25 Wines For The Season, Including Some Serious Reds From Argentina

Here's a nice collection of recent releases, appropriate to the season, including plenty of reds — from easy-drinking and affordable to big and stunning at a price.

La Marca Veneto Prosecco NV ($14). Enjoyable candied fruitiness with a tropical fruit finish.

Paul Mas "Côté Mas" Crémant de Limoux Brut Rosé NV ($15). Good flavors of dried apricots and rose petals; tart but full, with great minerality.

Crios de Susana Balbo Argentina Torrontés 2016 ($12). A good party wine, floral and flavorful, with enjoyable stone-fruit flavors and noticeable minerality.

Papagiannakos Markopoulo Savatiano 2015 ($15). A complex wine made from savatiano, a grape common in Greece but little-known elsewhere. Fresh but full, with both floral notes and savory tastes.

Clos Pegase "Mitsuko's Vineyard" Carneros Chardonnay 2015 ($24). A little sweetish, with some vegetal fruitiness, and some vanilla at mid-palate; a good price for a selective style.Poseidon "Boon's Fly Hill"

Carneros Chardonnay 2014 ($46). A long, flavorful wine that evolves on the palate with good vanilla and toast in the finish.

Domaine de Millet Côtes de Gascogne Rosé 2016 ($8). A lively rosé at a "wow" price, full of bright, tart fruit, with a zippy finish.

Humberto Canale "Intimo" Rio Negro Patagonia Malbec 2016 ($12). One of a growing number of wines becoming available from the south of Argentina, this malbec is lightly floral but with good purple-fruit intensity.

Tapiz "Zolo" Mendoza Malbec 2016 ($12). Like a cross between a malbec and a pinot noir – lightish, but with long-lasting cherry flavors and some rooty notes.

Crios de Susana Balbo Mendoza Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 ($14). A nice autumn barbecue red, more on the darkish side than fruity and fresh.

Crios de Susana Balbo Mendoza Malbec 2015 ($14). A one-note wine, but it's an interesting note — rounded fruitiness with a crisp finish.

Abbazia di Novacella Alto Adige Schiava 2015 ($16). Love it! Schiava is a light-colored, food-friendly red from northeastern Italy that has been too long ignored; here, it reminds me of a fresh, fruity-but-acidic Côtes du Rhône red from the days before winemakers pumped those wines up with too much fruit and body.

Gérard Bertrand Les Aspres Côtes de Roussillon 2013 ($19). A very good food wine, lean and linear, with crisp flavors of both dried and fresh blackberries.

François Lurton Mas Janeil Côtes de Roussillon Villages 2012 ($23). Dark cherry flavors with good tannins and some "garrigue" (wild Mediterranean herb) character in the finish.

Monteviejo "Petite Fleur" Uco Valley Red Blend 2012 ($24). Half cabernet sauvignon, a third malbec, and the rest merlot and syrah. Very smooth, with creamy cherry and violet flavors and a firm finish.

Gehricke Knights Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 ($35). Quite good — a sophisticated marriage of blackberry and cherry fruit with oak — at an attractive price for a Napa cab.

Noemia de Patagonia J. Alberto Rio Negro Malbec 2015 ($41). A very Bordeaux-style wine, and an enjoyable one, with tart yet balanced fruit and a leathery, crisp finish.

Clos Pegase Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2013 ($44). Very nice purple fruit flavors with a savory streak right down the middle.

Franciscan "Magnificat" Napa Valley Meritage 2014 ($49). Very enjoyable — a big, dark, juicy wine with good savory notes and flavorful tannins.

Gamble Family Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2014 ($50). Rich and delicious, with flavors of ripe blackberries and savory meatiness, and a bit of dark nutty flavor in the finish.

Stewart Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir 2014 ($50). Rooty cola and dark cherry flavors, with moderate body and a long finish.

Mount Veeder Napa Valley Reserve Red 2014 ($83). Well-made, with good cherry flavor — not too dark or concentrated — and nice chocolate in the finish.

Pahlmeyer Napa Valley Merlot 2014 ($85). Big and complex, with great richness and depth; flavorful purple fruits and vanilla notes with delicious tannins in the finish. Will age well.

Noemia de Patagonia Rio Negro Malbec 2015 ($103). Rich, mainly red fruits with a great mouthfeel and toasty caramel barrel notes.

Tapiz "Las Notas de Jean Claude" Mendoza Red 2012 ($105). A stunning, Bordeaux-like wine with dense blackberry flavors that develop across the palate; rich and dark but with hints of fresh raspberries; long and complex with great closing tannins. Drink now or for the next 20 years or more.