Wine: Imported pinot grigios affordable, popular(2)
2008 Montecillo Verdemar Albarino, $14.
Citrus fruits, especially grapefruit, dominated the aroma, along with pears and Red Delicious apples. The palate of this Spanish wine mirrored the nose, with a briny character to the flavor.
2008 Epiphany Santa Barbara County Grenache Blanc, $24.
If you are looking for a refreshing white to serve with light meats such as chicken or turkey, you might like the pineapple and other tropical aromas, backed by apples, peaches and apricots. With more citrus and a hint of minerality on the palate, this wine was a nice surprise.
2008 Woodbridge California Moscato, $8.
If you like sweeter wines, try this blend of muscat canelli, orange muscat and muscat of Alexandria. It had perfume-like aromas followed by flavors of oranges, honeycomb and spice.
Warre's Otima 10-year-old Tawny Port, $26.50.
This was a rich, ripe and mature-tasting port that would be great with walnuts or other nuts. Tastes included dried fruit, toffee and honey.
2007 Clos Pegase Mitsuko's Vineyard Carneros/Napa Sauvignon Blanc, $20.
With its classic sauvignon blanc character, this wine had aromas of fresh-cut hay, grapefruit, gooseberries and lemon-lime. A nice acidity gave the wine good balance with a rich texture.
Contact Frank Sutherland at fsutherland(AT)gmail.com. Frank, former editor of The Tennessean, has a wine-tasting panel that includes representatives from five wine distributors in Nashville, a wine collector, a sommelier and food writer Thayer Wine.
