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.

Leira Albariño, 2009, Rias Baixas

Albariño is Spain's greatest white wine. Rias Baixas is the DO. Galicia in the Northwest of Spain is the region. Very unique wine. Medium to full bodied. Some of them are almost creamy in texture, with intense aromas of citrus, stone fruit, flowers and mouth-watering acidity that brings to mind wet Atlantic coastal rocks. These wines are both delicious and singular, mainly because Albariños manage to bring together many of the best things of various white-wine styles. It's one of those wines I can see Chardonnay drinkers enjoying as easily as Aromatic lovers. The result? Explosion in the culinary world. The question is how a rainy, green corner of Spain manages to produce a varietal able to harness all of these sensations in a single glass. The nose, so reminiscent of Viognier and Alsace riesling, has led more than a few to wonder if the grape was brought to Galicia from France.

Bodegas LAN, Crianza 2006, Rioja

The fact that I haven't yet featured a Spanish Rioja is amazing. I have a weakness for Rioja. A deep-seeded one. I'm always showing up with Rioja, buying Rioja, suggesting another one. I've been told it's repetitive and has a pigeon-holing impact on my persona, but I can't help it. It's really good. So it's pretty startling I haven't been pushing hard for wines from this part of Spain in this space. I've made strides. So yeah, lets drink one. Not so fast, trigger-happy. Instigator. Firebrand. There are a few formalities to take care of. First, a word about the grape. Tempranillo. It is only grown with success in Spain. It produces a wine of high acidity with medium body, more reminiscent of Chianti or a muscular Pinot Noir than anything else. At its best, a Tempranillo is tart, fresh, subtle, earthy - in other words, an excellent food pairing wine. Usually it is blended with a small amount of grenache, mazuelo or graciano. But tempranillo is the mainstay. The backbone.