We often drink the Cakebread Sauvignon Blanc in restaurants, occasionally buying a bottle but more often by the glass, so obviously we like it. Cakebread Cellars was the first winery I visited on my first trip to Napa Valley, in 1987, covering the Napa Valley Wine Auction. The winery celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, having been founded in 1973 by Jack Cakebread, photographer and owner of Cakebread’s Garage, an auto repair shop in San Francisco started by Leo Cakebread in 1927. I say that Jack Cakebread founded the winery, but his wife Dolores and sons Steve, Bruce and Dennis cannot be left out of even a brief account of the Cakebread history. The company is still family-owned and has grown from its original 22 acres to hundreds of acres with vineyards throughout Napa Valley and a pinot noir outpost in Anderson Valley, Mendocino County. Jack Cakebread is CEO, Bruce is president and COO, and Dennis is senior vice president for sales and marketing. Winemaker since 2002 has been Julianne Laks.

The Cakebread Cellars Sauvignon Blanc 2011, Napa Valley, is a carefully calibrated wine that offers so much pleasure that it does not feel micro-managed. The grapes derive from the estate’s vineyards in Rutherford, Calistoga, Carneros and southeastern Napa Valley. The blend is 92 percent sauvignon blanc (4 percent of that the aromatic sauvignon musque clone) and 8 percent semillon. The wine fermented primarily in stainless steel (82 percent) with the rest in one-to-four-year-old French oak barrels. Ninety percent of the wine aged five months in neutral French oak, that is, in barrels previously used to the extent that any wood influence is minimal. The point is that the wine sees no new oak (with its taint of vanilla and toast) and what oak it comes in contact with provides gentle shaping and suppleness and spice without dominating the package. The other point is that thoughtful winemaking disappears into the wine.

So, a pale gold color that leads into a wine that’s all nuance and freshness and frank appeal. Notes of lemongrass and acacia, roasted lemon and gooseberry are woven with hints of melon, lime peel, grapefruit and tarragon, all conveyed with delicacy and grace. The character is totally lovely tone and presence, with a sense of precision in the (slightly smoky) limestone mineral element and a chiseled quality to the bright, vivid acidity; citrus flavors tend toward grapefruit, lemon and orange zest, with infusions of cloves, bay leaf and green apple bolstered by a texture of moderate lushness perfectly balanced by a trace of spare elegance. 14.1 percent alcohol. Drink now through 2014. We had this over several nights, once with tuna and again with salmon. Excellent. About $24.

A sample for review.

Grenache is a versatile grape, but if it’s mishandled it can come dangerously close to being that generic nadir all things to all people, not a pretty pickle for a grape to find itself in. For today’s Wine of the Week, I offer two versions of the grape, one from Lodi, the other from Dry Creek Valley — obviously both from California — that fulfill quite different functions without doing the slightest damage to the grape’s reputation and in fact enhancing it. Each of these wines is made completely from grenache grapes. Both were samples for review.

First is the Frisk Prickly Grenache 2011, from Lodi’s Woodbridge District — in the Central Valley east of San Francisco Bay — a charming, refreshing wine that features low alcohol, a touch of sweetness and a hint of gently sparkling petillence (not petulance, never that). The Frisk wines, imported by Old Bridge in Napa, were previously made in an area of Australia’s Victoria region called Alpine Valley. What to call this color? Topaz? Copper? Coral? Embarrassed peach? In any case, the wine, made all in stainless steel, offers notes of melon, sour cherry and pomegranate with a tease of cloves and an initial tantalizing strain of candied orange rind. Clean, vivid acidity keeps it dry from mid-palate back through the spicy, slightly limestone-and lime-peel-flecked finish. 11.9 percent alcohol. Completely delightful and wholly appropriate for Summertime drinking with light appetizers and salad-based meals. We had a glass with scrambled egg and pork tenderloin tacos with little yellow tomatoes, sorrel and oregano. Drink through the end of 2013. Very Good+. About $14.

A more traditional approach to the grape is represented by the Quivira Wine Creek Ranch Grenache 2011, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County, traditional in that it’s aged in oak barrels, but rather nontraditional in that this wine is 100 percent grenache grapes, not bolstered with mourvedre or syrah, as typically occurs in the South of France and in Australia. The color is the entrancing medium cherry-mulberry hue seen in glasses of wine in Dutch still-life paintings. In fact, it wouldn’t be surprising if the wine in all those still-life paintings was French, since the Dutch dominated trade in Europe in the 17th Century and regularly shipped wine from France to the Baltic nations. Anyway, this wine aged an indeterminate length of time — the winery’s website is coy about this matter — in a combination of small French and Eastern European oak barrels and in larger 600-gallon casks. Enticing aromas of black and red currants and raspberries are wreathed with hints of briers and brambles and back-notes of cloves and rhubarb and lightly smoked meat; give it a few minutes to emit traces of lilacs and violets. The Quivira Wine Creek Ranch Grenache 2011 offers lovely heft and transparency, delicacy and elegance; there’s nothing heavy or obvious here, all is smooth and supple, spare and lithe. Flavors of spiced and roasted plums open to touches of black cherries and raspberries, as well as deeper elements of forest and graphite. Tannins gently grip the palate and roll on. Don’t pair this wine with brutal red meat dishes, your haunch of venison, your saddle of boar; save this for grilled leg of lamb, though we will be forgiven for drinking it with zucchini lasagna. 14.1 percent alcohol. Now through 2014 or ’15. Production was 501 cases. Excellent. About $30.

Looking for a cheap, decent drinkable red wine to pour with ribs, grilled pork chops, barbecue and burgers and pizza? Here ’tis. The Grove Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon 2010, which carries a general California designation, so don’t ask where the grapes originated, is one of Bronco Wine Co.’s long roster of labels; in this case, winemaker is Kimberly Sapp, and to her I say brava for bringing in a well-made wine at this price. A bit of eccentricity is involved: on the Bronco website, we’re told that the grape blend it 76.9 percent cabernet sauvignon (barely qualifying the wine to be labeled as cabernet sauvignon); 13.6 percent “Proprietor’s Dry Red” and wouldn’t we all like to know what that means; and 9.5 percent segalin, and if at this point My Readers are muttering “wha’ da fuck” I certainly cannot blame them. Segalin — Education Alert! — is a cross of the grape varieties Juraçon noir and Portugais bleu and is used as a blending grape in Southwest France; I had to look it up. Anyway, the Grove Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon 2010 offers a dark ruby color; intense and concentrated scents and flavors of black currants, black cherries and plums, with some wild spicy, fruity note in there; a slightly smoky, fleshy character; moderately dense and chewy tannins with undertones of graphite; and clean vibrant acidity. I mean, what more do you want? 13 percent alcohol. Drink now through the end of 2013. Very Good. About $10 but often discounted to $8. A Real Bargain.

A sample for review.

Perhaps we really are in Spring now, or even tending toward Summer, and while it may be banal to say it — or merely a trope of the winewriting and reviewing gig — I think people are looking for lighter wines that provide delight as well as flavor. In fact, if you’re grilling shrimp or making chicken or tuna salad, an appropriate wine to uncork would be the Heller Estate Chenin Blanc 2011, from Carmel Valley in Monterey County, a blend of 87 percent organically grown chenin blanc and 13 percent riesling, made all in stainless steel. The color is pale gold with a faint green shimmer; the bouquet, well, you could swim in the bouquet or dab it behind your ears, this winsome and pert amalgam of prickly and briery ripe peach and pear with intensely pungent elements of camellia and lilac with a back note of lavender and a burgeoning hint of limestone. True to its principal grape, in the mouth there’s a touch of hay and yellow plum along with those spiced pear and peach flavors, while the limestone and flint minerality expands from mid-palate back and crisp acidity keeps the wine lively and appealing. 13.7 percent alcohol. Drink through the end of 2013. I always look forward to this wine. Excellent. About $23.

A sample for review, as I am required to inform you by ruling of the Federal Trade Commission, an injunction that does not apply to print media.

The Valle d’Itria spreads across the provinces of Bari, Brindisi and Taranto in the region of Apulia in southeastern Italy. Known mainly for olive oil and the curious conical structures called trulli, Valle d’Itria is also home to vineyards that primarily grow indigenous grapes. One of those is the verdeca grape, which makes up 90 percent of Masseria Li Veli Askos Verdeca 2011, Valle d’Itria; the other 10 percent is fiano minutolo. Li Veli, which produces a range of red wines made from primitivo and negroamaro grapes, is owned by the Falvo family; winemaker is Stefano Chioccioli. Masseria Li Veli Askos Verdeca 2011 sees only stainless steel tanks for fermentation and aging, and the wine does not go through malolactic fermentation. The result is wonderful freshness and buoyancy and appealing intensity. The color is pale gold; the seductive bouquet weaves aromas of yellow plums and roasted lemons, lavender and lilac with a hint of pear and dried thyme. For a white wine this crisp and nervy, it offers a surprisingly full body and moderately luscious texture, tempered by pert elements of green tea, lemongrass and grapefruit, with touches of cloves, sea-salt and that slightly resinous character of rosemary. It smells and tastes like the Mediterranean! 13 percent alcohol. Really charming, especially with grilled vegetables, fresh seafood and grilled fish. Now through 2014. Very Good+, and Good Value at about $18.

Dalla Terra Winery Direct, Napa, Ca. A sample for review. Image by Anne Cusack, Los Angeles Times.

I made the Toad Hollow “Eye of the Toad” Dry Rosé of Pinot Noir 2012 my Wine of the Week on March 19. Now it’s the turn of the Toad Hollow Erik’s the Red Proprietary Red Wine 2011, which carries a general “California” designation. Pour quoi? Because the zinfandel and petite sirah grapes for this robust blend came from Lodi, the syrah and malbec from Central Coast, and the dolcetto from Mendocino County. I have a great deal of fondness for this winery that delivers well-made wines at prices sometimes far below what could be asked if quality were the criterion; in other words, Toad Hollow turns out authentic and drinkable wines at great prices. The last Erik’s I reviewed was the 2009; the blend for that wine was primarily merlot, cabernet sauvignon and zinfandel with dabs of souza, tannat, syrah and petite sirah. A different roster of grapes, however, has not changed this wine’s defining characteristic, a combination of attractive rusticity and bumptiousness with full-throttle dark and spicy black and blue fruit flavors and fine detailing of acid, tannin and mineral elements. The color is dark ruby-mulberry; the bouquet teems with notes of black currants, plums and blueberries with hints of mocha, black tea, black olives and pepper. The wine is lively and vibrant, moderately dense and chewy and bursting with ripe, slightly roasted and macerated black cherries, raspberries and currants; a wash of earthy briery-brambly-graphite completes the finish. 13.9 percent alcohol. Great for barbecue ribs, grilled pork chops and steaks or hearty pasta dishes, through the end of 2013. Very Good+. About $15.

A sample for review.

Say, how about a steely, limestone-soaked, oyster-shell-tinged, high-toned little white wine for your delectation? I have just the number you’re looking for. It’s the Chanson Viré-Clessé 2011, a tightly-wound yet paradoxically charming chardonnay from an appellation, created from these two villages in 1998, in the Mâconnais just south of Burgundy proper. The domaine is one of the oldest in Burgundy, dating back to 1750; it has been owned since 1999 by the Family Champagne Group Societé Jacques Bollinger. The color of the Chanson Viré-Clessé 2011 is pale pale straw-gold; aromas of lime peel, lemon and pear are permeated by flint and limestone and a sort of talc-like minerality, by which I mean that gratifying (and symbolic) combination of lilacs and dust. Oh, this is fresh, clean and crisp and crisper, with snappy acidity and the snap of flint and shale that warns of austerity from mid-palate back through the finish. This is not just about structure, however, allowing a winsome floral, fruity and slightly spicy element to emerge, just a hint, you understand, but enough to please before the limestone takes over. 13 percent alcohol. Drink now through 2014. The spareness of the new label matches the lean and lithe nature of the wine. Very Good+. About $22.

Imported by Terlato Wines International, Lake Bluff, Ill. A sample for review. Image, much modified, from hogsheadwine.

The G.H. von Mumm estate was launched in 1811, when Gottlieb Mumm presciently purchased the entire harvest of Schloss Johannisberg in what turned out to be one of the greatest European vintages of the early 19th Century. Two hundred years later, the estate consists of 161 acres of vines in 16 prime sites in the Rheingau, 85 percent of the acreage devoted to riesling. If the nomenclature “G.H.” and “Mumm” look familiar, Gottlieb and his two brothers and two other partners founded a little company in Champagne in 1827 that would become G.H. Mumm, named after Gottlieb’s son and famous for the unmistakeable diagonal red stripe; the Champagne house has been owned since 2005 by Pernod Ricard, taken in its acquisition of Allied-Domecq. The Mumm family has not owned the German estate since 1918.

But enough history! Our concern today is with the Wine of the Week, the G.H. von Mumm 50 degree Riesling Trocken 2011, Rheingau, produced under the watchful eye of present estate director Christian Witte. “Trocken” indicates a dry wine, and while even some German wines so designated can taste a little sweet, at least at the first sips, this example is the true bone-dry, limestone-dry, flint-dry. The wine is titled in honor of the 50th parallel that runs right through the vineyards of the Rheingau. Ephemeral elements of lime peel and grapefruit and elusive touches of lychee and jasmine characterize a bouquet that teems with limestone-like mineral qualities that go on to dominate the flavors of spicy and slightly roasted stone-fruit — peaches and yellow plums –and lend the wine a scintillating and steely sheen, all abetted by whiplash acidity of crystalline intensity. Yes, you feel the vibrancy and resonance all the way down through the somewhat austere but deeply refreshing finish. Now don’t mistake the G.H. von Mumm 50 degree Riesling Trocken 2011 for a multi-layered, nuance-filled wine; this is an entry-level riesling that displays all the necessary qualities in fairly simple direct and tasty form. We drank this one night with seared swordfish, covered with cracked black pepper and chile maresh, and it was terrific. 12 percent alcohol. Very Good+. About $13, representing Great Value.

Imported by Riondo USA, Allendale, N.J. A sample for review.

Let’s spring forward with a delightful Toad Hollow “Eye of the Toad” Rosé of Pinot Noir 2012, Sonoma County. This is not a saignée rosé, in which some juice is bled off from the tank before fermentation to concentrate the resulting wine (i.e., less juice to the same amount of skins). This is, instead, made from pinot noir grapes gently pressed and then pulled from the skins after a short maceration that yields a fine-hued rosé color, a sort of melon pink infused with light copper with a hint of violet at the rim. This is a charming and delicate rosé that displays ineffable aromas of pomegranate and strawberry with hints of melon and peach skin; flavors of spiced peach, red currants and limestone; and a slight dried herb element, all supported by lip-smacking acidity for crisp liveliness. 11.5 percent alcohol and appropriate with all sorts of light Spring fare. Very Good+. About $13, marking Great Value.

A sample for review.

The winery was founded in 1993 by Todd Williams (1938-2007), retired from an illustrious career in bars and restaurants, and Rodney Strong (1927-2006), the former Broadway dancer and Sonoma County vineyard pioneer who had long had no hand in the winery that still bears his name. Artist of the whimsical Toad Hollow labels is Maureen Erickson.

Here’s a reasonably priced and dare we say delightful pinot noir that would not be out of place with a roasted chicken or veal chop this week. The Steelhead Pinot Noir 2011, Sonoma County, offers an attractive medium ruby-magenta color and aromas of strawberries and red cherries with hints of briers and brambles and that spicy-fruity lift and touch of earthiness that characterize the best qualities of Beaujolais, to which add, in scent and flavor, a slight raspiness of wild raspberries and rose hips. The wine is quite dry yet juicy with ripe black and red cherry fruit given some dimension and spice from 10 months in oak barrels. Vibrant acidity lends appealing liveliness, while a touch of graphite-like minerality from mid-palate back gives the wine a steady sense of structure. Charming and tasty, and the sort of wine you could happily quaff with a variety of food. 13.8 percent alcohol. Winemaker is Hugh Chappelle. Very Good+. About $15, representing Good Value.
Notice that the vintage on the label is two years behind. Hey, Steelhead, how about updating that website?
A sample for review.