The Gourmez

Vouvray Brut Le Bouchet Loire Valley, France This sparkling wine (someday, I’m going to buck tradition and just start calling them all champagne, but that day is not today) is made from 100% chenin blanc grapes. It’s light in texture and full of tight bubbles. Sweetness is rampant among the kiwi, grapefruit, and almond notes. [...]

Modern Paloma Rockfish Grill, Durham This cocktail—I hesitate to call it a margarita, though I think it was under that heading in the restaurant’s drink list—is made with Milagro silver tequila, Licor 43, and red grapefruit, orange, and lime juices. A paloma, I’ve just learned, is a popular Mexican cocktail made with tequila, grapefruit soda [...]

Alamos Torrontes 2009 Catana, Argentina This is the perfect white wine for me. It’s very tart with plentiful grapefruit and acidity at first, but that gets bathed and soothed with a vegetal greenness: leek? celery? Vanilla pops in with a slight tang of eucalyptus to help wash things down.

Vida Organica Torrontes 2008 Mendoza, Argentina This organic, white wine smells floral, with a hint of lime and vanilla. The taste is also very floral, which I enjoy in a white wine a lot. A fleeting sweetness greats you along with that strong, floral scent, and lime and grapefruit always chime in. The sweetness quickly [...]

Wine: Chateau Julian Bordeaux Sec 2008 Region: Gironde, France I can’t help but feel like a wine with lots of stamps and small print, as this label has, means that I’m supposed to really like it. I am, right? But I suppose I’m supposed to think that of all wines. Regardless, all the appellations intimidate [...]