruit, spiced and macerated, a little roasted and fleshy; lots of stones and bones, bastions of fine-grained tannins. Needs a bowl of chili to unleash its testosterone. Very Good+. About $20.
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Vale do Bofim Reserva 2009, Douro, Portugal. (Symington Family Estates) 13.5% alc. Mainly touriga nacional grapes. Fresh, spicy, another wild, uninhibited wine; penetrating and poignant aromas and flavors of blackberry, black currants and plums with clear tones of blueberry and mulberry, etched with floral elements and leather, vivid acidity and polished tannins; dry, dense, chewy. Excellent. About $23.
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Owen Roe Ex Umbris Syrah 2008, Columbia Valley, Washington State. 14.1% alc. If deep purple had a smell and taste, this would be it. Rich, warm, spicy, enticing bouquet; black currants, black raspberries and blueberries; deeply imbued with leather, underbrush and forest floor; hints of wet dog and damp moss; ripe, fleshy, meaty; dusty granite and a touch of rhubarb and boysenberry. Cries out for barbecue brisket, ribs, osso buco. “Ex Umbris” means “from the shadows.” Excellent. About $24. (I paid $30.)
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The Wine of the Week doesn’t always have to be a bargain; that’s not the point. Today, however, we definitely have a terrific value. This is the Chateau des Rozets 2009, Coteaux du Tricastin, from a region in the southern Rhone Valley east of the Rhone River and directly north of Chateauneuf-du-Pape and Avignon. In this red wine area, the Bernard family, producers of Domaine des Rozets, has been cultivating vines since 1794, and, yeah, I’m a sucker for that kind of longevity and dedication. The wine is a blend of 65 percent grenache grapes, 35 percent syrah and 5 percent cinsault; it’s made completely in stainless steel tanks, so what you smell and taste are pure fruit and its attendant characteristics. Heady aromas of black currants, blackberries and plums are woven with notes of briers and brambles, cloves and back-notes of violets and tar, and I mean tar in the very best sense. Chateau de Rozets 2009 is robust but not rustic, with vivid black and blue fruit flavors, a mildly earthy-leathery nature and slightly grainy tannins, all supported by clean, bright acidity. Nothing earthshaking, but boy how satisfying it was with a roasted Cornish hen. 13.5 percent alcohol. Very Good+. About $12.

Imported by Chloé Wines, Seattle, Wash.

Zaca Mesa was a pioneer in bringing syrah to Santa Barbara County, planting that region’s first syrah vines in 1978. Founded in the early ’70s, the winery first planted just about every grape variety available but gradually narrowed the field to Rhone Valley types. Since the 1990s, Zaca Mesa has produced only Rhone-style wines, with a focus on estate and single-vineyard syrah. Winemaker is Eric Mohseni.

Wine of the Week is the Zaca Mesa Syrah 2008, Santa Ynez Valley, the producer’s basic syrah wine. Aged 16 months in French oak barrels, 35 percent new, 65 percent up to four years old, the wine offers complex layering of spicy, floral and earthy elements woven with dense, chewy grainy tannins and lively acidity, all set in fine balance. The color is dark ruby-purple; aromas of blackberries, black currants and plums are permeated by notes of sage and thyme, smoky oak and leather, violets and lavender and a pointed dusty graphite quality. So far, this is textbook syrah, and the impression deepens with ripe, spicy and concentrated black and blue fruit flavors founded on a classic character of slightly mossy underbrush qualities that generously unfold to reveal a core of potpourri, bitter chocolate and scintillating slate-like minerality. The finish is long and spicy. Lovely purity and authenticity and well-suited to an upcoming Fall season of braised and grilled meat. 14.5 percent alcohol. Drink now through 2014 or ’15. Excellent. About $25.

A sample for review.