I was especially impressed with the 2007 Plummer Vineyard Petite Sirah.  One word best describes it:  Viscosity.  This wine is pitch black; seemingly impenetrable.  I anticipated major intensity from this wine, but was pleasantly surprised by suppleness and elegance.  Weighty but not meaty, the wine offered ample flavors of wild blueberry and currant.  Plummer Vineyard is owned by Bianchi Winery’s neighboor.  Bianchi’s winemaker, Tom Lane, buys fruit for his “Signature Selection” wines from them and other reputable growers.  All of the fruit that goes into the winery’s “Heritage Selection” wines is grown on their property in Paso Robles.  Depending onthe vintage, the wine will always be close to 100% Petite Sirah will spend between 19-30 months in oak.

Despite it being the start of the busiest time of year in wine country, Tom Lane spent half an hour with me on the phone enlightening me about the people and process behind the wines.  Bianchi grows Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah on 28 acres surrounding the winery.  They buy fruit from growers they have strong relationships with to craft white and additional  red wines from varietals such as Refosco and Sangiovese.  Asked to briefly summarize his winemaking philosophy, Tom said he endeavors to “accentuate the grape first, then layer in other qualities.”  This statement rang true in the wines I sampled.  Tom aims to yeild 3.5-4 tons of fruit per acre, thinning heavily before veraison (the onset of ripening).  This, combined with the use of soil moisture monitors and vertical shoot positioning trellis systems to increase air flow around the fruit, ensure each berry gets the royal treatment.

Fox Run Owner, Scott Osborn, pours his wines at Wegmens in Gainesville, Virginia.

Indeed, Fox Run has much to offer. Overlooking beautiful Seneca Lake, Fox Run produces wines from about a dozen different grapes. Riesling and Cabernet Franc—which do exceptionally well in the region—are major players. But the winery also grows heavy-hitters like Chardonnay, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir, as well as unique wines from lesser-known grapes like Gamay (the grape of Beaujolais), Gewurztraminer, and Lemberger. From central Europe, Lemberger is known as Blaufrankish in Austria and Kékfrankos in Hungary.

A personal favorite from Fox Run is their Cabernet Franc, which is surprisingly delicate and fruity, without the green “stalky” and tannic characteristics of some Cabernet Franc wines. Fox Run’s version is more subtle with raspberry notes and a food-friendly, crisp profile.

A number of Fox Run wines are available at area Wegmens supermarkets, where Fox Run’s unoaked Chardonnay is bargain-priced for under $10. It’s a perfect summer-sipping wine to enjoy with grilled chicken.  But before dinner, you might enjoy the off-dry (lightly sweet) Arctic Fox white blend. It comes in a beautiful blue bottle, which makes an impressive presentation among friends.

If you want to try a bit of New York history, try the Fox Trot Red, which is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and American Concord grapes. This is a sweet red wine that Fox Run owner Scott Osborn recommends mixing with club soda to make a summer cocktail.

And of course, MacNeil is right that Fox Run Rieslings are a must-try, and they too are available at Wegmens. If you are skeptical of this variety because you don’t like sweet wine, try Fox Run’s dry Riesling. It is a crisp and refreshing wine that is wonderful chilled on a hot summer day. But when you order out some spicy Asian food, pair it with Fox Run’s off-dry Riesling.

Finger Lakes Rieslings are exceptional because the grape excels in the region’s cool climate, which is much like Germany’s. New York’s Rieslings are made dry, off-dry, and lusciously sweet. The sweet wines are sometimes made from grapes frozen on the vine—known as ice wine—producing very fresh and fruity wines. Others are made from grapes that dehydrate on the vine, the result of a type of “noble” rot.  This is the same practice used to make some of the most expensive wines in Sauternes—a sub-region in Bordeaux, France.  These wines are lusciously sweet and complex with dried fruit, citrus, and apricot flavors packaged in a syrupy texture.

As Fox Run’s selections attest, the state is growing a diverse mix of grapes, which is a relatively new development in the Finger Lakes region.  For much of  its wine-making history, the region focused on growing grapes native to America because the varieties from Europe—from the species Vitis vinifera—did not do well in the area’s cold climate. Fortunately, that changed in the 1950s when an immigrant and botanist from the Ukraine—Dr. Konstantin Frank—began researching ways to make European grapes work in the area’s climate by attaching them to cold-hardy American rootstock. He also understood that the lakes created moderate mesoclimates suitable for many grapes.

Dr. Frank succeeded; he eventually opened his own winery in the state and encouraged others to follow suit. It took several decades for the state’s industry to take off. In 1976, the state government helped by passing the Farm Winery Act, which allows wineries to sell their wines to retailers and restaurants directly, rather than going through a distributor as other states mandate. According to the Oxford Companion to Wine, the state’s wine industry took off after that law passed, adding 190 new wineries by 2005. Fox Run was one of those wineries, opening its doors in 1993.

Lately I’ve heard a lot of people complain about how hard it is to find a good bottle of wine for $10.  Wanting to put that hypothesis to the test, I walked into 6 DC wine retailers and asked the first sales staff member who approached me to recommend their shop’s best wine for around $10.  Conveniently, I ended up with three whites and three reds which I brown-bagged and served blind at my Independence Day barbecue.  I was not trying to stump my guests, but rather to garner honest feedback about the wines.  Here is what was in the bags, the recommendations of DC retailers:

1.  Castle Rock Cabernet Sauvignon, 2007, Napa Valley – Purchased at Pearson’s on Wisconsin Ave NW, a number of friends told me they like this.

2.  Vika, Syrah & Malbec, Bodegas La Guardo, Argentina – Purchased at Schneider’s on Capitol Hill, this may not be a great choice for summer BBQ, as it was the only bottle left unfinished.

3. SXS “Step Two” Shiraz, 2008, South Australia – Purchased at Wide World of Wines on Wisconsin, shop owner Eliot remarked that this wine “is just really good juice.”  I concur!

4.  Saint-Bris Sauvignon Blanc, Simmonet-Febvre, Chablis, 2008 – Purchased at Calvert Woodley, this wine received a number of thumbs down.

5.  Nobilo Sauvignon Blanc, 2008, Marlborough, New Zealand – Purchased at Yes! Organic Market, I got no feedback on this one.

6.  Castelo Verdejo, 2009 – Purchased at MacArthur Beverage, this was the preferred white of the bunch, with lots of people asking if they could pull it out of the bag to learn what it was.

The Peoples' Choice

2006 Louis Martini, Lot No. 1 Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, California: This wine is made with the winery’s best-of-the-best fruit from a number of vineyards in Napa Valley. This deep colored, limited production wine is rich and smooth with flavors of dark fruit, coffee, and oak. It tastes great now, but could age up to 20 years. The price is $125 a bottle.

2008 The Crusher, Petite Sirah, Don Sebastiani & Sons from Clarksburg, California: This wine is a product of Sebastiani & Sons, a company that produces a number of value wines including Smoking Loon and Pepperwood Grove. This one is quite the bargain with black fruit flavors and a silky texture. It should please both wine snob and novice wine drinkers. It retails for just $12.

2008 Desert Wind Ruah, Wahluke Slope, Washington: This Bordeaux blend is the winery’s flagship wine. This is a very well balanced, big wine with dark and red fruit flavors along with some charred barrel notes. It retails for $20 a bottle.

2008 Duck Pond Red Blend, Wahluke Slope, Washington: This is blend of Merlot, Syrah, and Cabernet Sauvignon that is aged in both French and American oak.  It would work well with many different dishes, but would be great with your summer grilled red meats. It’s a big wine with a small price tag of just $15 a bottle.

2009 Mollydooker Velvet Glove Shiraz: This is 100 percent, single-vineyard Shiraz shows the result of Mollydooker’s growing and watering regime that focuses on producing very ripe and rich fruit.  Their system yields such intense wines that they are often described as “fruit bombs.”  See weloveshiraz.com for details.  Velvet glove is a very rich, high-end wine that retails for $180 a bottle.  If you can’t afford it, check out their other wines, which include some that retail for closer to $20 a bottle.

2007 Riot, Red Table Wine, Trio Vintners, Columbia Valley, Washington: Trio Vintners produces many single-vineyard varietal wines, but this is their red blend composed of Sangiovase, Syrah, and Mouvedre.  This wine has a lovely complex nose of red cherry, chocolate, and eucalyptus.   Trio is making some exciting limited production wines at reasonable prices, some of which will be subject of reviews soon on the Weekly Wine Pick.  This one retails for just $18

2007 Stoller Pinot Noir, Dundee Hills Oregon: This Pinot Noir is produced in a young and fresh style that makes it a great choice for enjoying with lighter fare or simply on its own slightly chilled. It is very well done, and retails for just $25 a bottle.

2008 Stepping Stone Cabernet Franc, Cornerstone Winery, Napa Valley: Grown in Napa’s cool Carneros region, this Cabernet Franc has good acidity that keep gives it a fresh and crisp quality, offering lots of fruit and complexity.  It’s likely to show its best with a good meal, particularly with red meat.  It retails for $30 a bottle.

2007 Long Shadows, Sequel, Syrah: Made by John Duval, the former winemaker from Austrailia’s famous Penfold’s Grange, this Syrah is the “sequel” to his success in Australia. This is an excellent example of a rich and age-worthy Syrah. You can add it to your cellar for $55 a bottle

2008 Solena Pinot Noir, Hyland Vineyard, Oregon: This single-vineyard Pinot Noir is produced in the McMinnville AVA of Oregon where cool marine air makes the region similar to Sonoma coast. This is a very big Pinot Noir with a surprisingly good tannic grip that gives it solid structure and ageablilty of up to 13 years. This limited-production wine (only 300 cases made) retails for for $50 a bottle.

Big House White–Concept: Artisan wine packaged in a box. The goal is a long-lasting wine after it opens. Romanian Winemaker Gorgetta Dane produces a box, equal to four bottles, that retails for just $21.99. Despite the perception of box wines as “low-quality,” this box is a great way to make an open wine last longer, and it defeats the “low-quality” perception. This wine is a blend of a number of aromatic grapes–nice and fruity with an abundance of perfume and floral aromas.

Maryhill, 2008 Viognier, Columbia Valley–This wine is made in stainless steel, partially fermented with neutral oak. Lovely floral aromas combine with nice vanilla hints and a little residual sugar. It retails for about $12 and is a great wine to drink on its own or paired with spicy Asian food.

2008 Hogue Cellars, Genesis Riesling–This upper-tier wine represents the top 4 percent of Hoage Cellars’ wines. This off-dry white represents the winery’s best Riesling. It offers tangerine and peach flavors. As with Maryhill, try it with a spicy Asian dish. It comes with a screw cap to ensure freshness and good shelf life, but it’s ready to drink now. It retails for $16.

2008 Buty Semillon-Sauvignon-Muscadelle Blend–This is a delicious white made with white Bordeaux grapes. It’s dry, crisp and fresh but also round and rich with some complexity aided by light oaking. It is a relatively small production wine that you can find online, but it’s also sold in 10 states at retail locations for about $25.

2009 Rambling Roads Rosè, Dusty Valley, Columbia Valley–Mourvèdre, Counoise, Syrah, Viognier. Aromas of strawberry, watermelon and some spice. This is an easy-drinking, small-production summer wine, good for the patio and by the pool and retails for about $18.

Delille Cellars, 2008 Chaleur Estate Blanc, Columbia Valley–Another Bordeaux white blend. It is left on lees (yeast) to add flavor and aged in French oak. Cold soaking helps make it crisp and clean. This rich wine has lovely fruit and oaky qualities. It is also complex with grapefruit, tempered by toasted almonds and honey. It retails for $34.

2008 Duck Pond Cellars Pinot Gris, Willamette, Oregon–This very clean, refreshing wine offers just a hint of sweetness but is mostly dry. Fermented in stainless steel, with about 2 percent in oak barrels, adds a little complexity, and it retails for about $15.

2009 Banfi Centine (White Blend)–This Italian value wine is a blend of many white grapes. With notes of honey, apricots, pear, peach and a touch of residual sugar, it’s a nice summer sipping wine at for a great $11 price.

2008 Jordan, Russian River Valley Chardonnay–Produced in Sonoma’s Alexandria Valley, the fruit is hand harvested at night, aged in 40 percent new French oak for a little more than months with 28 percent malolatic fermentation. This very well-done, balanced wine is great with food but also stands alone well. It retails for about $25.

Mollydooker. Among the exhibitors is Brian Pasch, blogger at weloveshiraz.com and representative of Mollydooker Wines. The Weekly Wine Pick has already reviewed Mollydooker’s the Boxer, and I covered the Scooter Merlot. Today, I had the opportunity to be among the few people to get an early tasting of the 2009 vintage, which is exceptional. These are very big, high-alcohol wines that are well balanced, extra rich, and silky smooth. Enjoy them with your summer grillings. Today, a personal favorite was the Blue Eyed Boy Shiraz, which is bursting with fruit and richness. There will be more coverage of Mollydooker wines at the live logging session latter.

Canoe Ridge. Next, I tasted some of the local wine from Walla Walla. Presented by the winemaker, Ned Morris, Canoe Ridge wines are made in an old world style. He offered an Alsatian-styled dry Riesling, a Merlot and a Cabernet Sauvignon. My favorite was the Cabernet, which offers rich cedar and delivers big, showing Walla Walla’s greatness.

Lake Chelan AVA Wines. Washington State’s newest American Viticultural Area–Lake Chelan–also hosted a table with more than a dozen fantastic wines. This region is a bit cooler than others in Washington State, and its Northern-facing slopes offer climates to grow some cool-climate grapes like Pinot Noir and Riesling. The wines were so good that it was hard to pick just a few to highlight! Among the most interesting was a small-production Pinot Noir made by Judy Phelps of Hard Row to Hoe winery (see the website for story behind this title). It was full of smoky oak yet retained a rich fruity flavor. There were no vegetal or off notes on this one. It was delicious. It’s a home run, particularly given it is the first Pinot produced by this winery! Production is small for this yet-to-be released wine, but check the website to see if you can eventually get your hands on one.

The Chelan table also featured Vin du Lac wines, presented by the winemaker, Dreux Dillingham. Among their offerings is a perfect, fresh summer sipper–a dry and refreshing Riesling. Like the Hard to Hoe Pinot, it is grown on Northern-facing slopes, which are cooler, ensuring a crisp and refreshing quality. Vin Du Lac also had a fantastic red table, which is a blend of a number of grapes. It delivers big for a moderate price and is available around the nation. Keep an eye out for these Chelan AVA wines or search for them on wine-searcher or at winery websites.

Steak time, and the next two wines had gone into the decanter right before Scott and Shannon arrived with the steaks and a back-up bottle of 2004 Turley Duarte Vineyard, just in case. I received these bottles of Emblem Oso Vineyard and Emblem Rutherford from the marketing rep, who suggested the wines would be great for Father’s day as they were made by the father-son team of Michael Mondavi and Robert Mondavi, Jr. They were definitely great for the Friday night before Father’s day. I served the wines simultaneously for comparison sake, and I think we all agreed immediately that these wines shared far more differences than similarities. The 2006 Emblem Oso Vineyard was inviting and approachable, with loads of bright red cherries and vanilla. The soft tannins provided a flexible structure that matched perfectly with both the steak and the cheesy potato gratin we were eating. The 2006 Emblem Rutherford was a much taller order. The deep dark fruit in this wine’s nose warned me that this wine was way too young to be opened now. It is dark, chewy and firm with a backbone crafted by fruit that is distinctly Rutherford style. While the Oso Vineyard was open to all senses, the Rutherford was still zipped up even after an hour in the decanter. Both wines were big, maybe even bigger than the sub-$50 price tag suggests. The Oso is ready now, and the Rutherford will pay dividends in 5-10 years.

Apparently, Swanson and I agree that among the most the exciting wines was the Folin Cellars selection. Folin is one of the few wineries in Oregon with a focus on varietals other than Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris. While Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris do wonderfully in Oregon, Folin shows that the state has potential to offer a wider array of first-class varietal wines. Their 2007 Estate Syrah is simply delicious with silky rich berry flavors, making it well worth the price of $30 a bottle. They make just 225 cases of this wine and just 500 total cases of wine per year. So if you would like to get your hands on some, you can call in a mail order. However, they are exploring opportunities with retailers in in D.C., so keep your eye out Folin wines at local wine shops.

The good news is, the risk of getting a bottle with cork taint is pretty low since they seal their bottles with the classy Vino Seal Closure, which comprised of glass. It has the benefits of a screwcap (which are great ) in terms of keeping wine fresh, but also offers a new twist on modern-style closures.

However, if you can get past this first rule, the second rule is “drink the cuisine.” That’s easy when you’re eating Italian or French food.  Argentine and Australian steakhouses sport lengthy lists of the wines from those countries, and tapas bars have no trouble offering an array of wines from Spain.  But what do you order to drink in a Thai or Chinese restaurant?

There aren’t many wines being produced around Bangkok and Shanghai, and the Himalayas don’t seem like the best vineyard land. Beer is fine – and I don’t have a problem with drinking a bottle of Singhai or Tsingtao in these restaurants – but it’s easy enough to find wines that are perfectly suited to Asian food.

My favorite pairing is a dry Riesling, with its bright fresh flavors and tingling acidity – a perfect foil for spicy dishes, especially those with numerous ingredients all competing for your attention.  Here are some recent notes.

Ad Lib 2008 Wallflower Riesling (Western Australia, $17). Fruity and fresh, flavors of sweet nectarine, pineapple accent on finish.

Château des Charmes 2008 Riesling (Ontario, $13). Tingly acidity on first sip, flavors of sweet apple and pineapple, very delightful.

Château St. Jean 2008 Riesling (Sonoma County, $15). Orange blossom, apple, and peach aromas and flavors dominate in this delicate and inviting wine.

Chehalem 2008 Riesling (Willamette Valley, $20). Aromatic, fruity, lime-tinged. The tingling acidity work perfectly with Asian dishes.

Trefethen 2008 Dry Riesling (Oak Knoll District, Napa Valley, $22). Floral and very approachable from the first sip. Flavors of pineapple tinged with lemon peel finish with a minerally accent.

Willamette Valley Vineyards 2007 Riesling (Willamette Valley, $12).  A lighter style but very refreshing. Slightly sweeter than the other Rieslings reviewed, but the grapefruit and citrus flavors sell it.