Bourillon-Dorleans 2009 Vouvray sec La Coulee d'Argent

Straw color.

Fruity peach smell, mineral, doesn't really very much resemble the scratch-and-sniff label. (I'm guessing that the same label-scent is available to any Vouvray producer who wants to pay for it.)

Off-dry-to-dry fruity taste, peach, lime, pear, long honeyed finish.

Excellent medium-bodied bottle. $28. Oh, just what I needed, a bottle I feel the need for more of!

Chartogne-Taillet 2002 Champagne redux

A year ago I enjoyed a bottle of this wine and put the rest of the case away. Today, I opened a bottle.

Pale straw color, many streams of vigorous pin-point bubbles. I could (and did) copy & paste this from last year.

Smell of bread dough rising, pear.

Flavors of pear, peach into apricot, toast, with lemon at the end.

This remains an excellent medium-to-full-bodied bottle. I'm reminded why vintage Champagne is more highly prized than is NV Brut.

I'll open another bottle in a year.

Teruzzi & Puthod 2008 Toscana Bianca Terre di Tufi

Winemaker says this is a blend of 80% Vernaccia, 7% Chardonnay, 7% Malvasia, and 6% Vermentino.

Deep straw color, gold glints in the deepest parts of the glass. Pinpoint bubbles of petillance form on its surface.

Peach and pear smells under plenty of oak.

Flavors of pineapple, peach, pear, lime.

Excellent medium-to-full-bodied bottle. $22.99. I generally don't favor big oaky whites, but this is well-considered, with a good blend of fruit balancing the wood.

Chionetti 2006 San Luigi Dolcetto di Dogliani

Opaque appearance, purple at the edges.

Prune smell, a bit of leather.

Dry black plum flavor, black cherry, lively acid finish cuts through higher-fat food.

Very good full-bodied bottle, $23.99

Gurrutxaga 2009 Bizkaiko Txakolina Txakoli Izaskun

Pale straw color, frizzante.

Floral smell, citrus, windy sunny day at high tide.

Taste of lemon, grapefruit, acid is boosted by dissolved CO₂.

Very good high-acid light-bodied bottle, $15.00. Works well with the same (sea)food as Muscadet Sevre et Maine.

Eraldo Viberti 1999 Barbera d'Alba Vigna Clara

Opaque, reddish-purple at the edges.

Smell of prunes, cherry, leather.

Fruit dominates the flavor, black plum, black cherry, mild oak, long food-friendly finish that so characterizes Barbera.

Excellent medium-to-full-bodied bottle, $24.99. Impressive fruit for a wine with this much age on it.

Schramsberg 2007 Blanc de Blancs

Deep straw color, many long-lasting streams of pin-point bubbles.

Citrus smell, pineapple, freshly-risen bread dough, hint of cloves.

Flavor of tart apple turnover with cinnamon, chewy pastry.

Very good medium-bodied New World sparkler, a bit sweeter than the advertised Brut, $22.91

Cape Mentelle 2010 Margaret River Sauvignon Blanc Semillon

54% Sauvignon Blanc / 46% Semillon.

Very pale straw color, perhaps a tint of green.

Yep, that's mostly Sauvignon Blanc: smells of grapefruit, just-mowed lawn, and traces of cat pee and pineapple. You could tell it in the dark.

Dry fruity flavor, grapefruit, pineapple, hint of ripe peach, while there's a bit of petillance on the tongue, none is visible.

Excellent medium-bodied bottle, $19.99

A. Diehl 2009 Pfalz Spatburgunder rotwein trocken

Spatburgunder is German for Pinot Noir.

Very dark garnet color.

Black cherry and strawberry smells, hints of leather.

Mild berry/cherry flavor, leather/organic something, nice acid ending, makes a good match for a light ham or, I imagine, chicken.

Very good light-to-medium-bodied bottle, $13.99. A QbA Pinot Noir at 14% ABV, this is clearly chaptalized.

Claire de Montesquiou Esperance 2008 Vin de Pays des Landes Colombard Vin de Soleil et Colombard

Extremely pale color, petillance visible.

Citrus and lawn, bit of cat pee.

Tastes like it smells, very petillant.

Not horribly flawed but I find this unpleasant. I remember when it was common knowledge that Gascon wine was not for drinking but for distilling Armangnac. Still true, even if forgotten. $10.

Tell the truth: I bought it for a grape that I wasn't certain I'd tried before, so I got just what I paid for.