Château Bellevue de Rambaud is owned and worked by brothers Hubert and Pierre Lavaud and is located near the village of Pellegrue, some 30 kilometres southeast of Pomerol and Saint-Émilion. Produce of 80% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Cabernet Franc from some 20 hectares of vines, the wine is deep crimson red in color with aromas suggestive of fleshy berry, plum and a fine winegrowing earth; polished and smooth on the tongue, medium-full in body and just richly-textured with fresh and delicate tannins that lend grip, effortlessly carrying a burst of gently intense flavors good and long on the finish. If the vintage of 2010 here lacks any of the sheer density of the very popular 2009, it lacks nought in terms of clarity, purity and freshness of fruit. And Château Bellevue de Rambaud remains among the best values in Bordeaux that we've encountered.

Is Provençal Rosé the vinous equivalent of bottled sunshine? Is it the what's what of pink wines? Is it the cool, crisp compelling glass of vin rosé at the end of the rainbow? Yeah, probably so! Domaine Houchart Côtes de Provence Rosé is among our favorite of the Provençal rosé wines each year; fresh, bright, vivid with a gentle intensity of chalky berry flavor just bursting forth and a refreshingness that is just, ahhhhh ... Thank heaven for sunshine! Thank heaven for Provençal rosé goodness!

Saintes be praised! The font is once again flowing. Domaine de Fontsainte Corbières Rosé Gris de Gris has once again caught the early boat out of the south of France and however blessedly arrived here with bells still on to slake our budding thirst for the pink. Touch pale, say, buff to light peach in color; racy, just fermented aromas hint at yeasty crushed berries and the fresh cool late summer's Languedocian morning; a bit nervy (from travel) still on the tongue, hinting at its eventual suppleness of texture with a delicately glycerol palate feel, still crisp, refreshing, invigorating even on the finish.

Domaine Sainte Eugénie is located within the district of Fontfroide in Corbières in the foothills of the Pyrénées along the Mediterranean coast. The clay and chalk soils along with the dry weather, warm and sunny climate here combine to allow for a fine winegrowing environment. Domaine Sainte-Eugénie Corbières Rosé is produce of 75% Cinsault, 15% Syrah and 10% Grenache vines. Spring sunrise pink to copper to peach skin in color with oh so inviting aromas with subtle suggestion of a kiss of red berry and Corbières soil and spice, leaving just the right amount to the imagination; playful if just challenging on the tongue, with ample nerve and a crisp, delicately minéral intensity of flavor, mouthwatering and fresh. Simply delicious!

From the land of d'Artagnan and the Three Musketeers comes this keen-edged little number. Noted wine critic, Robert M. Parker, Jr., has called it 'among the greatest white wine values in the world.' Vivid and fresh of aroma, hinting at citrus, say ruby-red grapefruit and peach; light on its feet and low in alcohol, crisp, chalky dry, both tantalizing and refreshing, stirring the salivary glands something wonderful. Serve this one up well-chilled for cool springtime refreshment. While supplies last:

Produced from Zinfandel, Petite Sirah and Carignane primarily from vineyards in Sonoma and Mendocino counties, Marietta Cellars Old Vine Red replicates the old Cal‑Ital field blends there. Characteristically deep ruby in color with forward Zin aromas suggesting blackberry and spiced plum; at once balanced and generous, lush and supple on the tongue with a nicely rounded and mouth‑filling finish — the same up‑front and delicious wine we've come to know and love over these last fifty‑something lots. And, true as its ever‑blue label, Marietta Cellars Old Vine Red remains steadfast in its value.

One of my favorite Gigondas estates is proprietor Joel Saurel’s Saint-Damien (now one of the appellation’s superstars). Saurel also produces several Cotes du Rhone cuvees that are nearly as good as his superb Gigondas. The 2011 Cotes du Rhones, which were bottled early to preserve their fruit, are about as good as Cotes du Rhone can be in this vintage... a blend of 80% Grenache and the rest Mourvedre, Syrah and Carignan from 50- to 60-year-old vines planted on the famous Plan de Dieu. Dense, full-bodied and impressively rich, it exhibits kirsch, incense, licorice, bouquet garni and roasted herb characteristics. Enjoy it over the next 2-4 years. Rated 91. ‑ Robert M. Parker, Jr.'s The Wine Advocate Issue 203, October 2012

Interestingly enough, even though many of the 2010 Perrin et Fils selections from the southern Rhone were scheduled to be bottled right after my visit, the 2010 Beaucastel had already been put in bottle. This is a gorgeous wine, a classic blend of 30% Grenache, 30% Mourvedre, 10% Syrah, 10% Counoise and the balance the other permitted varietals in the appellation. Deep purple, with loads of bouquet garni, beef blood, blackberry, kirsch, smoke and truffle, this wine is full-bodied, rich and showing even better than it did last year. I still think it needs 3-5 years of cellaring, and it should last for 25-30 years, as most of the top vintages of Beaucastel do. Drink: 2015-2045. Rated 95. ‑ Robert Parker, Robert M. Parker, Jr.'s The Wine Advocate Issue 203, October, 2012

(roughly 30% each of grenache and mourvedre, with 10% each of counoise and syrah and the balance "everything else"): Vivid ruby. Fresh raspberry and cherry on the intensely perfumed nose. Sappy and sweet, with deep red fruit preserve flavors and hints of succulent herbs and rose pastille. Packs a punch but also shows impressive energy and balance. The raspberry note carries through on the finish, which also features a suave, slow-building note of star anise. Rated (92-94). ‑ Josh Raynolds, Steven Tanzer's International Wine Cellar January/February, 2012

Elegant bouquet of apple blossom, lemon oil and clover. Sleek and refined, with a juicy, mouthwatering freshness to its flavors of apricot and cinnamon. Finishes long and strong, with slate, tropical fruits and toasted almonds. This is one of the finest spatleses of the vintage. Rated 92. ‑ Joel B. Payne, Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar January/February 2012

Daniel Bouland is based in the commune of Villié Morgon, where he owns a bit under four hectares of old vines, but he also produces a lovely example of Chiroubles as well. His 2011 Chiroubles is excellent, offering up a deep and expressive nose of cherries, strawberries, violets, a touch of raw cocoa, vinesmoke and a lovey topnote of fresh herbs. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, pure and tangy, with a superb core of fruit, tangy acids and outstanding focus and grip on the well-balanced, complex and gently tannic finish. This is a very serious example of Chiroubles. 2012-2022. Rated 91. ‑ John Gilman, View From The Cellar Issue 41, September/October 2012

The Chignard family is blessed with vineyards in one of the best sites of the Fleurie appellation, Les Moriers, an arrowhead-shaped parcel that juts right down into Moulin-à-Vent. Their 8 hectares of vines here are over sixty years old (yields are naturally quite low) with root systems going deep, accessing minerals from the granite subsoil and giving the wine its trademark goût de terroir and great freshness. As ardent defenders of traditional Beaujolais methods, Chignard take a minimalist approach in both the vineyards and the cellar. The finished wines are reflective of Les Moriers’ splendid location: light and playful, with deep, ripe fruit and finesse. La Revue du Vin claims that the aromas from their wines evoke memories of great Chambolle-Musigny. Our splendid tastings of the wine do not dissuade: alluring taut fleshy ripe tarry red berry fruit; almost silken in texture but with nerve and vivacity to spare and a bursting red berry freshness that both stimulates and satisfies the palate again and again. Absolutely on-the-mark delicious Cru Beaujolais — in our humble estimation, as good as it gets!

Pinot Noir, Pinot Nero or, should you prefer, Südtiroler Blauburgunder. A pinot by any other name ... From the Alto Adige, Pinot Noir can be a light and delicate thing of beauty indeed. Subtle, alluring fragrance of mountain herb, piquant alpine berries of blue and red with a hint of wood smoke in the chill mountain air; delicate and supple on the tongue, revealing a silken texture and mouthwatering flavors that ever so gently refresh and reprise those light mountain-airy aromas.

The nomenclature of "Vino de La Tierra" of Spain is roughly analagous to the "Vin de Pays" of France. Vino de la Tierra de Castilla is a large denominación located in central Spain and is noted for its hot, arid plains. But to say the region is just large is, at least, mild understatement - it is 600,000 hectares, that's 1.48 million acres, nearly 6% of the world's vineyards. So, there is a certain economy of scale at work here. Vino de la Tierra de Castilla is, for sure, a reliable source for some of the best value in good honest drinking wines. We've recommended Protocolo Tinto for years now, specifically for its high quality at its low price. Aromas of dark spicy berries and dusty earth; smooth on entry, then gently expansive, with a nice grip of smooth, rounded tannins and warmth and flavor to spare. And, by all means, do take note of the price!

Produced from 100% Tempranillo grapes harvested from bush vines grown at elevations at and just above 2,500 feet in the Peñafiel district of the Ribera del Duero appellation in northwestern Spain. The fruit is fermented in stainless steel, followed by ten months of aging in a combination of French and American oak, then six months in bottle. Bright ruby-red in color; with aromas at once fresh and complex, with not so subtle suggestion of fleshy ripe fruit, dried berries, roasted vineyard floor, sweet vanillin spice and toasted oak; smooth and well balanced on the tongue, medium-bodied with gentle intensity of flavor and polished-round tannins. Delightfully easy-drinking if mildly complex Iberian red at such an affordable price; a great match with bacon-wrapped scallops, artisanal sausage or cured meats, aged cheeses and hearty winter stews.

Humberto Canale Estate is located in the High Valley in the province of Río Negro at latitude 39.2 degrees south in northern Patagonia, Argentina. The Río Negro itself is the continuation of the Limay river, which has its origins in the Andes Mountains and flows across Patagonia to the Atlantic Ocean, allowing along the way for such agricultural oases in the midst of an otherwise remote and barren land. The climate here (especially late in the season) is most conducive to the production of fine wines, with warm and intensely sunny days and nights that are quite cool. This 2011 Humberto Canale Pinot Noir is limpid ruby in color with alluring aromas suggestive of sweet ripe cherry fruit, candied orange peel and Holiday baking spices; at once both supple and silken on the tongue and just ample in body with nerve and spine of fruity acidity stretching flavors out long and fresh to the finish. Patagonia is clearly already a prime source for fine new world Pinot noir, but with this kind of quality for this kind of price, there is surely much more to come.

Gregor Meßmer will initiate biodynamic viticulture starting with vintage '11. "I’m the sort of man who deliberates a long time, but once I decide I implement immediately," he says.

"What nature gives, we want as much as possible to preserve," says Gregor. "The most important factor is the soil, its composition, its mineral content. We ferment in small parcels, without any fining, and with the gentlest possible handling... The most beautiful wines are those which have had the least ‘winemaking’." That’s the reductivist credo as clearly as it has ever been stated. It gives Gregor the kind of wine he most likes to drink: "Clear wine with a clear line of flavor, wine with a fruity acidity, sleek wine that doesn’t make you full, but that you can drink the entire evening; I want the taste of ripe sweet grapes in the wine, even if it’s dry. Finally I like wine with the greatest possible number of uses."

This is cooler, more "blue" than the sweet-roasty '09, so allow for it. Pure, into the center of the fruit, very pretty in a more demure way. It's more Old-World tasting. ‑ Terry Theise, from his 2012 Germany Catalogue

While the art of creating Port wine was being perfected, Bordeaux – another region with a talent for satisfying the thirst of the English – was inventing vinification using a process of prolonged maceration, allowing for the gradual and gentle extraction of tannins. This gave rise to the balance and finesse of the great red wines of the Médoc. The attempt to apply Bordeaux wine-making methods to grapes which are traditionally destined for the production of vintage Port is the essence of this exciting Prats & Symington project. Prazo de Roriz is produce of 36% Tinta Barroca, 31% Tinta Roriz, 10% Tinta Francisca, 9% Touriga Nacional, 9% Touriga Franca and 5% of other varieties, hand-harvested from the Quinta de Roriz and Quinta da Perdiz. Quinta de Roriz is situated in a natural amphitheatre facing north on the banks of the Douro. Its mineral-rich schistous soils give highly-aromatic wine of red-fruited, mineral driven character. Quinta da Perdiz lies on a steep gradient on the other side of the same mountain in the relatively closed-in Rio Torto Valley and produces ripe, soft, velvety wines from this warmer climate. All together, Prazo de Roriz is an exceptional Douro Valley red wine: deep ruby red in color with vivid and alluring aromas of red berries, say cherry and raspberry, baking spices and fresh grape pomace; vivid and alive on the tongue, then expansive, round and full-fruited, with its mineral edge on keen display; delicate and fine chalky tannins carry long and penetrating flavors that remain fresh, vivid and just plain mouthwatering to the finish. This is an an exceptional dry red wine by any standard!

In the Graham’s cellars the depiction of bunches of grapes on the cask ends has been used to signify a wine of Vintage Porto quality. Amongst these, six bunches denote the darkest and most full‑bodied of such wines. One of Graham’s original Porto blends, Six Grapes is a true expression of the Graham’s house style with great richness and complexity — Graham's themselves refer to it as 'everyday Porto for the lover of full‑on Vintage Porto.' Midnight ruby red in color with very primary aromas of ripe plum, prune, cherry, grape pomace, dried fig, tea leaf, bergamot, anise, cracked pepper, whoo, we could go on; rich, voluptuous even, on the tongue, then shows its warming grip with structure from velvety tannins; invigorating, fortifying, flavorful to the finish. And, a steal at the price!

While vintage Porto is bottled some 18 months following the vintage, Tawny Porto is aged almost entirely in cask, during this process throwing off its dark purple color in favor of a more "tawny" hue, leaving its sediments in cask rather than in the bottle, it’s once grapey, plummy fruit transformed into something far more complex and, frankly, sublime — a veritable cornucopia of aromatic richness: bitter almond, caramel, walnut, citrus peel, raisin, prune, dried berry and cherry and perhaps a hint of brandy by campfire; oh so silken‑textured, at once voluptuous and fiery, challenging and satisfying, with deliciously complex flavors that somehow so discreetly reprise those first highly suggestive aromas. Absolutely superb!