Churchill’s is best known as an upstart port wine house (a mere 30 years old) which produces a respected line of ports.   Churchill’s Estates– a table wine — is a blend of classic port wine varietals: Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca and Tinta Roriz.  (The last we know as Tempranillo.)  The grapes grow in the summer heat on terraces.  The dry soil, schist and slate, forces the vines to reach deep into the earth for moisture.

The wine is an imperial shade of purple.  The taste is fleshy and rich.  This is a dinner wine for people who like port.  It is full-bodied and dense.  It is not sugary — the yeast has done its work–but it is very good-natured.  This is a wine made for Silenus, the river god: unrestrained and lounging to this day among the steep hills of the Douro.

$14.75/Bottle

Tuta 12/6/09

The warmer months are here, and I need tasty, big-on-value white wines. Lucky for me, our wine clubs transition to white wines for the summer months. Also lucky for me, we came across this beautiful, golden-hued wine a couple of weeks ago. Portugal is the new Spain. The country’s wines are huge on value, fashioned from oddball legacy grapes (Alvarinho and Trajadura, in this case), and generally underapreciated. The Auratus is an exotic, honeyed, zesty spice laden wine. It’s big on density and the nose – ginger, orange and spice unobstructed by oak – is big on the WOW factor. The blend of Alvarinho (a.k.a.: Albarino) and Trajadura is bottled in Seixas, just inland from the Atlantic coast. It’s a wine to chill, uncork and drink – copiously. If food is on the agenda, shoot for grilled or pan-seared white fish (with capers and butter), or a salty, nutty and slightly granular cheese like manchego.

Andrew Pirie, Tasmania, “Estelle”, 2006 – Australia

This is an enticing, appetite stimulating blend of Riesling, Gewurztraminer and Pinot Gris. Australia is generally a country known for intensely ripe, powerfully fruity wines. Not much of a surprise, really, given the country’s location just south of the equator. What does always surprise me is the beauty of Aussie Gewertz, Riesling, and Pinot Gris. These three grapes historically reach their apex in France’s Alsace and in Germany. Not exactly sun-drenched locales. The beauty of the Australian version of this blend (known as Gentil in Alsace), is the combination of power and finesse imparted to it by the Tasmanian climate. Tasmania, unlike the rest of Australia’s growing regions, enjoys a relatively cool climate and lots of sun. The wine is fresh, with great weight and a rose petal and lychee profile. Drink it with spicy Thai bbq, sesame vinaigrette-dressed salads, and just about any rich, creamy cheese you can find.