While we're still waiting for the September heat, there are some good late summer, early Fall wine buys. Here are a couple of poolside sippers worth of your attention which I discovered at Prima's in Walnut Creek:

1) Sauvignon Blanc, Neveu, Sancerre, Loire, 2004 for $18.00! Very refreshing with lots of grapefruit on the nose and after sipping. Crisp and clean.

2) Concannon, Stampmaker's White, 2003 for $12.00. Great price, nice blend of Rousanne, Marsanne and Viognier. Flying off the shelves. A Red Rhone blend too.

3) Chenin Blanc, Simonsig, Stellenbosch, South Africa, 2004 for around $13. Interesting mix of pears, honey and almonds.

4) Rose is hot, so to speak, with just about anything from France, Spain or Italy showing well.

Just for fun:

2002 T-Vine Zinfandel, Brown Ranch, Napa, $53.00! Yes, you read the price right. Beautiful nose, color anda taste of vanilla and raspberries. Very smooth! Hard to believe a Zin for over $50 but this is good juice.

Brief and too the point: NV (non-vintage) Lazy Creek Red Table Wine, Anderson Valley (100% Pinot Noir)----for around $15.49 a bottle! Great price, wonderful wine. I could go on but just trust me on this one. A little earthy at first, which is fine, then very smooth with a taste of ripe cherries. A solid winner!

Made a quick trip into Bing Crosby's, in Walnut Creek, to see which wines are hot. Talked to bartender, James Walsh, who mentioned the following:

By the glass: even at $14 a glass, the 2003 Sonoma Cutrer Chardonnay is a best seller. For red, the Raymond 2001 Merlot at $10 a glass has been very popular. I guess the negative vibe about Merlot from the movie, Sideways, is waning. However, Pinot's, any Pinot's, are hot!

By the bottle: Hess has cornered the market, so to speak: the Hess Collection 2003 Chardonnay is in demand plus the Hess Estate's 2002 Meritage, at $70 a bottle has been a fast mover too.

Alternatives: by the bottle, the 2004...yep, 2004...Stuhlmuller, Alexander Valley Chardonnay, at $45 a bottle is a nice choice. If price is no object, go for the 2002 Mer Soleil at a mere $90.

Other Reds: good value---the Twenty Bench 2003 Cab for $36 or even the 2002 Provenance, Rutherford, for $68, are both solid choices. Even the Franus 2001 Cab for $45 is good. If you're a high flyer and looking to impress whomever, spring for either the 2002 David Arthur Cab for $140 a bottle or the 2001 Quintessa, Napa Valley, for.....cough-cough...$175 a bottle.

Nice to see: the Brown 2002 Zin for $63 a bottle. Smooth like butter!

An update from the weekend:

Made a trip to Wente, the winery and not the restaraunt, in Livermore. The small-lot Cab is soldout butyou can still find a bottle or two at the Wine Steward in Pleasanton. Its very good.
However we did try the small lot Chardonnay and I must say...its excellent but dont serve it too chilled. Nice butterscotch with vanilla plus a touch of citrus ( grapefruit) make this a special wine. Only 326 cases were made so you'd better hurry before its gone. It goes for 35 bucks a bottle. The small-lot Cab-Syrah is still available but it wont be long before its gone too. Winemaker Karl Wente has really turned around the quality of the wine at Wente. The future is very bright with him calling the shots. In fact, the 2002 Wetmore Cab shows nice potential too. After the great 1997 and sleeper 1998 Wetmores, the quality went way down. Thats not the case now plus the it has a nice price of only 18 bucks. Decanting is a must though. Finally, theres also a Reserved Zin on the tasting menu. Who'd of thunk this would ever happen. Napa and Sonoma are wonderful escapes for wine tasting but dont overlook the Livermore Valley.

Summer sipper: Found this Chilean Montes Sauvignon Blanc Fume Blanc 2004 for $7.99 at Cost Plus. Remember that Fume Blanc means the wine spent some time in Oak. Multiple award winner shows nice freshness with a hint of vanilla plus a touch of fruit. The label says there is also a hint of asparagus but I couldnt detect it. However lets serve this wine with asparagus wrapped in Parma Prosciutto with fresh melon. Yes please.

Steal of a deal: Lafitte Barons De Rothschild Reserve Speciale Pauillac 2001 Imported by the Chalone Wine Group Napa. I couldnt believe this wine was still on the rack but there it was at the Cost Plus in Jack London Square. Grapes which dont make the cut on a Chateaux Lafitte Rothschild go into a second label. Youll spend serious bank on an original Lafitte but you can have this one for $15.99 a bottle. The cats already out of the bag so Im not giving away any secret here. We served it with Chateaubriand. Too good.

Cool packaging: went to Sonoma two weeks ago for the Salute to the Arts Auction. One giveaway was from La Crema Winery plus the Girl and the Fig Restaurant. A plastic triangle filled with seasonings. Fennel seeds, lemon and orange peel, sea salt, lavender, mustard seed plus spices with the recipe card for sea scallops. Very cool.

Made a quick stop into the Wine Steward, in Pleasanton, on Wednesday, August 3rd, here is the buzz on new Cabs:

1) The Nth Degree, 2002 Livermore Cabernet. I barrel tasted this Cab about a year ago and it showed huge potential back then. If you haven’t visited Wente Vineyards in Livermore lately, you might want to make a special trip. Winemaker, Karl Wente, is making some excellent small-lot wine now with this Cab leading the way. Pricey @$50 but lots of wow!

2) Arbios, 2001 Alexander Valley Cabernet. Earthy but complex with loads of layers. A great value for $25.

3) Paradigm 2001 Cabernet, Oakville, Napa. Winemaker, Heidi Barrett, of Screaming Eagle fame…remember those days dot comers, might find this more wallet friendly at $53 a bottle instead of the Eagles out-of-site price.

4) Barnett Vineyards, 2002 Spring Mountain District, Napa Valley. Lets see….words used to describe this were, explosive, and a real cowboy Cab for only $60 a bottle. I have a soft spot for Spring Mountain juice.

5) Hewitt 2002 Rutherford Cabernet. The shining jewel of Provenance Vineyards with Tom Rinaldi as winemaker. Dark, fruit forward with layers on top of layers. An incredibly heavy bottle makes this feel very macho. You swear there is more than 750 ml inside. After plunking down $80 a bottle, make sure you pour with both hands because you don’t want to spill a drop…except into your glass.

Most tasting comments were provided by Co-manager, Jim Denham, of the Wine Steward.

2004 SHOO-FLY "BUZZCUT"

With summer BBQ season in full swing, it's a great time to search for easy quaffing wines while sitting on the deck or patio. Here's a worthy entry from South Australia that delivers twofold with its cool, "tongue-in-cheek" bottle/label on the outside, and its refreshing, crisp, citrusy juice inside. Don't let the name or screw cap deter you from picking up a bottle or case of this white "blend" which is 55 percent Verdelho and 22 percent Voignier. Because there's no oak, the mineral nose and taste are heightened -- perfect for those hot summer evenings. This would make a great party or pool wine."

Retails for around $13. The bottle I tasted was purchased from Prima's in Walnut Creek. Suggested pairing and recipe: Portuguese Fish Stew with Halibut, Spring Salad and Slipper Bread with a Pesto Paste....Yum!

Note: Screw cap wine is here to stay so get used to it. Australia and New Zealand are two of the vanguards on replacing cork with screw caps. Cork or no cork, this wine tasted good to me. A decal of a "fly" is just above the label which made for an interesting conversation starter. Finally, if you listen closely, you'll hear the fly saying, "Help me…help me…drink this wine!"

Email Comments And Questions To Steve

steve; I know there are a lot of great Australian wines -- do you know of any values among them I should try?