Two days late …. sorry, but a good way to launch a new month.

And not actually wine but sparkling cider, and boy is this incredibly pleasant stuff. And it’s nothing like the “sparkling cider” you see in the grocery stores, which is apple juice injected with bubbles.

Duché de Longueville, located in Anneville-sur-Scie in Normandy, where they know something about raising apples, was founded as a distillery in 1925 but in 1950 switched to naturally-made sparkling cider. This is the only — what would the word be? — cidriere? in the world that makes — are you ready? — single-orchard, single-variety sparkling cider. The example that I’m sipping at this moment is made from the Muscadet de Dieppe apple and is a Cidre Bouché de Cru, that is, a cider bottled with a champagne-style cork. It emits a satisfying little pfft when the cork is released.

The color is radiant gold with a tinge of brass. Bubbles are mildly effervescent and form a bit of a frothy head. The stuff smells and tastes like apples: pure, intense, platonically apple-like, a little spicy, a little nutty, even, and with tart acidity and, on the finish, a powerful element of apple skin earthiness and bitterness. The cider is a touch sweet on the entry but from mid-palate through the finish registers as bone-dry. The alcohol content is 2 percent, so the intoxicating factor is almost imaginary. Wonderfully refreshing. Very Good+. I paid $10, which seems to be the price throughout the country.

A Christopher Cannon Selection for Europvin USA, Van Nuys, Cal.

Say you’re preparing an Italian dinner, or you want to take a couple of reasonably priced Italian wines to dinner, or you just want a couple of terrific and reasonably priced Italian wines to drink, I mean, I’m not trying to suggest a career path or anticipate your every need, but try this pair:

For the white, La Tunella Pinot Grigio 2009, from Italy’s far northeastern Colli Orientali del Friuli region, or “Eastern Hills of Friuli.” I gripe and bitch and moan about the mediocre quality of 90 percent of the pinot grigio wines on the market, but this is not one of those. And, no, La Tunella does not mean “the little tuna”; it is, rather, the name of a hill and village close to this impeccably run family property. Made all in stainless steel, La Tunella Pinot Grigio 2009 opens with a spurt of spiced and herbed lemon, followed by scintillating green apple and a hint of apple blossom, and then something warmer, acacia, roasted pear. Forget watery pinot grigios; this offers a lovely sense of weight and balance that join crisp, lively acidity with elegant lushness. The wine is spicier in the mouth, especially through the finish, where the lemon and pear flavors are haunted by a hint of grapefruit. Incredibly charming. The alcohol content is 13 percent. Drink as a beguiling aperitif or with grilled fish and seafood. Excellent. About $21.

For the red, here’s a robust example from “the sun-burnt South,” as Keats says, referring to Provence, except that the Rapitalà “Nuar” 2007 is from Sicily, which, as you know, as souther. The wine is a full-throttle blend of 70 percent nero d’Avola and 30 percent pinot nero (pinot noir), as unusual combination, as is the treatment. The nero d’Avola sees only stainless steel, while the pinot noir is fermented in stainless steel and then transferred to small French oak casks for nine months. The result is a wine whose ripe, fleshy, meaty black fruit scents and flavors provide a heady kick that leans to the funky side of the street. These aspects of black cherry, black currant and blackberry are heightened by a touch of fruit cake and baking spices, by an earthy and minerally, slightly granitic vein and highlighted by acidity that stops short of being pert. In several words, the Rapitalà Nuar 2007 is perfect for hearty pizzas and pasta dishes, for barbecue brisket or braised short ribs and other such rib-sticking fare. The alcohol content is 13.5 percent. Drink now through 2012. very Good+. About $16.

Samples for review.
La Tunella imported by Quintessential, Napa, Cal.
Rapitalà imported by Frederick Wildman & Sons, New York.

First, a lesson in wine geography and nomenclature.

Readers familiar with the official A.O.C. system — Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée — that governs grape-growing and winemaking in France probably know that there are basic wines from Bordeaux that can be labeled as such and basic wines from Burgundy that can be labeled as Bourgogne. The same is not true, however, for the Loire Valley region. Burgundy is minuscule in extent compared to Bordeaux, while Bordeaux is dwarfed by the Loire Valley, noted for being France’s largest and most diverse vineyard and wine-producing area. Grape varieties in Burgundy and Bordeaux, to stay with these handy examples, are limited and consistent; the Loire Valley is blessed — some would say cursed — with a dizzying array of grape varieties. If you picked up a bottle labeled Bourgogne Blanc, you could count on chardonnay being inside the bottle (well, yes, there’s a little pinot blanc in those vineyards); similarly, you would know that Bordeaux Blanc would be a blend of sauvignon blanc and semillon, perhaps with a touch of sauvignon gris or muscadelle. What would be inside a bottle labeled generically as Loire Valley Blanc, however, would be anybody’s guess.

This little disquisition leads to the Wine of the Week, the Pascal Jolivet Attitude Sauvignon Blanc 2009, which carries the designation Vin de Pays du Val de Loire. “Ah ha,” you crow, “there it is, F.K. ‘Val de Loire.’ Loire Valley.” Ah ha, yourself. Notice that this wine is a Vin de Pays, a “country wine,” and therefore a step below the A.O.C. wines in the French scheme of vinous things. Once known by the rather meaningless title Vin de Pays du Jardin de la France, the name was changed to Vin de Pays du Val de Loire in 2007, lending a regional identity which is still somewhat misleading, since this Vin de Pays encompasses 14 departments..

Now, here’s the interesting part. The grapes for this wine derive from two vineyards in the Touraine A.O.C., a Central Loire area rich in history and grand chateaux and a long heritage of winemaking. A Touraine Blanc A.O.C. does exist; the wine can be a blend of chenin blanc, sauvignon blanc, arbois and up to 20 percent chardonnay. There’s even an appellation for Sauvignon de Touraine. So, why did Pascal Jolivet elect to label this wine as VDP du Val de Loire rather than the A.O.C. Sauvignon de Touraine? The clue perhaps lies in the letters “I.G.P” after the VDP designation on the label. The initials stand for Indication Géographique Protégée — “protected geographical region” — and it’s part of a five-year modernization of wine regulations launched by the French government in May 2008. IGP will replace the VDP level of wines, and among other easing of the former rules, it will allow producers to make wines from whatever grape varieties they chose and to take grapes from two or more regions. (It also allows the use of wood chips instead of oak barrels.)

Anyway and finally, the Pascal Jolivet Attitude Sauvignon Blanc 2009, made all in stainless steel, is a charming wine with enough seriousness about it to demand some consideration. The color is very pale straw-gold. Aromas of lemon and lime are imbued with elements of limestone and flint and hints of grapefruit skin and apple skin. There is indeed a bit of “attitude” about the wine, evidenced in its bright spiciness and the boldness of its clean acidity. Flavors of roasted lemon, quince and ginger are bolstered by deep, pervasive minerality, a sort of chalk over limestone foundation, while the texture is both lively and supple. The finish is rounded with a bracing bell-tone of grapefruit pith. Alcohol content is an eminently sane 12.5 percent. This was terrific with seared sock-eye salmon, potato salad and chard. Very Good+. About $17.

Imported by Frederick Wildman and Sons, New York. A sample for review.

Sometimes the story is almost as interesting as the wine. The wine in question is the Llai Llai Pinot Noir 2008, from Chile’s Bio Bio region, 300 miles south of Santiago and the southernmost of the narrow country’s vineyard areas.

Pierre Marchand, head winemaker for Bodegas Corpora, has been the winemaker for several prestigious producers in Burgundy, including Domaine Bruno Clair, Domaine Comte Armand and Domaine de la Vougeraie. In 1999, he joined the Boisset Group and went to work for the company’s joint venture in Chile with Corpora. When Boisset sold its share in the venture, Corpora took Marchand on as chief winemaker to oversee production for all its labels. Marchand does this while he continues to produce a negociant label in Burgundy under his own name. Making wine in Burgundy in one season and in South American at the following harvest must build up the frequent flyer miles. Winemaker for Llai Llai is Louis Vallet, another Burgundian who works two harvests a year, six months and many thousands of miles apart.

Despite their Burgundian orientation, Vallet and Marchard do not impose a classic (or trite) framework on Llai Llai Pinot Noir 2008, allowing for the individuality dictated by a rather exotic location for the grape. The wine sees some oak, but it’s a 50/50 combination of one-year-old French oak and stainless steel for 11 months, so any wood influence is persuasive yet gentle. The color is a lovely medium ruby with a magenta glow. The bouquet wafts a sweet exhalation of cloves and sassafras, dried red currants, tobacco leaf and spiced and macerated plums. This pinot noir is quite dry, lively and spicy, with flavors of red currants, cranberries and mulberries that unfurl a touch of cinnamon and a hint of briers and clean earth and enough tannin to make it slightly chewy. All factors are deftly handled, so the wine feels light without being tenuous and fleshed-out without being obvious. Alcohol content is 13.4 percent. Drink now through 2012. Very Good+. About $13, a Raving Bargain.

Imported by W.J. Deutsch & Sons, Harrison, N.Y. A sample from a broker.

The Regaleali “Le Rose” 2009, from the Sicilian producer Tasca d’Almerita, is among the most charming and refreshing rosé wines I have tasted all summer. Tasted? Nay, happily consumed in these Dog Days when the temperature is just, as we say in our house, stinkin’ hot. Today, for example, the mercury is supposed to reach 105, with a heat index of 115. Taint a fit day out for man nor beast. The grape for this wine is the nerello mascalese, indigenous to the island of Sicily.

The color is a radiant copper-salmon, midway between the classically pale of the South of France and the increasingly and unnaturally dark of “rosés” from Australia and California. Aromas of ripe and slightly fleshy raspberries and red currants are twined with hints of melon and peach and a slight sensation of earthiness. This is a lovely, supple and quite dry rosé that exhibits delicately spiced and macerated red fruit flavors imbued with traces of dried thyme and tarragon wrapped around a lean backbone of limestone and thirst-quenching acidity. The alcohol content is 12.5 percent. Very Good+. Prices range from about $10 to $14 around the country, but like an idiot I paid $18 at a store here in Memphis. Caveat emptor, indeed.

Leonardo Locascio Selections for Winebow Inc., New York.

How much would you pay for a bottle of Prosecco? You’re thinking, $18, $20 tops, right? Or even less?

What if I told you that there is a segment of Prosecco that is positioning itself to compete, price-wise, with sparkling wines in the $30- to $45-range? These products are from a small area within the Valdobbiadene D.O.C. region (north of Venice) called Cartizze; examples are allowed the designation Superiore di Cartizze. How small is Cartizze? Within a triangle of steep hillsides defined at its points by three villages, the vineyard area amounts to 108 hectares, or about 277.5 acres. (In comparison, Chateau Lafite Rothschild, one estate in Bordeaux, covers 247 acres.) It is here that the Prosecco grape reaches (or supposedly reaches) its apotheosis. All right, perhaps that’s too strong a word for what’s going on, but I’ll admit that over the past few days I’ve tried several Prosecco Valdobbiandene Superiore di Cartizze, to give the full name, and they were miles better than 90 percent of the Proseccos I have had in the past.

One of these was Le Colture Cartizze, a non-vintage spumante made from an estate in Santo Stefano, one of the trio of villages mentioned above. The winery belongs to Cesare and Renato Ruggeri, whose family has owned it since 1500. Le Colture Cartizze opens with scintillating aromas of lime and pear with hints of lemon balm and jasmine, these strands resolving to steel and cloves. Myriad tiny bubbles are like feckless glints of silver in a pale gold column. The wine is crisp and lively, taut with steely acidity; this is not a creamy, dreamy Prosecco such as may come from further east, near the town of Conegliano, but an edgy, nervy thing inspired by the soil and exposure of the hills around Valdobbiadene. It’s pure lemon in all that fruit’s manifestations in the mouth: Spiced, macerated and roasted and charged with a tinge of tangerine and almond, yet these delights bow before the stark elegance of limestone and shale. No, readers, this is no ordinary Prosecco. Excellent. About $30 to $35.

Imported by T. Edwards Wines, New York. A sample from a trade group.

Judy Jordan, daughter of Tom and Sally Jordan, owners of the well-known Jordan Vineyard & Winery in Alexander Valley, could have stayed in the family business, but elected to start her own winery in 1986. While Jordan concentrates on cabernet sauvignon and chardonnay, Judy’s idea was to stay in Sonoma County but focus on the Russian River Valley and its potential for pinot noir, chardonnay and sparkling wine. This vision succeeded admirably; while I have not tasted the full range of pinot noirs, certainly the J vintage Brut is one of California’s best sparkling wines. J’s winemaker is George Bursick.

It would be easy to assert that J’s venture into pinot gris is a side issue, except that it’s such an appealing rendition. The J Pinot Gris 2009, with a California designation, draws upon grapes from Russian River Valley (43%), Clarksburg, in the Sacramento Delta (50%) and Monterey County (7%). Made completely in stainless steel, the wine offers hints of apple and apple skin, baked pear and tangerine with undertones of almond and almond blossom. In the mouth, the fruit aims more toward the citrus direction. with slightly spicy, slightly creamy lemon and lime highlighted by crisp, tingling acidity and a touch of earthy limestone. A model of delicacy and decorum, lightly yet inextricably woven, and incredibly attractive, 14.3 percent alcohol. Drink through 2011 as aperitif or with light snacks and appetizers. Excellent. About $20.

A sample for review.

The venerable and extensive Badia a Coltibuono estate in Tuscany goes back a thousand years, to the time of patient, tireless monks toiling in the hillside vineyards. The property, now almost 2,300 acres, is owned by the Stucchi Prinetti family, descendants of Florentine banker Guido Giuntini who acquired the estate in 1846. In addition to wines from its own vineyards, Badia a Coltibuono produces a line under the “Coltibuono” brand made from purchased grapes from selected Tuscan vineyards. To that roster belongs the Chianti Classico “Roberto Stucchi” (or “R.S.”) 2008, made from 100 percent sangiovese grapes and aged six months in two- and three-year-old French oak casks and barriques. The Consorzio that regulates these matters allowed Chianti Classico to be made completely from sangiovese grapes, rather than the traditional blend with caniaolo, in 1996.

The Coltibuono Chianti Classico “Roberto Stucchi” 2008, a model of clean, fresh purity and intensity, offers an enticing, even an intoxicating bouquet of red and black currants, orange zest, potpourri, black pekoe tea and cloves. Things are a bit more subdued in the mouth, where the wine delivers a classic package of bristling acidity, moderately dense and dusty tannins and a touch of shale to bolster flavors of dried currants and plums with a hint of spiced and macerated black cherries, mossy tea and leather. Drink now through 2012 or ’13, to accompany grilled leg of lamb studded with garlic and rosemary; pasta Bolognese; sausage pizza; or a medium-rare rib-eye steak, sliced and sprinkled with sea-salt. 13 percent alcohol. Very Good+. About $15 to $18.

Imported by Dalla Terra Winery Direct, Napa, Cal. Tasted at a trade event.

You may have to do a little ferreting around to find this wine, but it will be worth the effort, I promise.

It’s the Dominique Cornin Mâcon-Chaintré 2007, a 100 percent chardonnay wine made in the Mâcon-Villages appellation in the southern part of Burgundy. The domaine is run by brothers Dominique and Romain Cornin and their horse Coccinelle. They — the brothers — are the third generation of the family to work the domaine and make wine from its cluster of vineyards that range from 15 to 40 years old. Since 2003, the domaine has been operated on biodynamic principles.

Dominique Cornin Mâcon-Chaintré 2007 is made completely in stainless steel, so it sees no oak. The wine is an expressive example of the intensity and purity that the chardonnay grape is capable of achieving without interference. The bouquet is penetrating and rich, almost peaty, yet vibrantly fresh and clean and packed with spiced pear and roasted lemon with a hint of pineapple. In the mouth, seamless layers of flint, limestone and oyster shell dig deep and bolster lemon and grapefruit flavors permeated by cloves, quince and ginger. The texture and structure handily balance lithe, crisp, vivid acidity with talc-like lushness, elements that lead to an increasingly dry finish of stony austerity. At a bit less than three years old, this is a fully mature Mâcon-Villages for drinking through 2011 or ’12, well-stored. A lovely wine with tons of personality. About 1,320 cases produced. Excellent. Prices around the country range from about $17 to $24(!), so look for $21 and under for Good Value.

We drank the Dominique Cornin Mâcon-Chaintré 2007 last night with grilled tuna, doused with a lime-chili vinaigrette, and grilled vegetables, i.e. eggplant, zucchini. yellow squash and tomatoes, marinated for an hour in olive oil, salt and pepper, oregano and marjoram. It all made a great match.

Imported by Martine’s Wines, Novato, Cal. A sample from the local wholesaler.

Every print and online wine publication in the Northern Hemisphere has been promoting what we’ll call Wines for Summer Sipping lately, and here at BTYH we’re no different. Few activities are more relaxing than sitting on the porch or patio, lounging by the pool or gamboling in forest cool and dim or meadow wide and fragrant at a picnic while sipping a refreshing, delicate, summery wine. And here’s one of the most attractive around. The name and label are quite clever; notice, class, the provocative use of negative space.

Innocent Bystander Pinot Gris 2009, from the Yarra Valley region of Victoria — the large geographical bump on the bottom of southeast Australia — is, in three words, charming, delightful, appealing. A blend of 91 percent pinot gris grapes and 9 percent viognier, aged a few months in older French oak barrels, and sporting a lovely pale-straw-gold color, the wine offers a seductive bouquet of jasmine, green apple and lemon balm infused with bee’s-wax and hints of cloves and ginger. Bone-dry but nicely ripe and rounded, Innocent Bystander Pinot Gris 09 delivers flavors of pears and roasted lemon buoyed by touches of dried thyme and lime peel, pea shoots, more ginger and just a pass at the tang of grapefruit’s bracing bitterness, way out at the edge of the finish. Crystalline acidity and a nod at damp limestone complete an irresistible package. Try with grilled shrimp and mango salsa, sushi, simply prepared fish dishes (no cream sauce, please) or as a crowd-pleasing aperitif. Very Good+. About $15-$16, a Great Value.

Imported by Old Bridge Cellars, Napa, Cal. A sample for review.