Help! I’m trapped in Barberaland and can’t get out! Wait, wait, yes, I can do it! I can squeeze through this Sicilian nero d’Avola and save my sanity!

Whew, that was close.

Truth is, I’ll get back to wines made from the barbera grape and other Piedmontese varieties because I have so much to write about, but for today’s Wine of the Week — and sorry that I skipped last week — let’s turn to the sunny south and the largest island in the Mediterranean.

Nature created the nero d’Avola grape to make wine that’s gorgeously drinkable but not profoundly important, and there’s not a damned thing wrong with that; if all creatures on earth could fulfill a function so handily, how happy we would be, n’est-ce pas? The Feudo Principi di Butera Nero d’Avola 2007, Sicilia, is, in five words, big, dark, spicy, ripe and wild. Black currant and plum flavors tinged with blueberry are packed with plush, dusty tannins and graphite-like minerality. Tingling acidity keeps the wine lively and vibrant. Though undeniably dry and even a little austere on the finish, this Principi di Butera Nero d’Avola 2007 benefits from an entrancing core of crushed violets, smoke, potpourri and a slightly Amarone-like roasted raisin quality. Altogether a wine of marked individuality that seems inevitable with braised meats and robust pastas and pizzas. Very Good+. About $14.

Imported by Zonin USA, Charlottesville, Va. A review sample.

I’ve become interested in, not to say fond of, the sparkling wines of the Loire Valley recently. Early in January, on the 10th of the “Twelve Days of the Christmas” series, I featured the Chateau des Vaults Brut Sauvage, Crèmant de Loire; here’s the review. Today we look at the Chateau Moncontour Tête de Cuvée Brut Sparkling Vouvray. These are made in the Méthode Traditionnelle, that is, the champagne method of second fermentation in the bottle to produce the essential bubbles.

The color of the Chateau Moncontour Tête de Cuvée Brut, made completely from chenin blanc grapes, is pale gold with a straw-yellow overtone, and straw is an important signifier because there’s a dry, summery straw-like component in the bouquet. Aromas are rich and expansive, centered on stone fruit like peach and yellow plum, infused with camillia and toasted hazelnuts and a hint of sage, all lifted by a fresh yeasty element. This sparkling wine is quite dry, exuberantly effervescent and enlivened by crisp acidity that boosts flavors of roasted lemon and mango, couched in a texture that’s almost luxurious, toward a suitably limestone-laced finish. A sparkling wine of surprising substance and character for the price. Very Good+. About $21.

Moncontour is an ancient wine producing property. Caves were dug in the limestone hills here in the 10th Century. The estate was established in the 13th Century, and the chateau was built in the 15th Century. Moncontour produces other sparkling wines in addition to a range of demi-sec, sec and dessert wines, all from chenin blanc grapes.

William Harrison Imports, Manassas, Va. A sample for review.

Heated up some leftover turkey and hominy chili with chipotles last night and casting around for a bottle of wine to open, I came across the Prazo de Roriz 2007 from the Douro Valley in Portugal. While it may be an exaggeration to say that table wines will be the saving of the Douro, it’s true that Vintage Porto, while highly lauded in every quarter, is a specialized product, and even more accessible and less expensive renditions, like Late Bottled Vintage and Reserve Portos, are misunderstood and unappreciated in the wider sphere. When producers in the Douro began making table wines from traditional port grapes about 20 years ago, a revolution in style, marketing and revenue was born; many of these producers are offering splendid red wines now, some of which, inevitably, dwell at the more prestigious rungs of the fiduciary ladder. Everyone aspires to greatness, though plenty of cheaper, more readily drinkable products are on hand.

One of these is the Prazo de Roriz 2007. The wine is made at Quinta de Roriz, an estate that dates back to the mid 18th Century and that occupies a stunning vista of steep hillsides along one of the most picturesque stretches of the Douro River. (I was in the Douro last September.) The breakdown of grapes in the wines is touriga nacional (40%), touriga franca (25%), tinta barocca (21%), tinta roriz (12%) and tinto cão (2%). The wine aged seven months in French oak.

Now if the chili had been slightly hotter — it contains two tablespoons of chili powder, a diced jalapeño and two minced chipotles in adobo sauce — the wine would not have worked, but its robust structure and big creamy aromas and flavors of macerated and spiced black currants, black cherries and plums made a fine match. Contributing to this wine’s engaging personality are touches of leather, moss and earth, an element of dried red and black currants, all sustained by vibrant acidity, and an edge of granite-like minerality that penetrates from the finish forward, where you start to feel a little wood and woody spice. Also try with hamburgers and steaks, braised short ribs and barbecue brisket or a hearty beef stew. Drink now through 2012. Very Good+. About $16 or $17.

Imported by Premium Port Wines, San Francisco. A review sample.

Just for the hell of it, I opened a bottle of beer to try with the chili. This was the Dogfish Head Raison d’Étre, brewed with “Belgian beer sugars, green raisins and a sense of purpose” by the well-known, eccentric craft brewery in Milton, Delaware. I’m here to tell you that this brew could certainly give one a purpose in life, though it’s not a deep, dark, thudding model; it is, in fact, surprisingly thoughtful. The color is medium ruddy amber. The nose is clean, fresh and appealing, though with an autumnal tinge of damp earth and mushrooms. It’s quite dry initially, with thrilling balance between fruitiness, acidity and bitterness. There’s baking spice, something a little gingery with a touch of root beer, followed by a hint of raisiny sweetness and the cleansing astringency of peach stone. Quite a beer — I’m sipping from a glass now, as I write these words — and one that achieves its effects largely through a layering of nuance rather than hitting you over the head. About $2.75 at a local store.

The Waterbrook Chardonnay 2007, from Washington’s Columbia Valley, is completely delightful, but it’s intriguing also — at least to geeky ol’ me –for its unique oak regimen.

Forty percent of the wine is fermented in barrels, 60 percent in stainless steel tanks; after fermentation, the wine ages eight months in a combination of half Hungarian oak barrels, 40 percent American oak and 10 percent French oak; only 25 percent of the barrels are new. Obviously a great deal of thought went into this process and these proportions — Waterbrook winemaker is John Freeman — and I have to say that in 25 years and seven months of writing about wine, I don’t recall ever encountering this scenario before. Perhaps it contributes to the wine’s seductive balance and harmony, its gentle spiciness and lovely resonance. Oh, there’s 1.5 percent sauvignon blanc in the wine, too, a device that I assume nudges up the pronounced floral element.

Floral the Waterbrook Chardonnay 2007 certainly is, with notes of honeysuckle and jasmine wreathed around scents of green apple, grapefruit and orange rind and a middle tone of limestone. This is a juicy chardonnay, ripe with classic pineapple-grapefruit flavors shot through with mango and touches of baking spice and lightly buttered toast, these myriad effects knitted by vibrant acidity and a finish of damp stones. Perfectly charming. Very Good+. About $15.

A sample for review.

I’ve been meaning to make the Morgan Sauvignon Blanc 2008, Monterey County, a Wine of the Week for, well, weeks now, but finally this week is, well, the week.

As far as quality/price ratio is concerned, Morgan’s Sauvignon Blanc is habitually one of the Bargains of the Cosmos. For 2008, the wine is a blend of 86 percent sauvignon blanc (including a large percentage of the fragrant musqué clone) and 14 percent semillon. The wine ferments in stainless steel and then 85 percent is transferred to French oak, only 8 percent of that new oak. This careful regimen results is an intensely floral and spicy sauvignon blanc with a suave, almost cushy texture balanced by stirring, crisp acidity — marching feet, flags waving and so on — and a flinty, shale-like element. The bouquet weaves lime and grapefruit, green pea and a hint of bell pepper with seductive notes of jasmine and orange blossom. The citrus character increases in the mouth, while a few minutes in the glass bring in hints of dried thyme and grass and a touch of semillon-inspired leafy-fig. Terrific with shrimp risotto. Excellent. About $15.

Last year I enjoyed several products from Western Australia’s Ad Lib label, including the “Tree Hugger” No Oak Chardonnay 2008 and the “Wallflower” Riesling 2008, both listed among my “25 Great Wine Bargains of 2009.”

Add to those the Ad Lib “Mix Master” Cabernet Sauvignon 2008, Western Australia, a blend with 21 percent merlot that’s fresh and bright and delicious. The color is deep ruby with a pulsing purple core; that’s how resonant it seems. The bouquet teems with touches of smoke and granite-like minerals, black currants and plums and hints of cedar and dried thyme, black olive and bell pepper, that bell pepper an authentic note that sadly has been largely eradicated from the world of cabernet sauvignon these days. Black and blue fruit flavors are intense and earthy, and the wine darkens and gains more intensity as the moments pass, picking up bass tones of espresso and mocha, wood fire and exotic spice, all stitched with vibrant acidity. This is quite a mouthful of wine, and we kept it in the kitchen for a couple of days to sip with lunch or a snack. Bottled with a screw-cap for easy opening. Very Good+. About $17.

Imported by Vintage New World, San Miguel, Cal.

A review sample.

It has been as cold in the Mid-South the past week as it has been in 14 years, so a full-bodied heat-seeking wine was what we needed. With meatloaf one night, I opened a bottle of the Casillero del Diablo Carmenere 2008, a label from Chile’s venerable Concha y Toro. “Ka-ching,” went the wine-and-food-matching bell, and “Yum,” went our satisfaction meters.

The color is dark purple with a deep plum edge. The heady bouquet is loaded with black currants, plums, cedar, tobacco and lead pencil and a heaping portion of exotic spice. A blend of 85 percent carmenere — for decades in Chile thought to be merlot until DNA testing in the 1980s proved otherwise — 10 percent cabernet sauvignon and 5 percent syrah, the wine offers a dense, dusty texture packed with almost furry tannins wrapped around urgently spicy black fruit flavors fretted with potpourri, lavender and bitter chocolate. Among the grape’s characteristics is a sort of dark, tarry gravity, which this example possesses in spades. The wine is aged for eight months, 70 percent in American oak, 30 percent in stainless steel. Winemaker is Marcelo Papa. Drink this with hearty meat and pasta dishes or with grilled chops and steak. Very Good+ and a Great Bargain at about $12.
For whatever reason, the folks at Concha y Toro (or its American importers) do not employ the diacritical marking that ought to be present in the name of this grape — it should be carmenère –but I’ll follow their practice here.
Imported by Banfi Vintners, Old Brookville, N.Y. A sample bottle for review.

I apologize, My Readers, for not posting to BTYH since last Tuesday. It is not my habit, as you know, to neglect this blog, but I have been considerably under the weather since Christmas and am just beginning to feel a tad less puny. We’ll get back on track in a few days.

Here’s a winsome sparkling wine to indulge in come late afternoon or while you’re prepping for dinner or hanging around the kitchen. Casalnova Prosecco del Veneto, made from prosecco grapes grown near the town of Conegliano, north of Venice, sports a pale straw color, myriad smallish bubbles and aromas of warm metal, citrus, lemon curd and delicate almond blossom. The wine is quite crisp and lively, a bit sweet at first– it’s designated “Extra Dry,” which in the parlance of sparkling wine means “a little sweet” — but it’s dry and a mite stony from mid-palate back; the texture is slightly creamy, and subtle flavors of peach and roasted lemon are touched with hints of cloves and cinnamon. There’s a shade of lemon drop in the finish. This is a buoyant, balletic prosecco that offers a sense of substance beyond what most versions deliver. Very Good+. About $18.

Imported by Quintessential Family of Wines, Napa, Cal.

A sample for review.

I don’t mean to be a jerk or anything, but you’ll have to make a few telephone calls or Internet inquiries to find the Mount Horrocks Watervale Riesling 2006, from South Australia’s Clare Valley region. Stephanie Toole runs this small winery in an old country railway station; she is, to my mind, one of the world’s great producers of riesling wines. At three and a half years old, her Watervale Riesling ‘06 has gathered to itself astonishing vibrancy and resonance, having entered a state of such pure and transparent minerality — damp shale, limestone and steel –it’s a wonder drinking it that you don’t turn into luminous crystal. First, though, you catch whiffs of lychee, peach and intense lime peel borne atop penetrating petrol (or rubber eraser) aromas. Speaking of luminous, the acidity practically shimmers in the glass, bringing to the wine a sense of trenchant, eager vitality, fit companion for a spicy nature that burgeons as the moments pass. The wine is very dry, but that character is tempered by a lovely texture that balances bright crispness with a modicum of soft, ripe stone-fruit lushness. We contentedly drank this one night with steelhead salmon, dressed only with salt, pepper and lemon juice and briefly seared. If you can find a case, drink this through 2015 or ‘16, catching it in states as it evolves. Exceptional. About $19.

Imported by USA Wine West, Sausalito, Ca., for The Australian Premium Wine Collection.

This was a sample bottle sent for review purposes.

Though Jean Descombes died in 1993, his jolly visage still appears on the labels of his Morgon wine, a Beaujolais cru. Morgon is one of 10 villages whose names are allowed to appear on the labels of their wines; those names are emphasized over the term Beaujolais. Descombes’ daughter Nicole took over the winemaking duties when her father died. The wine has been bottled and marketed since 1980 by Georges Duboeuf. Beaujolais, south of Burgundy, is the land of the gamay grape, or, as it is officially known, gamay noir a jus blanc; it is a cousin of pinot noir.

Of the 10 Beaujolais crus, Morgon and Moulin-a-Vent represent the more robust end of the range. Indeed, the Jean Descombes Morgon 2008 is full-bodied and resonant, teeming with black currant, black cherry and plum flavors so peppery, so fleshy that the wine is savory, almost lip-smackin’ good. The typical youthful gamay spicy vividness and brightness is couched in notes of briers and brambles and a hint of black olive. Completely delicious but with an edge of minerals and dusty tannins. Jean Descombes Morgons usually age well for 10 or 12 years. Excellent. I paid $17 for this wine; prices nationally range from $14 to an unaccountable $20.

We drank this with a ham to which LL applied a plum and horseradish glaze.

Imported by W.J. Deutsch & Sons, Harrison, N.Y.