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One question no doubt occurs: where to find all these bottles? Some are ubiquitous, some are available at specialist retailers, and some you’ll have to work to find. The thing to remember is that good retailers can probably order anything that’s available in Massachusetts (the “probably” stems from the possibility that a given wine is sold out). But if you’re mostly interested in what you can pick up on short notice, some of my favorite stores in the area include…but aren’t limited to…Marty’s (Newton or Allston), The Wine & Cheese Cask (Somerville), Vintages (West Concord or Belmont), Martignetti (Brighton), Federal Wine & Spirits (downtown), The Wine Bottega (North End), and Formaggio Kitchen (Cambridge or South End).

It was a hit last year, judging by a tripling of Massachusetts’ annual wine revenues and a commensurate escalation of my salary. (OK, OK, none of that happened. Sigh.) And so here it is again: a list of one-hundred wines you should try. You’ve seen some of them before, perhaps, but consider this a second recommendation if so. Not a “best-of.” Not tied to any particular price range. And not with any agenda in mind. Just good wines. Let the drinking commence.

(A word on vintages: I haven’t included them here, as most of the wines listed are regularly solid performers, but the entries are inspired by recent releases I’ve tasted over the last year. You’ll still want to be wary of 2003s from Europe, where the extreme heat led to many highly atypical wines.)

Italy

Monastero Suore Cistercensi S.O. Trappiste “Coenobium” (nun wine, but exciting and exotic; who knew?)
I Clivi di Ferdinando Zanusso Galea (reserved and mineral-driven, with class)
I Clivi di Ferdinando Zanusso Brazan (the Harry to Galea’s Prince William)
Tenuta Roveglia Lugana (spring fruit and bivalves…really)
Bellotti “Cascina degli Ulivi” Gavi (swirling melon tea)
Bellotti “Cascina degli Ulivi” Gavi “Filagnotti” (sauvage minerality with a nutty finish)
Roagna Langhe “Solea” (a blend of chardonnay and nebbiolo – no kidding – that tastes like the best of both; stump your friends!)
Radikon Ribolla Gialla (a red in white clothing; thermonuclear Rainier cherries)
Radikon “Oslavje Riserva” (another red that’s white; unimaginably complex and stunning)
Castel Noarna Vigneti delle Dolomiti “Salvanel” (a blend, and it tastes like it)
Maule “La Biancara” Gambellara Pico (breathtaking minerality and post-hurricane desolation)
Mionetto “MO” Rosé “Sergio” (very much a red wine, but with bubbles)
Argiolas Isola dei Nuraghi “Serra Lori” Rosato (pink neon on a rocky beach)
Corte Gardoni Bardolino Chiaretto (summer in laser-beam form)
Martilde Oltrepò Pavese Barbera “la Strega e la Gazza e il Pioppo…” (extremely ageable; needs meat or the cellar)
Vajra Barbera d’Alba (freshly-baked but unsweetened pie in autumn, with precise acidity)
Vajra Langhe Rosso (simple yet beautiful; party wine for wine geeks)
Brovia Barolo Rocche dei Brovia (dried flowers and deep, deep roots)
Le Piane Colline Novaresi (delineated but feral, if that makes sense)
Le Piane Boca (tightly-wound, aromatically stunning, very reserved)
Boccadigabbia Rosso Piceno (ripe berries and black pepper with broad shoulders)
Bellotti “Cascina degli Ulivi” Barbera “Mounbè” (wild & shocking red fruit; a throwback)
Pira Dolcetto d’Abla (big, big, BIG)
Hauner “Carlo Hauner” Salina (earth, flowers, dried honey, and stone fruit)
Roagna Barbaresco Pajé (roasted nuts, dandelions, red fruit, and gentle complexity)
Occhipinti Il Frappato (soil, strawberries, and flowers in crescendo)
Occhipinti “Siccagno” Nero d’Avola (espresso bean, licorice, black fruit, pomegranate…you name it, it’s probably in here; this wine buzzes with electricity)
Bera Barbera d’Asti Ronco Malo (pulses with earthiness)
Mayr-Nusser Lagrein “Riserva” (quartz, verbena, and mint given a Teutonic chill)
I Clivi di Ferdinando Zanusso Galea Rosso (grey earth and black truffles)
Bera Moscato d’Asti “Canelli” (denser than most, with a sophisticated yet still-sweet elegance and real presence)
Fondiari “Mola” Aleatico dell’Elba (the kind of sweet red that might have sustained Napoleon)

Alsace

Mallo “Special Delivery” Pinot Blanc (light, fun, quenching)
Sparr Riesling Schoenenbourg (crushed flowers and chalk, with some residual sugar)
Meyer-Fonné Riesling Pfoeller (sandstone-textured with a hint of sweetness)
Albrecht Pinot Gris “Cuvée Romanus” (smoky pears)
Barmès Buecher Pinot Gris Rosenberg de Wettolsheim “Silicis” (shattered minerality, structured, and brilliant)
Ehrhart Pinot Gris Brand (pears and minerals; very ageable)
Mittnacht-Frères Pinot Gris “Terre d’etoiles…” (minerality abounds, but drink soonish)
Mallo Gewurztraminer “Cuvée Saint-Jacques” (classic, with a bit of zing)
Mittnacht-Frères Gewuztraminer “Terre d’etoiles…” (see previous note)
Sparr Gewurztraminer Mambourg (intense and crystallized, with light sweetness)

Loire Valley

Roussel & Barrouillet “Clos Roche Blanche” Touraine Sauvignon “No. 2” (chalk as interpreted by sauvignon blanc)
Jessey “Domaine du Closel-Château des Vaults” Savennières “La Jalousie” (chalk as interpreted by chenin blanc)
Pellé Menetou-Salon Morogues Blanc (cold fruit and high-minded greenness, with sharp edges)
Augé “Domaine des Maisons Brulées” Vin de Table Français “Le Herdeleau” (sing it: pinot noir & gamay, live together in perfect harmony)
Joguet Chinon “Cuvée Terroir” (razor-edged green, with structure)
Richou Anjou “Les 4 Chemins” (wedge-shaped fruit wrapped in a garland of thyme)

Southern France

Miquel “Domaine de Barroubio” Vin de Pays d’Oc Muscat Sec (everything about the perfume says “sweet,” but it’s dry as a bone)
Côté Tariquet Chardonnay-Sauvignon Blanc (intense fruit salad)
Bonfils “La Chapelle de la Bastide” Coteaux du Languedoc Picpoul de Pinet (sharp and crisp, with hints, teases, and touches; a perfect summer wine)
Lafage Vin de Pays des Côtes Catalanes Blanc “Côté Est” (simple stone-baked pleasure)
Parcé Frères “La Rectorie” Collioure Rosé “Coté Mer” (explodes with flavor, but never loses its transparency)
Durand & Valentin “Château de Lancyre Pic Saint-Loup Rosé (roses, blood oranges, and lavender)
Iché Vin de Pays de l’Hérault “Les Hérétiques” (one of the great wine values; solid darkness)
Fonquerle “l’Oustal Blanc” Vin de Table “Naïck” (a strange blend with strange-but-wonderful complexity)

Champagne, Beaujolais, Burgundy, Bordeaux

Brun “FRV100” (unbeatable fun; soda for adults)
Larmandier-Bernier Champagne “1er Cru” Brut Blanc de Blancs “Vertus” (mineral soda as conceived by Frank Gehry)
Gaston Chiquet Champagne “1er Cru” à Dizy “Tradition” Brut (gritty and warming)
Coudert-Appert “Domaine de la Chapelle des Bois” Fleurie (a prettier wine you’ll never taste)
Bertagna Bourgogne “Les Croix Blanches” (spicy red fruit that feels, but isn’t, carbonated)
Rieussec Sauternes (baking spices, butterscotch, and incredibly rich sweetness; not cheap, though)

Rhône Valley

Michel “Le Vieux Donjon” Châteaneuf-du-Pape Blanc (nuts, stones, and spices)
Delorme “Domaine de la Mordorée” Côtes-du-Rhône “La Dame Rousse” (plays way above its age bracket)
Perrin “Coudoulet de Beaucastel” Côtes-du-Rhône (ripe fruit, earth, meat, and a surprising drinkability)
Costières & Soleil “Sélection Laurence Féraud” Séguret (sun-drenched dark berries and vine smoke)
Vignerons de Caractère “Domaine de la Brune” Beaumes de Venise “Vin Emotion” (reddish-hued quartz and smoked meat)
Texier Côtes-du-Rhône Rouge (classic, but with sharper acidity than most of its type)
Stehelin Gigondas (a brutish monster that needs a lot of time)

Spain & Portugal

Ameztoi Txakolina (crystals and lime; a brilliant distillation of light)
Santa Vitória Alentejano Branco (hides hewn from grapes, melons, and apples; a bracing white)
López de Heredia “Viña Tondonia” Rioja Rosado (utterly unique; the ’97 is the current vintage)
Primitivo Quiles “Raspay” Alicante (like being hugged by the earth while being fed berries; stunning)
Viños Piñol “Sacra Natura” Terra Alta “Viñas Viejos” (spicy red fruit in a blender with structure and zest; gluggable)
Telmo Rodríguez “MR” Málaga Moscatel (perfumed and quite sweet; Thomas Jefferson drank this wine’s ancestors)
Burmester “Late Bottled Vintage” Porto (balanced and full-fruited, with plenty of sweetness)

Germany & Austria

Laible Durbacher Plauelrain Traminer Spätlese Trocken (arctic gewürztraminer)
St. Urbans-Hof Leiwener Laurentiuslay Riesling Spätlese feinherb (elegant, soft, and incredibly long, with a great future)
JP Reinert Wiltinger Schlangengraben Riesling Spätlese feinherb (a laser beam with a quartz rod rammed through it, or vice-versa)
St. Urbans-Hof Piesporter Goldtröpfchen Riesling Spätlese (beautiful peach flower, with balance and purity)
Pretterebner Blauer Portugieser (a little red tease)

California & Oregon

Scholium Project “Heliopolis” Delu (one of the strangest, but most wonderful, whites you’ll ever taste)
Edmunds St. John “Heart of Gold” (an immediate white, with great character and bracing structure)
Easton Sauvignon Blanc (sauvignon blanc fruit done in an aggressive New World style)
JB Cellars “Margaret Anne” Arneis/Tocai Friuliano (pure, clean fun)
Edmunds St. John Gamay Noir Rosé Witters (there’s pink Beaujolais, too, but this is better)
Scott Paul Pinot Noir “La Paulée” (lush pinot in the first flush of youth)
Adelsheim Pinot Noir “Elizabeth’s Reserve” (big and fulfilling)
Calera Pinot Noir Jensen (the most accessible of Calera’s brilliant, sophisticated pinots)
Edmunds St. John “Rocks and Gravel” (the Southern Rhône with a laid-back California vibe)
Tablas Creek Tannat (deep, dark, mysterious, and intriguingly murky)
Tablas Creek Vin de Paille “Sacrérouge” (a sweet dried-grape mourvèdre that tastes of figs)

New Zealand & Australia

Vavasour Sauvignon Blanc Awatere Valley (dry, chalky gooseberry)
The Crossings Pinot Noir (crisp to the point of whiteness)
Wild Earth “Blind Trail” Pinot Noir (an insane value, done in a burly style)
Wyndham Estate Shiraz “Black Cluster” (old vines make the difference; balanced, intense, and complex)

South Africa

Southern Right Sauvignon Blanc (rum, sodomy, and the lash)
Neil Ellis Sauvignon Blanc (stark, sharp, yet airy)
Vergelegen Sauvignon Blanc (green under a spotlight; flawless)
Southern Right Pinotage (a fruit explosion that’s impossible to ignore)

(First published in stuff@night, 2008.)