02 Maysara, Pinot Gris

Quiet at first before erupting into spiced pear and sweet honeydew melon that continues on through the surprisingly long finish. Remarkably balanced acid keeps the fruit from being cloying, overwhelming, or too full without ever thinning it to dull, smoky phenols. What phenols do come through on the end only add more structure to this fresh, aromatic, summery wine.

02 Montinore Estate, Willamette Valley Oregon Pinot Noir

Balanced medium fruit and acidity. Alluring interchange of soft cherries and strawberries with mellow Burgundian earth on the palate and nose. Backnotes of toffee and bourbon-oak vanilla.

03 Brooks, Amycas

Phenolic nose spot-on for the Brooks 03 Pinot Gris which composes a good 60+% of this lovely, fish-friendly table white. Smoky aromas almost of pine develop to under-ripe pear. The midpalate reveals the Riesling influence with lovely apricots and peaches. Creamy custard body with drying acidity to back it up. Apricots grow to what I want to be a burgeoning lychee fruit, though I never really see the Gewurtz emerge.

02 Santa Julia, Reserva Malbec

Soft, savory fruit. Harmonious acid and tannins. Red bell pepper with zingy, but ripe cherry, fresh butter, and bay leaf.

02 Las Rocas de San Alejandro, Garnacha

Nuclear acidity and simple grapes up front. Volcanic spice. After an hour of decanting, sweet tannins envelop jammy pork fat and distinct white pepper. The body goes from thin and obtuse to lush and oozing with medium tannins just aggressive enough to clean up the bevy of grape and blackberry flavors. Aroma and flavor begin to shift toward peppered pork rind. Tannins grow chewy. An hour in the glass seems a year in the bottle to this wine, and I look forward to revisiting it in 2006.

03 Domaine de Beaumalric, Muscat de Beaumes de Venise

High spicy acid and alcohol to the point of being smoky. Clearly young, but still ripe with controlled sugar that dries out on the finish to citrus rind and nutty cream. Floral, but aggressively volatile on the nose. Pleasantly devoid of any substantial weight on the palate with sugars giving way to the deep structure of this wine. Lingering pear.

NV Chambers, Rosewood Vineyards Rutherglen Muscat

Numbingly sweet and searingly acidic, each sip of this wine reminds me of when I would bring 9V batteries to my tongue as a child. Great depth with an underlying flavor of rosewater and blanched nuts. Fig. Alcohol looming in the background. Candied orange-peel finish.