D'Arenberg High Trellis, Cabernet Sauvignon, 2007, McLaren Vale

If you're in the mood for a big south Australian red, you can rarely do better than D'Arenberg. Well, perhaps you can do better, but this producer is so consistently good and well-priced, that you rarely have to wonder if you've picked up a shallow wine. Tough to screw this up. It's always solid. At under $20, the High Trellis is one of my go-tos.

Rocca delle Macie, Chianti Riserva, 2006, Tuscany, D.O.C.G

Italy is a demanding wine region. As a modern nation-state, Italy is just a bit older than Canada. It's an incredibly diverse, complex and slightly illogical cobbling together of micro-regions with distinct idiomatic dialects, cuisines, hand gesturing, blood vendettas, hairstyles, virgins and wine-making styles. Schiopettino. Uva de Troia. Nuragus. Ribolla Gialla. Pignolo. These are neither diseases nor dead Emperors. These are grapes. Varietals that dominate pockets of the country. Having said that, Tuscany is what most people picture when the word Italy is lobbed into a conversation - villas, hilltop monasteries, cyprus trees and those cool straw-cased bottles that you can find in the basement kitchens that Italian mothers cook in so as to avoid wearing out the nice main-floor kitchen.

Gabriel Mefffre Laurus, 2007, Gigondas, Southern Rhone

Animal. Charcoal. Leather. Dried herbs. All of these notes apply to the Grenache - a grape which along with olive oil, garlic, herbs and game holds up the Mediterranean's culinary tradition. Grenache is the key varietal in France's southern Rhone blends, the big lad of this group being Chateauneuf du Pape. 'The New Castle of the Pope.' Pretty holy, all round. We aren't having one of these tonight. I don't wish to provoke unnecessary celestial episodes. We will be profiling a wine from Gigondas, a nearby village producing serious wines at a moderate price.