Now that Spring-like weather is arriving, perhaps, in truth, in fits and starts, you will need an incredibly refreshing white wine to sip while you sit out on the porch or on the patio or while you’re cooking dinner or to drink with a light, delicious supper. Well, here’s one, and though the name may be familiar, if not over-familiar, and the wine may be one that you have sipped before, it deserves attention.

It’s the Rodney Strong “Charlotte’s Home” Sauvignon Blanc 2010, Northern Sonoma. This is a pert, tart and sassy sauvignon blanc, 90 percent fermented in stainless steel, the other 10 percent fermented in French oak barrels, but without the occasional excesses that the New Zealand style can fall into. For its grapes, the wine draws on four areas of Sonoma County — 45 percent Alexander Valley, 24 percent Russian River Valley, 23 percent Dry Creek Valley and 1 percent Knights Valley — and then, from Lake County next door, the final 7 percent.

From the glass waft exuberant scents of tangerine and lime peel, kiwi and celery seed, a touch of leafy fig and tarragon and a powerful element of damp limestone; give the wine a few moments and it gains an almost talc-like exhalation of jasmine and lilac. “Crisp” doesn’t begin to describe how notably crisp and crystalline this sauvignon blanc is, yet that exhilarating factor is balanced by a soft, almost lush texture and a chalky-limestone quality that bolster tangerine, pear and melon flavors that fit snugly into a spicy-herbal parameter; there’s a bright, bracing tinge of grapefruit bitterness on the finish. 13.5 percent alcohol. Interestingly, this wine drank very nicely as accompaniment to a vinegary chicken piccata with a caper and butter sauce. Winemaker was Rick Sayre. Very Good+. About $13.50, a Raving Bargain.

A sample for review.

Sangiovese is the primary grape of Tuscany, of singular important to three regions: In the typically blended Chianti, though 100 percent sangiovese is allowed (with Chianti Classico and Chianti Classico Riserva); in Brunello di Montalcino, where it is the only grape authorized, though many producers would like to change that regulation; and in Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, where the wine is also a blend and the sangiovese grape is known as prugnolo gentile, one of many variations on the grape’s name in Tuscany.

Vino Nobile di Montepulciano is not as well-known as Chianti and Brunello, and its wines tend to be more rustic (or regarded as more rustic by reputation) than its cousins. Our example today in the Wine of the Week, however, may be robust and full-bodied, but it’s certainly not rustic. The Avignonesi 2007, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, marries the sangiovese grape’s typical sour cherry, slightly bitter foresty nature with a deep, vibrant earthy, graphite character. The wine is a blend of 85 percent prugnolo gentile (sangiovese), 10 percent canaiolo nero and 5 percent mammolo; it aged 18 months in large oak casks and 18 months in second use French barriques. There’s great, supple firmness in the structure, yet the wine is drenched in red and black fruit flavors (and a hint of pomegranate) permeated by alluring notes of coffee and tobacco, potpourri and oolong tea, bay leaf and rosemary (with that touch of resin), while it’s packed with spices from the whole redolent, savory box. Tannins are immense, dense, chewy, and the whole package, indeed, feels multi-dimensional in size and scope. The finish is long, dusty, resonant and ultimately balanced and integrated. 13 percent alcohol. This may not be as sophisticated as many of the wines emanating from its neighboring regions, but, boy, you won’t care about that when you sit down with a bottle and a medium-rare ribeye steak, hot and crusty from the grill. Drink 2013 or ’14 through 2018 to ’22. Excellent. I paid $26; prices around the country range from about $23 to $30.

Imported by Classics USA, Napa, Ca.

Surely it’s not too late to post a Wine of the Week, even though today is Thursday and I typically do this on Monday or even Sunday. Call it the Wine of Down-Trending Mid-Week, if you please, of the Wine of the Up-Coming Weekend. Anyway, here ’tis.

The word ‘classic” tends to come up when writers or reviewers mention the Artezin zinfandels, and yet it feels natural to use that term because this brand’s zinfandel offers classic, if you will, balance and proportion and spicy black fruit scents and flavors. It also tends to be downright delicious.

The Artezin Zinfandel 2010, Mendocino County, is fresh, bright and clean, delivering a snootful and palate-swathing of black currant and raspberry scents and flavors with hints of mulberries, blueberries and just a mite of boysenberry, none of this fruit character being jammy or over-ripe. There’s an infusion of cloves and slightly exotic sandalwood, a pointed touch of graphite. The wine sees no new oak but ages in second and third-use French oak barrels, a device that bolsters the spicy aspect and lends suppleness to the texture, all of this supported by fairly dense but mildly grainy tannins and vibrant acidity. The finish brings in a bit of black pepper, a lick of dried thyme and more of that mineral element. To 89 percent zinfandel, the blend adds 10 percent petite sirah and 1 percent carignan. No extremes here, no hard edges, just a tasty, authentic and reasonably-priced zinfandel appropriate with burgers, steaks, pizzas and hearty pasta dishes. 14.5 percent alcohol. Very Good+. About $18.

A sample for review.

An Italian pinot grigio and a Chianti Classico, and you’re thinking, “Ho-hum, hum-drum,” but you couldn’t be more wrong. Each is a superior and eloquent expression of grape variety and geography, and they should not be missed.

Imported by Quintessential, Napa Cal. These wines were samples for review, as I am required to inform my readers by the FCC, though print journalists are not so required.
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Pinot grigio here, pinot grigio there, blah blah blah, and then I run across a pinot grigio wine that gives the distinct impression that it performs exactly as the grape was meant to perform in its Platonic ideal. This one is the Ascevi Luwa Pinot Grigio 2010 from Italy’s Collio D.O.C. in the northeastern Friuli Venezia Giulia region, right up near the border with Slovenia. Made completely in stainless steel, this pinot grigio exudes a floral-fruity-mineral-laced presence that feels not only irresistible but totally authentic and inevitable. The color is pale yellow-gold; the nose is a remarkable weaving of roasted lemons and lemon balm, verbena and mint, dried thyme, almond and almond blossom, a touch of hay or straw, and then, after a few moments in the glass, comes a waft of a bracing iodine-tinged salt-marsh briskness. No, friends, this is not your ordinary pinot grigio. In the mouth, the wine is smooth and sleek, tasty indeed with lemon, lime and lime peel flavors highlighted by cloves and a hint of licorice, all bolstered by crisp, clean acidity and a burgeoning limestone element, wrapped, finally, by a persistent lime-grapefruit finish. 12.5 percent alcohol. This is almost too good to serve merely as an aperitif, or if you ask it to perform such function make certain to accompany it with snacks like grilled baby octopus or white bean-and-sage bruschetta or a selection of mild charcuterie. Drink now through the end of 2012. Excellent. About $19.
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Italy, again, this time Tuscany, for the Vignole 2008, Chianti Classico, a wine made along modern lines — “modern” since the 1980s — that manages to be completely and happily old-fashioned in effect. The decree of 1984 called for a minimum of 75 percent sangiovese grapes and permitted small amounts of the traditional blending grapes for Chianti Classico, up to 10 percent red canaiolo grapes and five percent white trebbiano and malvasia, and up to 15 percent of what were called “authorized” grapes, that is nontraditional “outsider,” i.e., international, grapes such as merlot, syrah and cabernet sauvignon. The Vignole 2008 forgoes the traditional grapes by adding 15 percent merlot to 85 percent sangiovese. Aging in small French barriques is close to ubiquitous in Tuscany now, though Chianti Classico usually is not put through new oak and is better off so. This estate, located in Panzano, noted as a superior site for Chianti Classico since the mid-19th Century, ages the merlot in medium-size casks and the sangiovese in barriques, each for 12 months, followed by two years aging in bottles.

I was completely beguiled by the bouquet of the Vignole 2008, Chianti Classico, a nuanced amalgam of slightly spiced and macerated blueberries and cranberries, with touches of mulberries and plums and undertones of briers and brambles and some wild, woody, foresty aspect; eight or 10 minutes in the glass bring out hints of rose petals and pomegranate. Those earthier elements, the warmth and spice, the red and blue fruit gather in the mouth to be cushioned by dense but soft, supple tannins and subtly-expressed oak, all unfolding around a core of black tea, dried orange zest, sandalwood and potpourri, and enlivened by bright acidity that cuts a swath on the palate. What a pleasure to drink a Chianti Classico — this was with our Saturday Movie Night pizza — that’s not over-extracted or a slave to new French oak or New World dictates. 14.5 percent alcohol. Drink now through 2014 to ’15 with rabbit or veal or small game birds. Excellent. About $37.
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You have encountered, I’m sure, punishing rieslings that startle and practically scour your palate with clanging acidity, austere dryness and scintillating limestone elements. The Lucien Albrecht Riesling Reserve 2010, Alsace, is not one of those, though I admire the high-falutin’ style in a masochistic way. In fact, my first thoughts about the Albrecht was that there wasn’t much there, but the wine grew on me, and in returning to it several times over the course of a couple of days, I came to like it a great deal. The firm, founded in 1425, in now in its ninth generation of family ownership and involvement. My admonition is not to serve the Lucien Albrecht Riesling Reserve 2010 at a bone-chilling temperature; cool, yes, but not at frost-bite level (and not, please, at room temp). Give it a few moments in the glass, allow the molecules of air to mingle with the atoms of vinousness (good name for a rock band), and you will be rewarded with an irresistible bouquet — and I use that term purposely — of jasmine and honeysuckle, of ripe pear and juicy lychee with a melon back-note, and under all, the riesling grape’s requisite and intriguing touch of petrol or rubber eraser. The wine is beautifully balanced and harmonious in the mouth, with a smoothness that amounts to a golden luster — to toss a little synesthesia into the mix — artfully poised with the necessary crisp acidity and flint-like minerality that lend their sense of liveliness and tension. Flavors of baked pear and lime peel and a sort of inner spiced peach devolve to a finish that admits a trace of grapefruit bitterness. 13 percent alcohol. Drink now through 2014 or ’15. Excellent. About $20, representing Great Value.

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

Tasty, enjoyable, delightful wines are always a pleasure, of course, but it’s even more of a boost when there’s something unusual about them. The Patrick Bottex “La Cueille” Bugey-Cerdon, non-vintage sparkling wine, hails from Bugey, a tiny appellation in eastern France, lying between the cities of Lyon, Grenoble and Geneva, that only achieved AOC status in 2009. This sparkling wine is made in a méthode ancestrale that may precede the more famous méthode champenoise by several centuries. Cerdon is one of three crus in Bugey, and La Cueille is a mountainside village where Patrick and Catherine Bottex cultivate five hectares (13.85 acres) of vines focused primarily on the gamay grape, with some of the indigenous poulsard, from vineyards planted between 1960 and 2010. It’s a labor of love and dedication. The blend of this sparkling wine is 90 percent gamay, 10 percent poulsard.

The Patrick Bottex “La Cueille” Bugey-Cerdon sports a lovely blushing salmon-copper color and a gentle yet persistent cascade of tiny bubbles. This is pure strawberries and raspberries with rose petals and an earthy touch of briers and brambles; a few minutes in the glass bring in notes of dried cranberries, apple peel and orange zest. “La Cueille” is fresh and lively, with a texture that comes close to being dense, almost viscous, except that it’s balanced by keen acidity and brisk effervescence. It’s a bit sweet on entry, but totally dry from mid-palate back, and the finish is smoothly furnished with lime peel and limestone. Alcohol content is 8 percent, so you can drink twice as much! Not really! Completely charming. Very Good+. About $20.

Imported by Kermit Lynch, Berkeley, Cal. A sample for review.

Jim Moore has had a distinguished career as a winemaker in California. He was at Robert Mondavi from 1979 to 1998, developing the Carneros appellation chardonnay and pinot noir programs, reintroducing zinfandel to the roster and redesigning the style and packaging for the proprietary dessert wine Moscato d’Oro. Moore created and developed the long defunct La Famiglia di Robert Mondavi line of Italian varieties, in California (it was an interesting concept), and was instrumental in launching red wines Luce and Lucente, a collaboration with the Frescobaldi family in Tuscany. While consulting with or managing several small wineries, Moore developed l’Uvaggio di Giacomo — “James’ wine” — to exploit the possibilities of Lodi for Italian grapes like vermentino, primitivo and barbera. In 2003 he became the director of winemaking for the Bonny Doon Ca’ del Solo line in Santa Cruz, but left a year later to devote himself full time to revitalizing his Uvaggio project, whose primary purpose now is to produce authentic Italian-style wines at reasonable prices.

These were samples for review.
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Uvaggio Vermentino 2009, Lodi, is about as lovely and appealing as vermentino gets. The color is pale straw; aromas of lemon and lemon balm are woven with hints of almond and almond blossom, lime and cloves and a slight astringent note, a sort of breezy sea-salt briskness. The wine is made in stainless steel, except for 10 percent that’s aged briefly in neutral — well-used — oak barrels, a device that subtly influences the supple texture and the touch of spice in the melon, pear and stone-fruit flavors. This suppleness is buoyed by crisp acidity and just a smidgeon of limestone-like minerality that lends the wine a bit of snap. The finish is sleek and a little spare. 11 percent alcohol. We drank this quite successfully with a risotto with kale, roasted parsnips and sage. Now through the end of 2012. Very Good+. About $14.
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At first, I thought that the Uvaggio Primitivo 2009, Lodi, was simple, tasty and enjoyable, and there’s not a thing wrong with those qualities, but I came back to it about four hours later to find that it had unlimbered a pleasing arsenal of dark and spicy traits. The color is a limpid ruby-purple; scents of raspberry and black cherry are highlighted by intriguing notes of rhubarb and sandalwood and a slightly earthy undercurrent of briers and brambles, all of which conspire to give the wine a touch of wildness. The wine ages 9 months in 15 percent new Hungarian oak barrels and 85 percent once-used French oak; there’s a dollop (2.5 percent) of barbera. Uvaggio Primitivo 2009 is robust but not rustic, intensely flavorful in the spiced and macerated range of black and red fruit, zesty with vibrant acidity and savory all around. 13 percent alcohol. Now through 2013. Very Good+. About $16.
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“Feral’ isn’t usually a term we associate with pinot noir; perhaps, rather, with a wild, woolly, wet-dog infused syrah. The d’Arenberg The Feral Fox Pinot Noir 2009, Adelaide Hills, however, does convey some untamed, unfettered quality while remaining thoroughly true to its grape variety. The winery, located in the McLaren Vale of South Australia, was founded in 1912; winemaker now is fourth generation Chester Osborn, a meticulous craftsman and an inventive marketer. In a country where unusual names for wines are common, Osborn has excelled at eccentric and attention-getting labels that include such eye-catchers as The Dead Arm Shiraz, The Monkey Spider Roussanne, The Derelict Vineyard Grenache, The Broken Fishplate Sauvignon Blanc and The Wild Pixie Shiraz Roussanne.

The Feral Fox Pinot Noir 2009 reads like an Old School textbook in winemaking. Fermentation was partial whole-cluster using natural yeasts; after fermentation came traditional foot-treading followed by the gentle action of a 19th Century basket press. Aging occurred over 12 months in French oak, only 5 percent new barrels. The color is medium ruby with a hint of magenta-blue at the center; aromas of black and red cherries and sour cherry are woven with notes of cola, cranberry and strawberry, cloves and licorice and melon ball. This is a savory pinot noir, richly spiced and imbued with delicious cherry and plum flavors and benefiting from a lovely satiny drape to the texture, yet it also displays a sense of delicacy and spareness, of almost lacy transparency, and its oak influence sits as lightly and deftly as a silk scarf on a warm shoulder. 14.5 percent alcohol. Drink through 2013 or ’14. Excellent. About $35.

Imported by Old Bridge Cellars, Napa, Cal.

Borgo Maragliano is a small producer of classic “champagne method” sparkling wines in the Loazzolo area of Piedmont, between the towns of Alba and Asti, farming only 15 hectares — just under 40 acres — of moscato, chardonnay and pinot noir grapes. Don’t miss this estate’s Giovanni Galliano Brut Rosé 2005, made from 100 percent pinot noir. Now the 2006 and ’07 are also in the United States of America, but this ’05 is drinking beautifully now and may serve as testimony that these wines benefit from five or six years aging. (The vintage is printed on the back label in small type.) The color is a light copper-pale onion skin hue; the bead is an exhilarating upward surge of tiny bubbles. Aromas of orange zest, raspberries and dried red currants open to notes of biscuits, cinnamon toast, almond blossom and almond skin, with its hint of astringency, all woven into a tremendously beguiling bouquet. This rosé sparkling wine is the epitome of elegance and restraint, its flush of dried red fruit flavors and subtle spice buoyed by bright acidity and lavish layers of limestone and shale-like minerality; a touch of austerity on the finish completes the impression. 13.5 percent alcohol. Excellent. About $25 to $32.

Imported by Le Vignoble, Cordova, Tennessee.

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.