The Thienpont family first put Cotes de Francs on the map. They own Le Pin in Pomerol. You remember, Le Pin. It set an auction record a while back - 12 bottles went for $32,000. They know how to make wine.

The Thienponts recognized what glorious terroir there was in Cotes de Francs which is just northeast of Saint-Emilion and they bought Chateau Puygueraud and then other chateaux. Hubert de Bouard of Chateau Angelus caught on next and bought a chateau for himself there and suddenly people started paying attention - including myself.

I've always got my eyes open when it comes to affordable Bordeaux made by winemakers whose livelihood actually depends upon their making a knockout wine. Of course, I am especially keen on finding them in great years like 2005.

These little chateaux often are not too good at the marketing part, but they're great at the wine part, which is what I care about. I don't expect my wine to come to me via some snazzy press kit - I'm willing to go out and break a trail if I have to. The rewards for doing this are often stunning.

All of this points right to Chateau Puy Galland. Bernard Labatut's Chateau Puy Galland is exactly what I look for. A classy Bordeaux with flesh and black cherries, very round in the mouth. Many people don't realize it, but there are a lot of affordable wines in Bordeaux that just get shouldered aside by the Classified Growth buzz. Yes, you can drink great Bordeaux every night - you just have to know where to find them.

Bernard Labatut is the third generation to work the vines at Chateau Puy Galland. His 26-year-old son will soon take the reins. Bernard likes the organic approach to wine growing. He de-leafs and green harvests to produce better quality grapes.

Bernard inspects his grapes as they are harvested on his table de tri to ensure there are no losers getting into the final blend. He uses oak judiciously to maintain a balance between fruit and tannin. He is dedicated to quality and works with oenologist Jean Philippe Faure at winemaker to the stars Michel Rolland's oenology firm.

There is a round, substantial, dark-fruitiness to this wine. Bernard Labatut suggests nothing less than foie gras for his beauty, but I think we can stoop to things less lofty. I've had Puy Galland with a roast chicken or a grilled pork chop and the wine didn't seem to be embarrassed at all.

Let's have Bordeaux tonight. Cynthia Hurley

"Among the best whites that I have ever seen from him." -Allen Meadows, Burghound

2006 St. Aubin Clos du Meix: "A subtle touch of pain grillé sets off ripe and exceptionally fresh floral, lemon, lime and wet stone aromas where the mineral character also characterizes the delicious and solidly concentrated flavors that possess both lovely mid-palate density and a palate staining finish. This is worth a look as the balance is really lovely. 89/2011+" -Allen Meadows, Burghound

Olivier Lamy produces white Burgundies which actually taste as great as white Burgundies are supposed to. If you've ever made an excuse for a white Burgundy or lowered your expectations, stop right now! You deserve a great bottle!

Bob knows he has to "lock up the Lamys" just so I won't run through them at a meteoric clip. Any excuse to uncork them is fine with me: "Hey we've got a great Netflix, let's have a Lamy." "You're heating up the leftover pizza, let's have a Lamy" "It's stopped raining, let's have a Lamy." I've got it bad for Olivier Lamy. Uncork one, you'll see what I mean.

Can you tell I'm excited about this wine?

Olivier Lamy (and a few other growers like Henri Boillot at a much higher price) want to make wines that are the finest expression of Chardonnay you can find anywhere. And they are doing it! And Olivier is doing it in St Aubin, an appellation that some people have never heard of!

St Aubin is a small hamlet of 300 residents backed into a limestone slope high in the hills west of Chassagne Montrachet. The village is very old with origins back to 1000, and there is evidence that the village was inhabited during the Bronze and Iron ages. The soil in these sites is nearly pure limestone and the wines produced are a very succinct expression of their terroir with some almond nuances thrown in. These are wines that have some ageing capability just like Meursault, Chassagne Montrachet and Puligny Montrachet with their $50 per bottle price tags.

Domaine Lamy is an estate you should know about if you're trying to bring high quality Burgundy to the table at about half the price. The Lamys have lived in St Aubin since the 1600s. It's a father and son operation, but mostly Olivier is in charge now. He took over the Domaine from his father in 1996. Olivier stopped selling his wine to the cooperatives and actually pulled up his marginal vines, leaving just the best vines in his best parcels.

Olivier keeps his yields very low, uses a sorting table to select only the ripest grapes for the vat and uses a judicious amount of new oak so the fruit is not overwhelmed. He hardly ever fines or filters.

Lamy's wines are admittedly not inexpensive, but they represent the work of a Domaine that is absolutely dedicated to bringing you the highest expression of terroir at the quality level of a much more expensive white Burgundy. Cynthia Hurley

"This is almost like a very cool and classic Chassagne Montrachet with its resin, straw and floral nose that gives way to detailed, pure, racy and very stony flavors that are attractively energetic on the mouth coating, complex and bone dry finish. This is a lovely effort with impeccable balance. Recommended. 91/2012+" -Allen Meadows, Burghound

Allen Meadows goes on to say:

"While it's almost hard to believe, after how good Lamy's '06s were [I believe the words for his '06s were "flat-out terrific"], he's done even better in 2007. These wines offer incredible quality for the price."

I take what I can get of Olivier Lamy's fantastic white Burgundies. It's never enough and it's always a minute quantity. Olivier Lamy's St Aubin 1er cru Clos du Meix hangs most Chassagne-Montrachet out to dry (at 2/3 the price)

Neal Martin who works with Robert Parker also crows over his glass of 2007 Clos du Meix and gives it the coveted 90.

"Tasted at the Domaine. From a rocky soil near the village church, this is stubbornly closed on the nose, reluctantly giving up scents of morning dew and a little apple. The palate is taut with vibrant green apples, lime and citrus lemon, tingly mouth-feel, vibrant and racy with impressive harmony and focus towards the finish. Moderate length. Leaves the mouth dry and fresh, looking for the next sip. Very fine. Drink now-2015."

Olivier Lamy (and a few other growers like Henri Boillot at a much higher price) want to make wines that are the finest expression of Chardonnay you can find anywhere. And they are doing it! And, Olivier is doing it in St Aubin, (which borders Puligny & Chassagne Montrachet) an appellation that some people have never heard of!

St Aubin is a small hamlet of 300 residents backed into a limestone slope high in the hills west of Chassagne Montrachet. The village is very old with origins back to 1000.

The soil in these sites is nearly pure limestone and the wines produced are a very succinct expression of their terroir. These are wines that have some ageing capability just like Meursault, Chassagne Montrachet and Puligny Montrachet without their much higher per bottle price tags.

The Lamys have lived in St Aubin since the 1600s. It's a father and son operation, but Olivier is in charge now. He took over the Domaine from his father in 1996. Olivier stopped selling their wine to the cooperatives and actually pulled up his marginal vines, leaving just the best vines in his best parcels.

Olivier keeps his yields very low, uses a sorting table to select only the ripest grapes for the vat and uses a judicious amount of new oak so the fruit is not overwhelmed. He hardly ever fines or filters.

Lamy's wines are admittedly not inexpensive, but if you want to experience the raciness and style that only a white Burgundy can offer and still maintain a little bulge in your wallet, Lamy is your man. Cynthia Hurley

 Domaine du Rochouard - precision outside in the vineyard and inside in the winery

Domaine du Rochouard showed up in Decanter magazine a while back with five out of five stars (5****) for one of its wines.

I was on the phone with proprietor Dominique Duveau shortly after to request a rendezvous. He was reluctant since he is such a small producer, and fearful of getting his production gobbled up by some big importer who cares more about quantity than quality, but after I explained that small, high quality independent producers are the only growers we deal with, he loosened up.

You probably know by now that if you like to drink wine often, as I do, the Loire has some of the best wine values out there. I know you've poured Sancerre from time to time and maybe some Muscadet and maybe even a Chinon, so it's hardly a leap at all to fill your next glass with a Bourgueil (boor-Goy).

Bourgueil is not far from Chinon. Bourgueil is part of the Touraine. It's north of the Loire River, west of Tours. The climate is mild and you will run into the odd palm tree. This red is 100% Cabernet Franc.

Here's what Guide Hachette says about the wines of Domaine du Rochouard:

"One appreciates the almost violet robe of the wine, its nose expressive of red and black fruits, embellished with some licorice, but above all, the abundant material coming from a ripe harvest. The tannins put their two cents in, but not too strongly and the final taste returns to that licorice." - Guide Hachette

It's always a relief to show up at a new vineyard and see an impeccable operation. You could do open heart surgery in the tasting room and that usually says something about the wine.

The Domaine was started in 1969, Dominique Duveau joined his father in 1995, and in 2007 Dominique's brother joined him upon their father's retirement.

Cuvée Coteau comes from a small two-hectare plot of limestone, clay, and sandy soil. The grapes are macerated in the tank for about three weeks. Dominique does not age Coteau in wood.

Cuvée Coteau is a full-bodied, rich wine with notes of dark currants and that uniquely expressive nose that only comes from a wine that's 100% Cabernet Franc. I tasted ripe, roasted cherries. Bourgueil! You will want this in your glass. Cynthia Hurley

"The 2007 Grande Reserve is nearly off the charts for a wine from such a humble appellation. An inky/ruby/purple color is accompanied by thick, rich, cassis, black raspberry, licorice, and lavender aromas, exceptional purity, remarkable concentration, layers of fruit and glycerin, and unreal depth. This sensational Cotes du Rhone-Villages should drink well for a decade.

"One of the reference point estates in the southern Cotes du Rhone, Domaine de Mourchon is situated in the charmingly beautiful Provencal hilltop village of Seguret. This is a tour de force in winemaking from the Cotes du Rhone-Villages of Seguret. Kudos to Domaine de Mourchon! These splendid cuvees are all worth buying by the caseload." Rated 92-94 -Robert Parker The Wine Advocate

Wow! You want these wines in your glass.

And, they are from the 2007 harvest. The best in years according to virtually everyone

2007 promises to be one of the best vintages in the last decade." -Robert Parker

The buzz, buzz, buzzing around the 2007 southern Rhone vintage is phenomenal. Mother Nature smiled on the southern Rhone and everything came together in the form of magnificent wines. You will want to put a few cases of this vintage in your cellar, but don't wait too long because the good news is on the radar screen.

Scotsman Walter McKinlay purchased 40+ acres in Seguret in 1998. It is amazing how quickly he has become a superstar.

Domaine de Mourchon is behind the village of Séguret about 300 meters up on a twisty little way. It is a modern beauty with shiny stainless steel tanks configured in a circle in one room. This winery is state of the art with table de tri for sorting every grape carefully to make sure there are no inferior ones in the final blend, and designed to use gravity to pamper the grapes as they transfer to vat.

Then there is the tasting room, which is sun-splashed and painted in Provençal hues of dusty pinks and earthy tones. It's very hard to leave this place. Waves of relaxing provencal welcome wash over you as you stand with your glass of minerally and dark-hued Cotes du Rhone Villages Seguret Grande Reserve or Tradition in your hand. The cherries, black and red, waft from the glass.

The cepage of the Tradition is 65% Grenache, 25% Syrah, and 10% Carignan. The cepage of Grande Reserve is 65% Grenache and 35% Syrah. The vines are 60 years old. 40% of the Grande Reserve receives oak barrel-ageing for nine months. The Tradition is oaked.

You'll love the smoothness of these wines. They are pungent and flavorful and will stand up to the feistiest food. Cynthia Hurley

La Coulee Automnale is made from a combination of hillside and table land from the western side of Chinon. The soil is gravelly. The grapes are farmed using a "bio" agricultural system, including a manual harvest (to protect the grapes and eliminate stems & leaves). The wine is aged for 10 months in stainless steel tanks. There is no use of oak barrels to mask the pure fruit flavors.

This wine will fill your mouth with red fruit flavors and please your nose with that seductive aroma that only Cabernet Franc can deliver. I associate it with the smell of wood fires as you only smell in those small beautiful villages in France, like Chinon, in the Autumn. Others say it reminds them of the days of yore when we used to jump in huge piles of fall leaves and then burn them curbside. Whatever it is, it is one satisfying glass of wine!

I like to drink this wine when it's fresh and young - within 3 or 4 years from the harvest. I dare you to save even one bottle that long. Cynthia Hurley

Anne-Marie Astart sums up the good life in the following way: "Love what you're doing."

She and her husband Jean-Marie gave up their medical practices to work the land that she inherited some years back. She would tell you they have been worked off their feet, but the vines have more than compensated for their efforts.

And I would say, the wines have compensated for their efforts as well. They are some of the most fabulous Cotes du Rhones I have ever put in my glass.

What makes this wine different from other Cotes du Rhones?

I would have to say its sophistication. It has it all: rich, blackberry fruit with a roundness in the mouth and a fragrance which transports you right to Cairanne in the Rhone.

This wine is not heavy or over-ripe. It is just the perfect glass of Rhone wine. Bob and I lived in a small French village for a month last January and guess what wine we had delivered to drink all month. That's right. This Cairanne. We loved every drop of it and there was nothing left over.

But let's talk about this 2007 vintage. Wow! This means more of everything that makes Cotes du Rhones so fabulous: more sassy fruit, more lushness, more nose appeal.

Jean-Marie and Anne-Marie converted their terroir to agriculture biologique in 1999. They do not use chemical fertilizers or pesticides. The vines are over 50 years old. The soil is stones and clays of different types. Jean-Marie built a new winemaking facility right into the hillside for natural temperature control in 2004. The cave uses gravity to get the grapes to the vats in very good condition and minimal damage. The place is eat- off-the-floor pristine.

These wines are not fined or filtered. The wine is aged for 12 months in Burgundian oak, not new. The cepage is nearly half Grenache accompanied by Syrah, Mourvedre, Carignan, and Cinsault.

You don't want to miss this Cotes du Rhone and by all means you do not want to miss it in 2007. I am taking two cases for me. Cynthia Hurley

This 2006 bottling is better than the superb 2005.

Pomerol is Bordeaux's DRC. The hallowed ground - The hard to get appellation that everyone wants but its miniscule supply severely limits its availability.

Pomerols are intensely fruited with a voluptuous texture. Early-maturing, yet long-lived. Doesn't that describe your perfect wine? When was the last time you had one? I'll bet it's been a while.

Have you ever visited Pomerol?

I remember my first visit. I saw the "Pomerol" sign and then less than thirty seconds later, I saw another sign: "Pomerol" with a line drawn through it. I had left Pomerol. There were a couple of buildings, but not so much as a café or tabac. One church. And yet, I was surrounded by some of the most expensive vines in the world. The understatement was killing. It stirred such desire.

Pomerol is a tiny triangle of land to the northwest of St. Emilion. It is about a seventh of the size of its neighbor. The estates here are small with very limited production - generally 800-3000 cases. A chateau in the Medoc is likely to produce ten times that amount.

So, this is where the mathematics come in - if you don't have the volume, you've got to make it up on price. Every Pomerolian cranks up the quality of their wine to the highest possible level in order to justify the Everest prices they ask for and yes, get. There are few slackers in Pomerol.

Uniquely, for Bordeaux, there is no classification of wines here. No person on high felt the need or the courage to dub one wine superior to the others. There are no First Growths, Second Growths, no Cru Bourgeois or Bordeaux Superieur. It's "just" Pomerol, and you don't mess with the mighty.

The winemaking in Pomerol is generally considered to be the most meticulous in the land. Chateau Petrus, ($1500 a bottle) of course, occupies a special place in Pomerol, but its stratospheric prices give the wine an almost mythic quality. I know I've had a few dribbles over the years, certainly more than enough to make me want more of that Pomerol lushness.

But, Petrus is not coming to my table anytime soon so thank goodness for my good friend, Jean-Luc Thunevin who always manages to point me in the direction of phenomenal wines. This time, he really out-did himself by pouring some Chateau La Commanderie de Mazeyres into my glass. A very fine Pomerol - made better by his taking over the winemaking.

Well, the velvety liquid immediately ignited my senses, but I was most excited to discover I could actually afford it.

La Commanderie de Mazeyres has been around since the 14th century. It was purchased by Clement Fayat in 2000 and has been extensively renovated. Fayat asked Jean-Luc Thunevin, St Emilion's foremost garagiste and wine expert to be the Chateau's consultant starting with the 2006 vintage.

The vines are over 40 years old. The cepage is 55% Merlot and 45% Cabernet Franc. The harvesting is done by hand with careful sorting to eliminate any unripe grapes. All the grapes are de-stemmed before the vat. The wine is then aged in oak barrels, of which 50-70% are new.

But what makes a Pomerol different from the rest?

Pomerols are sexier and lusher. They wear their Merlot fruit proudly and seem to have a presence about them that is on the one hand excruciatingly controlled, stylish, and French and on the other hand, feral, secretive, and, exciting.

Make no mistake about it, Pomerols are not just rare, they are truly great Bordeaux. Cynthia Hurley

2006 Domaine Henri Boillot Volnay Les Chevrets:

"Good deep red. Subtly complex aromas of dark fruits, spices, licorice, leather, mint and bitter chocolate. Altogether sweeter and lusher than the Clos du Roi, conveying an impression of cleaner fruit and greater flavor intensity. Spreads out nicely on the back end, finishing with riper tannins, more length and lingering notes of licorice and mint...90" -Tanzer

"Henri Boillot decided a few years ago that he wanted to dedicate himself to the production of fine wines. Since then he has gone from strength to strength, sparing no expense, obsessing over every detail, fashioning magnificent wines...Thanks to the superhuman efforts of Henri Boillot, Domaine Jean Boillot should now be counted among the finest producers in the Cote de Beaune for both reds and whites." -Robert Parker

Henri works some of the finest terroir in Burgundy. Les Chevrets is an exquisite limestone and clay vineyard in the Cotes de Beaune. Henri owns about 5 acres of it. The age of the vines averages 41 years. The yields are an astounding 22 hectoliters per hectare.

Henri's Les Chevrets is 100% de-stemmed. It is aged in 60% new oak, the rest in the oak of one vintage. Of course, the wines are neither fined nor filtered. About 600 cases are made.

When you stick your nose into your glass of Chevrets, you will swoon over ripe cherries and cassis and blackberries. In your mouth, the wine will be fat with supporting tannins in perfect harmony with the fruit.

Make sure you take the time to savor it over a particularly good meal. Cynthia Hurley

I particularly like a white Burgundy with a price tag that means I can drink it every day. Yes, that's a bit little trickier to nail down in the pricey paradise of white Burgundies.

But, if you travel south to the Macon region - then you can find what I'm looking for. Ah-h and you'll have a good time doing it - the land there is lush and lovely beyond description.

The Collovray and Terrier families created the Domaine des Deux Roches in 1986 in the Maconnais wine region, south of the Cote d'Or. Out of this marriage comes some of the most compelling St Verans in the region.

Deux Roches refers to the two gigantic rock cliffs that punctuate the landscape here: Vergisson and Solutre. The estate is in Davaye which is considered the best source of St Veran. The St Veran vineyards are to the north and the south of the Pouilly Fuisse vineyards but the northern vineyards make the best wines and this is where Davaye is found.

Here's what Jean-Luc Terrier says about his winemaking:

"We reverted with passion to the traditional methods of our grandfathers as if they were something new and extraordinary. Here we are, making our own compost again instead of using chemical fertilizers. And far from boosting yields, we prune severely and then go out into the vineyards again in summer to thin the fruit for perfect ripeness and better quality."

Here is what La Revue said about Terrier's wines:

"...the estate has become a locomotive for the appellation of St Veran and one of the most important properties. The estate uses impeccable technology creating wines of a reasonable price. These wines are an interesting alternative to the whites from the Cotes de Beaune." - "The Best Wines from France 2010," La Revue du Vin de France

Hey! That's exactly what I said.

It is interesting to me that St Veran was intended to be part of Pouilly Fuisse when that area received its AOC back in the 30's, but St Veran rejected the idea. Most growers were making red wine back then and they didn't think it would be an advantageous fit. Also, appellations were a new concept and St Veran was a feisty small bunch of growers who feared the government was going to start butting into their business.

It wasn't until 1971 that St Veran received its official AOC. This reinvigorated the area, convincing many of the growers to stop selling in bulk, start taking more care about quality, and begin bottling their own wines.

Okay, it's time for me to join my impatiens in the garden, this time in a toast to the beginning of Autumn. Let's all have a glass of Collovray &Terrier St Veran, shall we? Cynthia Hurley