Sepp Moser 2006 Gebling Kremstal Riesling

Very pale straw color with a small degree of petillance.

Melon, peach, and apple smells.

Grapefruit flavor, peach, mineral.

No white appeals to me more than Riesling. I first learned this grape with an example from Firestone that'd sat too long on the shelves of a local wine-shop, but I've since enjoyed a number of dry, off-dry, and sweet wines from the US, Germany, Australia, and Austria. This is a good bottle of dry wine for $25.99. I'm thinking about opening a bottle of a 1984 Leiwener Klostergarten Eiswein from Erzeugerabfullung Josefinengrund. It's the sweet opposite of this dry wine, but: Drool, drool. I haven't much left!

Gundlach Bundschu 2005 Rhinefarm Vineyard Sonoma Valley Pinot Noir

Medium-dark cherry soda color.

Raspberry smell, leather, oak, fresh-turned earth.

Fruity raspberry flavor, black cherry, balanced oak, as fruity at the end as it is at the beginning.

Very good bottle for $30.99, an impressively graceful medium-bodied wine.

Bodega Norton 2007 Mendoza Torrontes

The color of laundry bleach.

Full smell of young melon, tangerine rind, rain-wetted stones.

Tart dry fruity flavor, crisp green apple, lemon, melon, sprightly.

Excellent bottle for $10.50, Torrontes hasn't yet earned the respect it's due, it still can be an amazing value!

Colome 2005 Valle Calchaqui Salta Estate Malbec

Includes 8% Tannat, 7% Cabernet Sauvignon.

Opaque, dark red/purple at the edges.

Blackberry and plum smells, oak, darkness.

Even the taste is dark, plum, prune, blackberry, blueberry, black cherry, oak is there but buried deep under layers of fruit. A trace of roast beef.

Delightful bottle for $26.99, intense and concentrated. And dark.

Ruinart non-vintage Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne

Moderate golden color, long-lasting streams of small bubbles.

Buttery apple smell, perhaps it's just the power of suggestion, but this all-Chardonnay Champagne smells just like a still Chardonnay does.

As with the smell, the flavor unhesitantly proclaims this as Chardonnay.

Good bottle for$31.60 / 375ml, if the Champagne name wasn't itself a valuable marketing tool, I'd suggest "Sparkling Chardonnay".

Chandon non-vintage California Brut Classic

Pale straw color, somewhat sluggish streams of medium-sized bubbles.

Grapefruit smell with home-made bread rising.

Tart grapefruit flavor, granny smith apple, fruit seems to hide any oak/toast.

Good bottle for $12.70 / 375ml, enough less expensive than a better wine to make up for it, I think. I'm imagining this as the sparkler for friends at a large wedding reception, while family gets real Champagne.

Egly-Ouriet non-vintage Brut Tradition Grand Cru Champagne

Pale golden color, long-lasting streams of pin-point bubbles.

Melon and citrus smells.

Pear flavor, oaky toasty character in the background.

Good bottle for $67.50. It occurs to me that in 2002 Richard Juhlin published '4000 Champagnes' and in his 2008 'Champagne Guide' he claims to have enjoyed 6500. Perhaps it's time I consolidated what I've learned I most enjoy rather than keep trying to find one better bottle. But not right away, maybe later.