Familia Mayol 2008 Lujan de Cuyo Mendoza Malbec Montuiri Vineyard

Near opaque, dark ruby glints in the depths.

Spicy smell, nutmeg and cinnamon, cigar-box cedar, plum and prune.

Dark fruits, plum and prune and currants. Full-bodied and fat.

Very good bottle for $17.99. Big food-friendly wine.

Rosenblum Cellars 2007 Sonoma County Zinfandel

Slightly translucent ruby color.

Blackberry, oak smells.

Black cherry flavor, blackberry, red raspberry, well-balanced with oak.

Simple but good bottle for $20.99, an exuberant celebration of juicy ripe fruit.

Fetzer Vineyards 2008 California Gewurztraminer Valley Oaks

Rich golden color, green highlights.

Fresh clean floral smell, the first deep breath as you enter the florist.

Ripe fruit, sweet apple and peach, pear and petillance on the tongue.

At $12.95 a bottle, cheap and cheerful fun.

Rosenblum Cellars 2007 California Petite Sirah Heritage Clones

Purple color, dark as the allegorical hour just before dawn.

Smell of black plums and oak, something like cinnamon.

Dark stone fruit and oak flavors, dark chocolate, black pepper. Thick, almost chunky mouth-feel. Warm alcohol finish.

Good bottle for $20.99.

Duckhorn Vineyards 2008 Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc

Extremely pale straw color, just the slightest tinge of green. Some petillance on the opened bottle and on the glass.

Fresh melon smell, lemon and lime, toast.

Dry citrus fruit, melon,

Good bottle for $28.99, tart refreshing acid that cries out for full-flavored food.

Matteo Correggia 2007 Barbera d'Alba

Opaque dark purple color.

Smells of plum and black cherry.

Full flavor of plum, blackberry, and blueberry. No oak, all fruit.

Extremely good bottle for $19.99. Full bodied wine that's a fine match for any full-flavored food.

d'Arenberg 2008 Adelaide Viognier 72% Marsanne 28% "The Hermit Crab"

The color of mass-market American lager, a little petillance is visible.

Peach/floral smell, pear, melon.

Fresh tart peach flavor, not-quite-ripe melon, alcohol warmth, oily mouth-feel, salt-water in the finish, some petillance tingling on the tongue.

Pleasant, if imperfectly so, bottle for $15.50. I remember when Viognier was rare, expensive, and almost always quite good. There's a certain perverse satisfaction in seeing it common, sometimes fairly cheap and occasionally rather ordinary, as long as the good can still be had.

Some bottles may not assert Adelaide,