Smoky, ripe and juicy!

One reason why zinfandel is my favorite wine is that it's quite versatile with food (and especially compliments the barbecue and grilled foods popular this time of year). My tasting was dominated by Sonoma County 2005 Murphy-Goode Snake Eyes Ellis Ranch.

A zesty Zin, aromatic and vibrant with great tannin and structure. Nice fruit flavors, with notes of dill and toasty oak spice. Long finish.

An elegant Zin true to its varietal. lovely, ripe, jammy raspberry fruit. herbal note. Slightly short on the finish.

In a tasting of American Zinfandel between $20 and $50 from recent vintages, these were our favorites. 2003 Liars's Dice Zinfandel What a surprise; a real good food zin. All the right tastes with blueberries, pepper and earth, but a great deal of restraint and vibrant, food-friendly acidity. VERY GOOD

Andrew was enamored of the light body, the hint of orange peel and soft, grassy notes of the 2007 Murphy-Goode The Fumé, whose mere three months on French oak gave it the slightest toastiness.

Rich, ripe and complex, with tropical fruit; tart finish.

2003 Fume Blanc And here is a wonderfully scrubbed, lightly grassy, floral and very quietly oaky wine. It earns its spurs for energy, for its absolute purity of spirits and for its perfectly measured seasoning of grassy varietal character. Its priceworthiness is also to be noted.

2002 RESERVE FUME As this effort amply demonstrates, there are advantages to a bit of maturity....It's a lot of wine for the money.

2001 Reserve Fume Pears, Melons and light, fresh smells of grassy meadows start this wine off in the right direction, and its fruity, direct, slightly green-edged flavors follow right in suit.....

Cool off with a glass of sauvignon blanc I found a number of good everyday values that tend to be lighter with the focus on varietal fruit... 2016 Murphy-Goode The Fumé tangy, smooth.

Wine of the Week Despite the weird recurrences of winterish (for Florida) weather we’ve had lately, we know the hot weather is coming. Time to stock the wine racks with that summer staple, sauvignon blanc. One delicious and versatile candidate is Murphy Goode 2016 North Coast Sauvignon Blanc, widely available at about $13 per bottle. Made by Murphy Goode, founded in Sonoma County in 1985, this wine is 94 percent North Coast sauvignon blanc grapes, with a little kiss of semillon. Its pale straw color alone has a cooling effect, and its aroma conjures a bright salad of citrus and melon. Take a mouthful for even more of that fruit yumminess: cantaloupe, pineapple, tangerine, lime and peaches. There’s just a hint of herb, but no gooseberry funk — this is a California-style sauvignon blanc, not the New Zealand school. (I love them both, but they’re very different.) The Murphy Goode finishes crisply, with a chilly mineral edge under all that fruit. It’s a splendid aperitif, and it was born to wash down raw oysters. Or try it with a plate of linguine with fresh asparagus, zesty lemon and nutty Parmigiano-Reggiano.

I’m not a fan of California SBs; they’re grassy, gooseberry-juice imitations of grassy, gooseberry-juice New Zealand SBs. Murphy- Goode is different. Over an hour it developed intriguing depth.

Murphy-Goode celebrates the hedonistic side of winemaking, seeking to craft wines that appeal to a broad spectrum of equally passionate consumers. The Fume Sauvignon Blanc offers tangerine and peach with tangy citrus and mellow vanilla – a great summer sipping wine or pair with light pastas or sea foods of all types.

This clean and relatively crisp wine has mild fruit-salad flavors and lively acidity. It's medium-bodied, not too assertive and should please a crowd.

This approachable sauvignon blanc is aromatic with notes of orange blossom, and on the palate, grapefruit, tangerine and a hint of lime. Tasty.

The aroma of this fascinating, dry white wine has hints of blossoms and a nice delicate herbal varietal note. The entry is crisp and aimed at tart foods, and the aftertaste is just slightly more complex than past vintages because the wine had some barrel fermentation. Excellent and stylish wine from winemaker David Ready.

Orange-blossom aromas, flavors of lemons, limes and peaches, crisp.

This wine has an enticing, crisp acidity that buoys it. The sauvignon blanc has tropical notes, with a touch of tangerine. Tasty.

Toasty oak, aromas of pink grapefruit and mango, lush.

The addition of 7 percent semillon rounds off this spring wine very nicely. Exotic peach and melon flavors.

2011 Murphy-Goode The Fume Sauvignon Blanc, North Coast: Hint of oak, ripe peaches from semillon, rich and crisp.

Crisp, refreshing green apple and papaya flavors are smooth and juicy, with peppery details on the finish.