For the fifth year in a row, Barnard Griffin’s Rosé of Sangiovese won gold.

This is one of our favorite rosé. It’s light and refreshing with beautiful strawberry flavors, yet has nice complexity, too. This is one to buy by the case.

Made from Bobal, a grape native to the Utiel-Requena region in Valencia, Spain, the wine is light, crisp and refreshing.

Nose: Bright strawberries with hints of watermelon, straw and confectioner’s sugar. Nice, light aromas.

Taste: Crisp, tart strawberries — light, refreshing and juicy. “The best organic wine we’ve had.”

Food: We paired it first with a smoked Gruyère, which mellowed some of the crispness and smoothed the finish. Very nice. We also tried it with a southwestern duck pizza, which is probably a bigger food than this wine can handle, yet it was still delicious. This would be great with pan fried scallops or a salmon caesar salad.

Great, versatile wine, great price with the added bonus of being organic.

Nose: Bursting with fruit and lots of dark berries, cherries and currants as well as a nice spiciness — cinnamon and nutmeg.

Taste: Really tight when you first open it. Oily tannins, earth, leather, dark cherries. It took about 30 minutes for it to really open up.

Food: We tried it first with some smoked Gruyere, which really smoothed it out and brought out more fruit. We later paired it with a grilled chicken spinach salad. Because it had been open for over 30 minutes, it was an excellent pairing with less pronounced tannins and more fruit.

A very nice wine if you can wait for it. A good wine for decanting.

Nose: Big and smokey with earthy black cherries and nicotine. “Explodes with aroma.” Everything you could want in a wine.

Taste: Delicious! Dark jammy berries/cherries, a little mocha, a little spice. A big, meaty mouthful. An absolute pleasure to drink.

Food: We did two unusual, but delicious, pairings. First, we tried it with Trader Joe’s organic cheddar — more as a palette cleanser than anything else — and wow – big cherry flavors and a smooth and creamy mouthfeel. Second, we tried it with smoke paprika salmon. It still had its bigger character, yet it balanced very well with the meal.

Layer Cake Malbec is an outstanding wine.

• 2 large eggs
• 2 egg whites
• 1 can (7-8 oz.) crab meat, drained
• 1/2 cup skim milk
• 1.2 cup flour
• 10 oz. frozen, chopped spinach, thawed and drained
• 3/4 cup reduced fat, grated Swiss cheese (feel free to substitute)
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 cup reduced fat shredded cheddar (again, feel free to substitute; Parmesan works well)
• Season to taste

Preheat over to 350 degrees.

In a bowl, whick eggs and egg whites. Stir in all remaining ingredients, except the cheddar cheese.

Pour egg mixture into prepared pie plate or quiche dish. Sprinkle top evenly with cheddar cheese.

Bake at 350 for 35 minutes or until set.

According to the winery, “Primitivo and Zinfandel, however, have not been officially defined as synonymous by the TTB. We presented Dr. Meredith’s findings with the Layer Cake Primitivo label and received the first-ever Certificate of Label Approval with Primitivo and Zinfandel used as synonyms on the label, yet the TTB has still not posted them as interchangeable in the regulations.”

So take the Zinfandel grape and make wine from it in an Italian style and you get this luscious wine from Layer Cake. It is great from the first sip and gets better as you enjoy it through the night.

Nose: Earthy plums, mocha, spice, herbs, earth and vines with a touch of menthol on the finish.

Taste: Beautiful balance, black cherries and plums with mocha and mint hints. Warm, rich and creamy in your mouth with hints of spice. “A real mouthful.” Our first reaction was we didn’t want to try it with food because we didn’t want to take anything away from this beautifully crafted wine.

Food: We paired this with a spinach and crab quiche — perhaps not the ideal pairing, but it was fantastic. Lots of black cherries, soft tannins to balance with the food. Wonderful.

Another great wine from Layer Cake.

If you love Zinfandel, this is the place to be. An estimated 250 wineries pouring at least two different Zins, sometime even barrel tastings. It’s huge, yet incredibly well run. (HINT: get yourself a hotel room in walking distance).

Tickets: $59 for non-members; $69 at the door.

It’s amazing, fun, and you will learn so much about Zinfandel. (You can read our reports for previous years in the travel section of our site.

Nose: Earthy plums, oily leather and white pepper and menthol on the finish.

Taste: Cherries, smoke, menthol, earth, tannins and hints of spice. Seems a bit rough around the edges at the beginning, but as it’s open longer the fruit comes forward more and it smoothes out some. Still, it has the characteristics of a young wine that needs a little more time.

Food: We paired this with a BBQ chicken pizza, which smoothed it out even more. Nice wine for a prime rib.

Del Rio Claret is a very enjoyable wine that’s still a bit young. The 2006 will probably be excellent in a year or so.

It has been a long time since we had a really good Australian Shiraz. The ones we kept trying in our price range were alcohol bombs with a ton of fruit and no subtly. We received Layer Cake 2008 Shiraz as a gift . . . and what a gift it was! This is a spectacular Shiraz that’s big, yet subtle at the same time. It, too, has a lot of alcohol (14.9%), but it’s so well managed it really doesn’t matter.

Nose: You can smell it from across the room — delicious. Lush dark fruit, earth, menthol, currants and mocha.

Taste: Huge and jammy, it “fills your mouth like a bushel of berries.” Earthy with loads of mocha and hints of oily leather. Delicious. The finish is like silk.

Food: We started small: smoked Gruyere. Wow! So smooth and so much delicious fruit with very balanced tannins and smokey cherries. We also tried the wine with fish tacos — excellent again. You would have to say that this wine would go best with grilled meats, hearty pastas and stews. We’d say it goes with almost anything that has good flavors.

Layer Cake has renewed our faith in Aussie Shiarz. It’s the best we’ve had in years.

Roquers de Porrera 2003 Priorat is a Spanish red blend that is big, lush and earthy. At $46.99 it’s a great value.

Nose: Earthy black berries, leathery, burnt wood, smoke and a hint of menthol on the finish.

Taste: Wow! Lush and meaty with earthy black berries/cherries and tobacco. You definitely feel the alcohol (14.5%), but it isn’t unpleasant or overwhelming.

Food: We paired it with smoked Gouda, which really wasn’t big enough for the wine. However, the food did bring the fruit forward and smoothed the tannins out a bit. This wine would go well with roasted vegetables or roast pork or beef.

This is a really special wine. Excellent.