Frei Brothers Reserve "Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon," 2008, c. $22 (February 25 and March 1, 2012). My wife and I cracked open this nice bottle of red wine -- which our friend Jon Reichman brought us during his recent visit to Texas -- to accompany a marinated sirloin steak that we grilled one Saturday night and enjoyed with sweet peppers sauteed with goat cheese and some white rice. We only drank about two-thirds of it and I finished up the balance of it five days later with a simple dinner consisting of it and a plate of macaroni-and-cheese.
It is a fairly dry, full-bodied wine with a complex palette of flavors and complemented both meals perfectly. I have been partial to Alexander Valley wines since about 2000, when my friend Chip Cassano and I drove through it during a road trip up the West Coast, and recommend this appelation in general and this product of it in particular. 
Tangent Winery "Sauvignon Blanc," 2009, c. $16 (February 29, 2012). My wife selected this wine to accompany spaghetti with a vegetarian sauce made with artichoke hearts, tomato, onion, and garlic, and in that it was tangy and not sweet it paired perfectly. We had some dried pineapple for desert with our second glasses but, while this sort of fruit is a nice accompaniment to many white wines it was a bit too sweet to go well with this one. "This vintage is bright and racy, with flavors of passion fruit, pear, lemon and grapefruit," says Christian Roguenant. "Minerality notes, lively acidity, and green grassy elements balance the wine nicely. It finishes long with a touch of zesty lime. My favorite wine with oysters, it pairs well with most all seafood." I agree on all counts and look forward to trying this one with some fresh oysters! 
Carinena "El Bombero Seleccion 15% Especial," 2008, c. $16 (February 24, 2012). This is a fun and particularly potent Spanish red grenache wine, in that it has a 15% alcohol content, as compared with the almost universal 12.5% for other vintages. We enjoyed this with grilled pork shortribs -- a fairly heavy meal -- and this full-bodied, slightly hot-to-the-tongue wine paired very nicely with them. Tenuta Ca'Bolani "Prosecco," 2010, c. $16 (February 19, 2012). This Italian frizzante wine was, on top of everything else, a fun surprise for us, in that we were not paying particular attention and were expecting it to be a regular white wine. I had actually been feeling a bit down and felt immeasurably more upbeat just one sip into a glass of this nice northeastern Italian "champagne."
While it had a bit of a fruity finish, it was dry enough that it paired nicely with our broiled steelhead salmon (I loathe sweet wine with most food and so was sensitive to how well this would accompany a meal). For desert we had some strawberries and dried pineapple, both of which compliment many white wines in general and a decent sparkling wine in particular. According to the vintner, it is "gently pressed and vinified at low temperature to retain the lively, fresh, aromatic orchard fruit, white blossom, and sweet almond character."
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