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.

The Vincent Crémant de Bourgogne, non-vintage, made completely from chardonnay grapes grown in the Côte Chalonnaise, south of Burgundy proper, sports a new, simpler and slightly more elegant label. (And a slightly higher price than the last time I tried it. C’est la vie, n’est-ce pas?) The color is shimmering pale gold, and the tiny bubbles surge upward is a steady swirling eddy. Made in the Champagne method of second fermentation in the bottle, this is quite lemony, with touches of lemon balm, apple and limestone and, after a few moments in the glass, a hint of crystallized ginger. Pert acidity keeps this sparkler bright and lively, while a scintillating mineral element — limestone and flint — lends earthy authority. It’s dry, appealingly effervescent, stylish and tasty, and it offers, as a bonus, a final fillip of sweet floral bounty. 12 percent alcohol. Very Good+. About $24.

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

Here’s a frankly beautiful rosé from Oregon to get you through until the rosés from 2012 start appearing, though rosés from the Southern Hemisphere have been showing up at my door for a couple of months. The Soter North Valley Rosé 2011, Willamette Valley, is a blend of 80 percent pinot noir, 16 percent chardonnay and 4 percent gewurztraminer, sourced from Yamhill-Carlton, Eola-Amity Hills and Dundee. Tony Soter founded the well-known Etude Wines in Napa Valley in 1982 and also consulted for a number of high-profile wineries, including a stint as winemaker for Spottswoode. Soter sold Etude to Beringer Blass in 2001; it’s now owned by Treasury Wine Estates. He and his wife Michelle are from Oregon, and Soter is something of a pinot noir specialist, so the return to Willamette seemed natural. The Soter North Valley Rosé 2011 offers a limpid pale pink hue and lovely notes of watermelon, red currants and mint, with hints of lavender and jasmine and an undertone of limestone minerality. It’s fresh, clean and thirst-quenching in its weaving of delicate currant, melon and peach flavors highlighted by nuances of cloves, dried rosemary and flint. 13.2 percent alcohol. Production was 1,450 cases. Winemaker is James Cahill. Drink through April or May 2013. Excellent. About $22.

Tasted at a trade event.

The past Yuletide season, that cornucopia of Champagne and sparkling wine, is but a dim memory now; might as well not have happened. Valentine’s? So last week. Yet is there ever a day in the history of the cosmos that would not be made better by the imbibing of some sort of sparkling wine? Think how much improved our poor benighted, beset and conflicted world would be if everyone just chilled and had a glass of (chilled) Champagne or sparkling wine at 11 a.m. Of course we can’t all drink Champagne all the time; it’s too expensive. So today, in order to launch you on your path toward daily sparkling wine enlightenment, serenity and world peace, I introduce the Albert Mann Brut 2010, Crémant d’Alsace, originating, naturally, in Alsace, the region of France that seems to hold more ancient estates per square meter than any other hallowed piece of vineyardry. Operated (on biodynamic terms) by brothers Jacky and Maurice Barthelmé and their wives Marie-Claire and Marie-Thérèse, the Albert Mann estate resulted from the combining of two family estates that were established in the early and mid 17th Century; that’s the 1600s, for the chronologically-challenged. The 21-hectare property — about 54 acres — includes five Grand Cru vineyards.

The Albert Mann Brut 2010, Crémant d’Alsace, made in the champagne method of second fermentation in the bottle, offers a shimmering pale gold color and a swirling tempest of tiny bubbles. The wine is a blend of pinot blanc, auxerrois, pinot gris and riesling grapes. Aromas of green apples and limes, steel and limestone, ginger and cloves and a hint of jasmine and roasted lemon segue seamlessly into flavors that while tasty take a back seat to a remarkably savory and saline sensation that builds upon clean, bright acidity and a burgeoning limestone element. This is a sparkling wine that travels in the course of a sniff, a sip and a swallow from spicy, fruity appeal to spare elegance. 12.5 percent alcohol. Excellent. About $22.

Imported by Weygandt-Metzler, Unionville, Pa. A trade group sample for review.

Let’s launch Valentine’s Week with a recommendation for a sweetheart of a dry brut rosé sparkling wine, the non-vintage Paul Cheneau Cava Brut Rosé, composed of 85 percent trepat grapes, one of the more interesting grapes you’ve never heard of, and 15 percent pinot noir. This sparking wine, indeed the roster that comes from Paul Cheneau, is made in the “traditional method,” that is the méthode champenoise, of second fermentation in the bottle. The winery is owned by the Giró Ribot family and is located in the heartland of cava production. the Penedès region west of Barcelona in Cataluña, where the Spanish coast dips southwest from the French border.

The Paul Cheneau Cava Brut Rosé offers a pretty dying ember hue of lightly tarnished copper-salmon; bubbles are small, elegant, persistent. Pure strawberry erupts from the glass, followed by raspberry, with a touch of raspberry’s raspiness, and a scent of rose hips; after a few minutes in the glass, the bouquet develops high notes of pomegranate and spiced tea. The ripe red fruit segues seamlessly into the mouth, with hints of orange zest and cloves; the texture is crisp with acidity yet soft and appealing, while the finish brings in a note of limestone. 11.5 percent alcohol. No, My Readers, this is not a top-quality brut rosé from Champagne that could set you back $150 to $200 a bottle; it’s a simple but well-made, tasty and pleasing little Spanish cava that should impinge nicely on you and your sweetheart’s Valentine celebration. Very Good+. About $16.

Pasternak Imports, Harrison, N.Y. A sample for review.

A grape we don’t see much in the United States of America is vernaccia rosso di pergola, which has numerous synonyms in its native Le Marche region in Italy and is no relation to the vernaccia di San Gimignano grape associated with the celebrated hill-town of that name in Tuscany. In fact, we don’t see a lot of wines from Marche (“MAR-kay”), a rustic and mountainous state that shares a long border to the west with Umbria and faces the Adriatic Sea on the east. Long one of the most sparsely populated of the Italian states and one of the poorest, Marche retains a large measure of its traditional rural atmosphere while undergoing, especially since the 1980s, the emergence of industries devoted to furniture, leather goods, footwear and household appliances and the attendant rise in prosperity.

The Angelini family has owned its 200-acre estate for three generations, though only a small portion of the property is planted to vines. The estate is run on organic methods, with no use chemical herbicides, pesticides or insecticides. Also not used are small oak barrels; instead, wines are matured in 1,000 to 2,000-liter casks. The French Bordeaux-style barrique has a 225-liter capacity.

The Angelini Pergola Rosso 2011, Marche, offers a medium ruby-cherry color and beguiling aromas of dried cherries, mulberries, rose petals and graphite. Despite the relative lightness of the color and a smooth, airy texture — there’s nothing extracted or ponderous here — the wine feels dense and chewy enough that our yen for a bit of substance and weight is satisfied, while we are equally gratified by its flavors of spiced and slightly macerated red and black cherries and currants and an underlying touch of briery tannins. Spanking acidity keeps the wine fresh and lively, while the finish is dry and tinged with some foresty austerity. 12.5 percent alcohol. Nothing to worry your pretty little heads about, My Readers, but a perfect pizza wine, which was how we drank it, and also appropriate with pastas and braised meat. Now through 2014. Very Good+. About $17.

Imported by Angelini Wines, Centerbrook, Conn. A sample for review. Map from cellarstockerunfiltered.blogspot.com.

Tower 15 is a project of The Pali Wine Co., known for chardonnay and pinot noir from various vineyards. Tower 15 is centered in Paso Robles and makes wines primarily from Rhone Valley grape varieties. The Tower 15 wines are less expensive than the Pali wines but are also, unfortunately, limited in production. I’ll go ahead, though, and make Tower 15 “The Jetty” 2010, Paso Robles, the Wine of the Week because national distribution is growing. Winemaker for Tower 15 is Aaron Walker.

Tower 15 “The Jetty” 2010 is a blend of 62 percent grenache, 33 percent syrah and 5 percent mourvedre; the wine aged 16 months in French oak barrels, 30 percent new. The alcohol level is startlingly high — 15.1 percent — but the wine is balanced, harmonious and well-modulated in all elements. The color is deep saturated ruby; notes of ripe and macerated black currants, plums and mulberries are highlighted with hints of leather, cloves and allspice and a back-note of fruitcake. Rollicking acidity keeps the wine fresh and vigorous, while darker elements of damp fur, loam and graphite lend depth and dimension; smooth, slightly briery tannins extend into the finish. The sort of wine that makes one happy to be drinking it. A great match with braised red meat, hearty pastas or burgers. 598 cases. Excellent. About $21.

A sample for review.

Here’s a perfect Chianti Classico Riserva for the cold weather dishes you’re probably cooking now, I mean beef or lamb stew, braised short ribs or veal shanks, pasta Bolognese, that sort of thing. The Ruffino Riserva Ducale 2008, Chianti Classico Riserva, is slightly nontraditional in that its 80 percent sangiovese grapes is supplemented by mixed 20 percent caberbet sauvignon and merlot, and yet thoroughly traditional in that it sees no new oak or aging in small, that is 59-gallon, French barriques. No, this CCR ages 24 months half in stainless steel and concrete vats and half in oak casks that range from 40 to 80 hectoliters, about 1,000 to 2,000 gallons. So while the polished and faintly dusty character of the wine’s tannins are evident from entry to finish, there’s no taint of the vanilla or toasty wood that new oak can impart. This is, instead, a spicy and savory CCR, subtle with notes of dried cherries and black and red currants and hints of sour cherry, black tea and leather. The color is moderate ruby, and in fact everything about this CCR testifies to its not being deeply extracted or heavily manipulated; nothing ruffles its pleasing balance and integration. Lipsmacking acidity enlivens the wine through and through, while elements of graphite-like minerality and supple tannins provide the necessary support for flavors of loamy black and red fruit. A touch of woody allspice and sandalwood and bracing bitterness on the finish imply that this is a CCR for grown-ups. 13 percent alcohol. Now through 2015 or ’16. Excellent. About $25.

Ruffino Import Co., Rutherford, Ca. A sample for review.