01 Arnoux et Fils, Cotes du Rhone Seigneur de Lauris

This is a simple, earthy wine that reminds me of sitting along the Seine, watching trash barges tow empty carnets of Gauloises and other heaps of the city's waste northward to the English channel. Truth is, all we ever drank in France was Kronenberg from the can, and we made fun of the posh urbanites buying wine at the street market behind us. This is what I imagined they were drinking. Delightfully singular and consistently funky, it proudly expresses the winemaker's Vacqueyras base, where the grenache grape is often wild, tasting of black licorice, tart red currants, black cherry jam, marjoram, and furry red berries picked from the bush. They should sell magnums of this wine with pizza made with a shy spread of pureed San Marzano tomatoes, garlic, and pepperoni--and deliver it to me. I'll be waiting by the river, beneath the stench of trash, with a can of Kronenberg in my hand.