I think the secret to Château Ducasse’s perennially popular, tantalizing white is the healthy amount of Sémillon. It makes up about 70 percent of the final blend and is wonderfully complemented by the Sauvignon Blanc, its traditional dance partner in Bordeaux blanc. As the Bordelais figured out long ago, Sémillon provides weight and texture that you don’t get with Sauvignon Blanc alone, along with gentler floral and stone fruit aromatics. Together, the two varieties produce a refreshing, food-friendly white that walks the line between racy and voluptuous.

You can count on just two hands the growers we’ve worked with for four decades or more. Joining such families as the Peyrauds (Domaine Tempier) and Bruniers (Vieux Télégraphe) in that company are the Laboucariés of Domaine de Fontsainte, who, for years, have crafted ethereal and delicious rosés and soulful, terroir-driven reds in the Languedoc’s Corbières appellation halfway between Montpellier and the Spanish border. 
     Their vineyards surround the hamlet of Boutenac in one of the sunniest stretches of Corbières. But when you taste the family’s lively rouge, you might be surprised to find this is not a robust wine concentrated by long hours of intense sunshine. Boutenac’s warmth is balanced by cooling sea breezes and by Fontsainte’s old vines whose roots dig deep for water and keep the grapes refreshed. 
     As a result, this Corbières rouge epitomizes finesse and charm. Bruno Laboucarié blends two parts Carignan with one part Grenache and a splash of Syrah to produce a vibrant country red that mixes the trademark notes of the South—black cherries, spice, and brambly fruit—with beguiling elegance and drinkability. Bring a bottle or two to your next barbecue for a smash hit.