BUBBLES

Cave de Lugny Blanc de Blancs Crémant de Borgogne

From the winemaker: “The wine has a pale yellow color with golden highlights, clear and bright, with fine and regular bubbles. On the nose we find the traditional aromas of hazelnut, fresh butter and almond. The palate discovers a fresh and delicate mouth marked by a subtle balance in the middle and finish.”

From Decanter, which scored it a 90: “This is a great alternative to champagne – at a fraction of the price. Fresh, light and dry with ripe apple and grapefruit. Lovely foaming mouthfeel with creamy notes and a tangy finish, very complex for the price. This is Burgundy’s most reliable co-op, so fill-up your fridge!”

From me: I’m in full agreement with the Decanter taster. Very good bubbles at a very good price and easy to find locally. The Cave de Lugny, one of the fifteen cooperatives in the Maconnais, enjoys an excellent reputation for its strict grape selection. The chardonnay fruit grows on 30- to 35-year-old vines from vineyards with a most favorable south-southeast exposure.

$17.49 at Whole Foods

ROSÉ

2023 Marco Porello Langhe Rosato

From the winemaker: “Enjoy hints of stone, earth, rosemay and chamomile mingled with delicate notes of blood orange and cherry fruits.”

From me: I bought this wine on a flyer. At under $20, there was no downside. But, wow, was there an upside. I’m a sucker for anything from the Langhe made from nebbiolo — and this one is 100 percent nebbiolo — but you don’t run across too many rosatos, at least in these parts. It’s one of my new go-to rosés for as long as it’s on the shelf at the Whole Foods across the street. Easy-peasy!

$19.99 at Whole Foods

WHITE

2023 Ilumination Sauvignon Blanc

From the winemaker: “Reveals aromatic purity and incredible depth. Classic notes of grapefruit peel, lemon curd and white peach are layered with undertones of ginger tea, wild thyme and clover blossom, the floral character a hallmark of the cool vintage. On the palate, flavors of kumquat and guava mesh with wet slate and elderflower. A lovely textural roundness is balanced by racy acidity and minerality. While vibrant in its youth, this wine’s structure also promised aging potential.”

From me: Agustin Huneeus was already a fan of the white wines of France’s Loire Valley when, on a hunch, he planted a half-acre of sauvignon blanc on his Quintessa estate in Napa Valley in 2002. It turned out the terroir, close to the Napa River, was perfect. This wine proved so popular that Huneeus sought grapes from nearby Rutherford and the cooler southern part of the valley in order to expand production. Today, it’s a truly delectable blend of sauvignon blanc (58 percent), sauvignon blanc musque (32 percent) and semillon.

$66.99 at wine.com

2021 Donatien Bahuaud Sancerre Blanc N7

From the winemaker: “Fruity, tropical and herbal, with bright acidity and a tangy edge. “

From me: As it happens, the wine is named for France’s Route Nationale 7, which passes very close to Sancerre. It lacks the layered elegance of the Illumination, but it’s also 45 bucks a bottle cheaper.

$21.02 at Spec’s

2020 McPherson Roussanne Texas High Plains

From the winemaker: “Originally from France’s Rhône Valley, the roussanne blossoms into a robust white wine on the Texas High Plains. bouquet of alpine herbs, kept fresh in the cool water of a mountain stream breaking over granite pebbles. Savor a rich mouthfeel, delicate herbaceous flavors, and fresh mineral finish.”

From me: The Rhone Valley and Texas’ High Plains seemingly have nothing in common, but some of my favorite white wines on the planet come from these two widely disparate locales. Ken McPherson is as gifted a winemaker as you’ll find anywhere, too. Note that I also tasted the 2015 vintage recently and it was drinking perfectly. So add “ageworthy” to the wine’s list of attributes.

$24 at mcphersoncellars.com

RED

2021 Bells Up Titan Pinot Noir

From the winemaker: “Named for Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 in D Major — “Titan” — the 2021 vintage of our flagship pinot noir combines 8-year-old Pommard vines from Bells Up’s estate vineyard with the Dijon Clones 115 and 777 from Monks Gate Vineyard’s Yamhill-Carlton AVA vines, where the vines are 19 and 20 years old vines, respectively. The wine, which aged 12 months in French oak (27 percent new), displays an elegant, rounded mouthfeel, accompanied by earthy and dark red fruit flavors. Its balanced structure and acidity offer enhanced aging potential over the next seven to 10 years.”

From me: Gifted to me by a former sports-writing colleague at the Chronicle, this wine is another wonderful new discovery, and the Bell’s Up backstory is a fascinating one. Winemaker Dave Specter and his wife, Sara, left the Cincinnati suburbs and settled in Newberg, Ore., in 2012, after Dave, once a high-flying corporate tax attorney who suffered a serious case of burnout during the financial crisis of 2008. Mentored by Joe Henke, who then owned his eponymous urban winery in the Cincinnati area — who knew, right? — Specter had already shown a knack for winemaking by winning a couple of national amateur competitions. And he hit the ground running a pro.

$46 at bellsupwinery.com

2020 Matteo Correggia Roero Rosso

From the winemaker: “Drinking this wine means being thrown at once in the sandy Roero hills, where the sun meets nebbiolo’s vineyards and silent woods. Roero is a preparatory wine, a classic and typical wine produced with attention and care. It has a noble and sincere character. Its scent reminds me of violets and spring flowers like the sensation of a breathless run in flowering fields in our childhood. Its taste is a charming dance between the full character of nebbiolo and the delicate elegance typical of the Roero territory. Intense and pleasant on the palate, it has a fine, clear and tannic structure that leaves long-lasting emotions behind it.” 

From me: Mentored by Langhe legends Roberto Voerzio and Elio Altare, Correggia became the only non-Barolo producer allowed to call himself a “Barolo Boy,” an informal group of young lions who defiantly modernized the wine-making culture in the Piemonte. Corregia released his first wines with the 1987 vintage and the sandy soils of Roero have never had a greater champion. Sadly, he died well before his time while working in the vineyard in 2001, but his widow, Ornella, carries on to this today with help from her children. Nebbiolo doesn’t get much better at such a price point.

$30 at aocselections.com

2021 Penner-Ash Pinot Noir

From the winemaker: “Aromas of spiced raspberries and ripe Hood strawberries gently fold into warm vanilla oak. Rainier cherry and cocoa provide a savory sweetness and weight on the palate leading to a lengthy finish.”

From the Wine Spectator, which scored it a 93: “Vibrant and generous with lilting raspberry and tart cherry flavors highlighted by green tea, forest floor and sandalwood tones as this gathers tension and structure toward refined tannins.”

From me: Lynn and Ron Penner-Ashe also settled in the Newberg area in the northern Willamette Valley back in 1998, ultimately selling the winery to the Jackson Family Wines portfolio in 2016. The good news is that the wines have never been better, as this concentrated, brightly acidic pinot noir will attest.

$66.99 at wine.com

2021 Viña Cobos Bramare Malbec

From the winemaker: “Intense violet red with purple highlights. Aromas of blackberries, cardamom and graphite. Juicy tannins, with good structure and tension.”

From James Suckling, who scored it a 95: “Crushed stone and violet with blueberries and hints of boysenberry aromas and flavors. Medium-bodied with firm tannins and a minerally and bright finish. Crunchy and stony.”

From me: Ten years after he first visited Argentina’s Mendoza in 1988, Paul Hobbs launched Viña Cobos. It wasn’t the first to bring international acclaim to the region, but it certainly contributed. Hobbs, who was born in western New York state and first earned his wine-making spurs as part of the original Opus One team in 1979, owns seven wineries on four continents. This one may be his favorite.

$44.99 at wine.com

2021 Austin Hope Cabernet Sauvignon Paso Robles

From the Wine Enthusiast: “There’s a significant spice of oak that comes through on the nose of this bottling, with solid blackberry fruit as well. The palate combines black cherry and blackberry syrup with root beer spices, as the finish lingers atop tannins amid vanilla, nutmeg and oak spices.” 

From me: Austin Hope, the son of grape growers, grew up in Paso Robles and has been a major player in putting his neighborhood on the global wine map. Hope’s first wines were bottled under the Liberty School and Treana labels, and he launched the eponymous Austin Hope label in 2000 with Rhone varietals at the fore. Although he didn’t make a cabernet until 2015, it didn’t take him long to show that cab was a great fit for him.

$67.99 at wine.com