When Doug Meador left the Navy in 1971, he thought that he would return to Washington state and his apple orchard, but friends persuaded him to go to Monterey County and help them plant a vineyard, and that was that. In 1972, he purchased land in what is now the Arroyo Seco AVA — approved in 1983 — and founded Ventana Vineyards in the western hills of the Salinas Valley and south of the town of Soledad. The name means “window” in Spanish. This California wine pioneer and experimenter sold Ventana to a group of local investors in 2006, though he retained his other brand, Meador Estate. I visited Ventana recently and was particularly impressed by the product that I’ll make the Wine of the Week.

The Ventana Estate Riesling 2010, Arroyo Seco, offers a pale straw-gold color and penetrating aromas of petrol and lychee, lime leaf and lime peel, all supported by back-notes of grapefruit and limestone. The wine is notably crisp and lively, the merest tad sweet at the entry but achingly dry from mid-palate back through a finish awash with flint-and-limestone-like minerality. There’s nothing too spare or arid here though; for one thing, the nose opens to a lovely floral influence in the jasmine and camellia range, while in the mouth the grapefruit, spiced pear and (slightly) roasted lemon flavors nicely balance tartness with moderate ripe lushness. A very comfortable 11.7 percent alcohol. Drink through 2013 or ’14 as an attractive aperitif (perhaps with Pigs in Blankets on the side) or with braised veal, shrimp risotto or mildly spicy Southeast Asian fare. Excellent. About $22.

Sometimes I taste a wine that’s so immediately pleasing and pretty, so tasty and satisfying, while not necessarily inspiring contemplation or awe, that I quickly want to let My Readers know about it. Such a wine is the Noble Vines 667 Pinot Noir 2010, Monterey County, a product of DFV Wines, operated by the third generation of the Indelicato family, whose patriarch, Italian immigrant Gasparé Indelicato, planted vines in Monterey County in 1924. After selling grapes for a decade, the family first made wine — about 1,500 cases — in 1935. Known primarily for the Delicato label, the family also produces a variety of wines under other labels, including Gnarly Head, Twisted, Irony, Brazin, Domino, Loredona, Fog Head and Noble Vines.

The Noble Vines 667 Pinot Noir 2010 bursts from the glass in a welter of fresh raspberries and cranberries, with notes of rhubarb and pomegranate, rose petals, cloves and cola; I mean, it wakes up your nose and then soothes it. In the mouth, the wine is dry, lithe, almost sinewy, sheerly cut with vibrant acidity that lays a path yet swathed in lightness and delicacy and a moderately satiny texture. From mid-palate back through the finish, gaining on the mildly spicy red and blue fruit flavors, elements of briers and brambles, graphite and potpourri pack the finish. 10,000 cases made, so there’s plenty around. Drink this uncomplicated but attractive pinot noir through 2014 with grilled salmon, roasted veal and light pasta dishes. Very Good+. About $15.

Tasted in the old wine cellar at Mission San Antonio de Padua, San Antonio Valley, Monterey County.

Maintaining the theme of cabernet sauvignon, instigated by last Thursday’s World Cabernet Day, I offer as the Wine of the Week an inexpensive crowd-pleaser from Argentina.

The Graffigna Centenario Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 comes from a winery founded in 1870 in what is now Argentina’s state of San Juan by Italian immigrant Santiago Graffigna. San Juan is the country’s second largest producer of wine, after Mendoza, which lies just to the south. The vineyards of both regions thrive in the fairly arid altitudes of the Andean foothills. The family sold the estate in 1980 to Allied Domecq, which in turn was acquired by Pernod Ricard. Winemaker for Graffigna is Gerardo Danitz. At four years old, the Graffigna Centenario Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2008, which aged 12 months in 85 percent French oak barrels and 15 percent America, has shed the initial hard edge of its tannins and become something altogether softer, plusher and more approachable. The first impression is a wafting of fresh wild black raspberries couched with black currants and blueberries, cloves and sandalwood, with hints of cedar and thyme and spicy wood. The wine is smooth and polished in the mouth, luscious in its battery of ripe black and blue fruit flavors but held to rigorous deportment by vibrant acidity, mildly robust tannins and a tinge of graphite and bitter chocolate. 14 percent alcohol. Though the current release of this wine is 2010, the Internet reveals plenty of this eminently drinkable ’08 in the pipeline. Very Good+. If you pay more than $15, you wuz robbed; I’ve seen it as low as $10.

Imported by Pernod Ricard USA, Purchase, NY. A sample for review.

Looking for a real mouthful of old-fashioned cabernet sauvignon? Fitting that description is the Justin Cabernet Sauvignon 2010, Paso Robles, made from 100 percent cabernet sauvignon grapes, aged 18 months in American oak barrels, 28 percent new. The winery was established by Justin Baldwin in 1981, when there were about 10 wineries in Paso Robles. Justin’s reputation lies mainly in several levels of cabernet sauvignon, but the winery also makes an excellent sauvignon blanc. Winemaker is Scott Shirley. FIJI Water bought the winery in December 2010. (Mark the new label design: sleek, elegant, a little dangerous.)

The color is an almost opaque dark ruby tending even unto black. Aromas of black pepper, black olive and leather unfurl to reveal notes of intense and concentrated black currants, black cherries and plums that exude an aura of slightly exotic spice and dried Mediterranean herbs; then come the palate-challenging tannins, robust and grainy; the tongue-tingling acidity, vivacious and essential; the black fruit flavors, saturated by graphite, lavender, leather and loam-like earthy elements. It all adds up to real presence and tone in a wine that would benefit from a year or two of aging — or would probably be great right now with a medium rare rib-eye steak, hot and crusty from the grill. A mannerly 13.9 percent alcohol. Sort of now through 2016 to ’18. Excellent. About $26.

A sample for review.

Thursday, August 30, has been declared World Cabernet Day — you know how these things go, like “The Month of Sauvignon Blanc” or “The Year of Riesling” — and I usually ignore such feats of marketing prowess and go about my merry old way, I mean, it’s not as if cabernet doesn’t have its champions or enviable recognition, but since I have a back-log of cabernets that I need to write about, I decided to be a good sport and try to review as many cabs as I can this week. I’ll celebrate World Cabernet Day in my own way, thank you very much.

One of the interesting aspects of Oregon’s Willamette Valley wine region is that few vineyards are planted on the valley floor, because the soil is too good, too rich, dense with the nutrients of ancient floods and river deposits. The vineyards tend to be planted on the hillsides, above 200 feet, where the soil composition is more spare and more demanding and requires the vines to work for their nourishment. This phenomenon is true of Burgundy, for example, where the best vineyards, the Premier and Grand Crus, are planted in the mid-range of the southeast facing slopes; lower and higher are the vineyards that produce the more generic “village” wines. Of course Willamette and Burgundy also share a red grape, the noble pinot noir. Anyway, several of the Willamette’s sub-appellations include the designations “hills” in their titles, such as Dundee Hills and Eola-Amity Hills, and it’s from Dundee that today’s Wine of the Week originates.

The Sokol-Blosser Pinot Noir 2009, Dundee Hills, Oregon, is an organically-produced wine that contains 87 percent estate grapes. The winery was founded by Oregon pioneers Bill Blosser and Susan Sokol Blosser in 1971, when grapes were quite new to Willamette Valley; they were preceded by Dick Lett of The Eyrie Vineyards in 1965 and Dick Erath in 1967. Sokol Blosser in now run by siblings Alison and Alex Sokol Blosser; winemaker since 1998 has been Russ Rosner. The Sokol-Blosser Pinot Noir 2009 aged in French oak for 16 months in 44 percent new barrels. The color is a lovely ruby-mulberry hue, with a rim just tinged with violet. The whole package displays exquisite poise and balance, though as is typical with Dundee pinot noirs the wine emphasizes a distinct earthy, loamy character that begins with briers and brambles and ends with deeper inflections of graphite and truffles. Red and black cherries and plums with a slight tang of red currants and cranberries are woven with notes of cola and cloves and a smoky back-note. Tannins are grainy and modulated but with enough bark and bite to let you know they’re right there at the threshold. The texture is smooth, dense and satiny. 14 percent alcohol. Drink now through 2017 to ’19. Excellent. About $38.

A sample for review.

Since Tom and Sally Jordan purchased 275 acres in Sonoma County’s Alexander Valley in 1972, the purpose of Jordan Vineyards has not changed. The first cabernet sauvignon was produced from the 1976 vintage and the first chardonnay in 1979, and the regimen has not changed. Here is a winery dedicated to only two wines; no attempt has been made to produce wines in many categories in a range of prices to appeal (or pander) to all palates and pocketbooks, as so many wineries in California see fit to do. Even the original winemaker, Rob Davis, remains at his post. Some may see this adherence to a principle and tradition as deeply conservative; I see it as devotion to an unswerving ideal, one that embodies the notion of wines that are immediately drinkable but with the character and backbone — I’m speaking of the cabernet sauvignon — to develop and age gracefully.

Our Wine of the Week is the Jordan Chardonnay 2010, Russian River Valley, Sonoma County, produced from 20 vineyard blocks from eight small growers. The grapes fermented one-third in stainless steel tanks and two-thirds in French oak barrels. The wine aged five months — that’s right, five months, not 11 or 14 months — in French oak, 47 percent new barrels. Thirty-six percent of the wine went through malolactic fermentation in barrel. The result is a chardonnay that practically shimmers with crystalline purity and intensity that express themselves through exquisite balance and layers of nuance. The color is pale straw-gold; aromas of ripe pineapple and grapefruit are wreathed with notes of green apple, cloves and tangerine, jasmine and candied ginger and an intriguing hint of kumquat, which also shows up on the finish, lending a tiny bracing bite of citric bitterness. The wine is dense and lithe, supple and elegant, and flavors of slightly macerated and roasted grapefruit and yellow plum are bolstered by fleet acidity and a burgeoning element of limestone-like minerality. This is, in short, a beauty. 13.5 percent alcohol. Drink now through 2015 or ’16, well-stored. We drank this with grilled swordfish with grilled squashes, red bell peppers and tomatoes. Excellent. About $29.

A sample for review.

You’re absolutely correct. I did not post a Wine of the Week on Sunday or Monday, so despite the fact that this is Thursday I’m going to write the Wine of the Week because this is a week and Thursday is a day in it. Frankly, friends, sometimes I have to lend myself to writing that pays actual money instead of free wine, which is great but pays no bills. Also, I was in Napa Valley from Sunday night through Tuesday, and then when I returned had to throw myself into more freelance work. To compensate, though, for the relativity of my tardiness, I offer two red wines of different quality and price that both happen to be appropriate for pizzas and pasta dishes, burgers, steaks hot and crusty from the grill and such hearty fare.

First is the Calcu Cabernet Franc 2010, Colchagua Valley, Chile, the sort of inexpensive cabernet franc from Chile that if you tasted it blind would compel you to say, “Son of a gun, this tastes exactly like an inexpensive cabernet franc from Chile!” By which I mean that it does precisely the job it’s supposed to do, neither bursting the bounds of expectation nor sagging before the finish line, to include a faint Olympic metaphor. (And would I be a complete jerk if I said that I just don’t get water polo?) The color is dark ruby with a purple-violet tinge; beguiling aromas of ripe black currants, blueberries and plums feel saturated with notes of cloves, thyme and bay leaf and hints of black olive and bacon fat. The wine is dense without being weighty and tannic enough for a fairly hefty structure but without being grainy or gritty; it’s robust, cut with an acid edge and very tasty with black and blue fruit flavors. Drink through 2013. Very Good+. About $14, representing True Value.

The Grgich Hills Estate Zinfandel 2009, Napa Valley, derives from the winery’s gravelly, loamy vineyard in Calistoga, up at the northern end of Napa Valley, where the vintage provided warm, sunny days and cool nights. All of Grgich Hills vineyards are farmed following biodynamic principles. There’s two percent petite sirah in the wine, which spent 15 months in large French oak casks; the wood influence stays resolutely in the background, contributing to the wine’s firmness and suppleness. (Winemaker is Ivo Jeramaz.) The color is brilliant medium ruby; aromas of blackberry, mulberry and plum are sown with seeds of cloves and sandalwood and fruitcake, the effect being ripe, spicy and slightly exotic, especially as hints of lavender and black licorice, white pepper and potpourri unfold after a few minutes in the glass. I already mentioned the wine’s supple nature, to which we may add dense, chewy tannins that are nonetheless smooth and lithe and a burgeoning earthy, mossy character that takes on notes of graphite and slate. The wine is quite dry, despite the juiciness of its smoky black currant, blackberry and sage flavors, and the alcohol, distinctly unshy, turns up the afterburners through the long spice-and-mineral packed finish, which comes off a tad hot. That alcohol measures 15.3 percent, higher than I would like but not so obtrusive with the right sort of food, and the fact is that we enjoyed the wine immensely with a rich, savory pizza that featured cured and smoked hog jowl and oven-dried tomatoes and banana peppers with Thai basil. Now through 2014 or ’15. Excellent. About $35.

These wines were samples for review.

Perhaps Bonny Doon’s Le Pousseur Syrah is thus named because it’s a trickster or con man disguised as an actual syrah-based wine from France’s Rhone Valley. I’ll say that for 2009, Le Pousseur exudes such deep earthy aromas and flavors that it feels as if it sprang from the ancient, stony soil of one of those steep Northern Rhone hillsides rather than from a selection of sites in California’s vast Central Coast appellation, including the well-known Bien Nacido Vineyards in Santa Barbara County’s Santa Maria Valley. Bonny Doon winemaker Randall Grahm also makes a single vineyard syrah from Bien Nacido.

Bonny Doon Le Pousseur Syrah 2009, Central Coast, sports a deep ruby-purple color with a dark jewel-like center that approaches motor-oil black in opacity. No mistaking what grape is the heart and soul of this wine; classic syrah aromas of black pepper, wet dog fur, blackberries and blueberries are woven with elements of briers and brambles, smoky potpourri and profound mossy-earthy qualities. In the mouth, the wine — aged in French oak — is as sleek as satin, bright and vibrant, yet slightly roughened by fine-grained tannins that dig tenaciously into the palate for an essential factor of grip and grit; both generous and focused, the ripe black and blue fruit flavors are broadly imbued with touches of exotic spices — sandalwood, allspice — lavender, bitter chocolate and graphite. This panoply is seamlessly bound by resonant acidity and a finish that extends into lithic realms. 13.5 percent alcohol. Production was 953 cases. We drank this with pork chops coated with a dry rub of cumin, chili powder and coffee spices and grilled over hardwood coals. Now through 2014 or ’15. Excellent. About $22, though you see it on the Internet as low as $18.

A sample for review.

Buy the Cusumano Insolia 2011, a Sicilian white wine, by the case. Made completely from indigenous insolia grapes by Alberto Cusumano and all in stainless steel, this deliriously attractive wine sports a pale but radiant straw-gold color and seductive aromas of orange rind and orange blossom, apples and pears, hints of lemon balm and lilac and a touch of breeze-borne sea-salt; what more could you ask for in sensual delight? (I mean in a wine at this price, not from life generally.) Matters turn a tad more serious in the mouth, where elements of limestone and flint-like minerality along with taut and tart acidity bring a deft note of rigor and austerity to what otherwise is a wine of almost talc-like lushness. This is quite dry, despite the ripe juiciness of its pineapple and roasted lemon flavors, and all devolves to a spice-packed finish that brings in some of the pithiness and bracing character of grapefruit. 13 percent alcohol. Drink through Summer 2013 as a fine aperitif or with grilled shrimp or seafood risotto. Very Good+. About $12, certainly a Bargain of the Highest Order.

The closing device is a glass stopper under a metal screw-cap; don’t stick a corkscrew down there.

Imported by Vin Divino, Chicago, Ill. A sample for review.

With Saturday night’s pizza, I opened a bottle of the Castello di Volpaia Chianti Classico 2009, a wine drinking beautifully at not quite three years old.

The small hill town of Volpaia — “fox’s lair” — dates to the 11th Century, established as a frontier outpost by Florence against Siena. The village retains much of its medieval appearance today, thanks, in large part, to the restoration efforts of the Stianti Mascheroni family that owns about two-thirds of the town and has converted many of the old buildings to winery facilities and homes for their workers. Volpaia’s Chianti Classico is a combination of modern and traditional. For modernity, it’s a blend of 90 percent sangiovese with 10 percent “international” grapes — merlot and syrah; the vineyards are certified organic, and the age of the vines varies from about 10 to about 40 years old. For traditional, the wine was aged 12 months in large oak casks, not small French barriques, though the Chianti Classico Riserva (one level higher, theoretically) gets about 20 percent barrique treatment.

Anyway, Volpaia Chianti Classico 2009 sports an intense medium ruby color; aromas of dried cherries and currants are woven with spiced tea, violets, orange zest, a hint of briers and brambles and a bit of graphite. It’s quite alluring but in a subdued manner; there’s nothing flamboyant or opulent here. While this Chianti Classico’s structure is firm and a little dense with finely-milled and open-knit tannins, it also exhibits lovely lightness, delicacy and balance, along with vibrant acidity and juicy but spare flavors of red and black cherries and currants with a sprightly touch of mulberry, potpourri and sandalwood. The finish is of moderate length, sleek and elegant with a bit of woody spice and earthy minerality. 13.5 percent alcohol. Drink now through 2014 or ’15. Excellent. About $24.

Imported by Wilson Daniels, St. Helena, Ca. A sample for review.