For the pissaladière and, most especially for the garlicky rouille that accompanies the fish soup of our Provençal lunch, I recommend a white wine with a ripe, sunny flavor and more mouth-filling substance than one can usually find in those of Provence itself – a wine that can accommodate, at very least, a pungent amalgam of garlic and olive oil. I chose the Island Block Alexander Valley Chardonnay ’05 of Murphy-Goode, a plump, slightly peppery wine with attractive fruit backed by the depth of its time in oak. The Stuhlmuller Estate Chardonnay ’06, another recommendation, also from Alexander Valley, is made in large part from a particular sub-set of Chardonnay vines developed from cuttings taken from the old Gauer Estate Vineyards at the top of Alexander Mountain. It has a bolder aroma, redolent of tropical fruits, that leads to a firm and slightly mineral finish. The Robert Young Vineyard Alexander Valley Chardonnay ’05 of Chateau St. Jean, from another distinguished Chardonnay clone – that of the Robert Young vineyard itself – is fermented in oak and aged on its lees, as are the other two, but it was not allowed to undergo the secondary, malo-lactic fermentation that helps round out a wine even as it softens its principal characteristics. Instead, the wine has kept a bright edge of citrus that balances the wine’s creamier oak-based qualities. There’s a hint of pear in its fine, long finish.

Choucroute and bacon give a dimension to the trout dish of our Alsace menu that calls for a wine bigger than one might normally choose for a freshwater fish. I settled on the Pinot Blanc ’06 harvested from old vines on the Meyer-Fonné estate at Katzenthal, a supple, fleshy, and intensely fruity wine. Willm’s Reserve Pinot Blanc ’05 is another wine of good, sappy texture combined with a honeyed finish. Domaine Weinbach’s Pinot Blanc Reserve ’06 is plump, too, and its fruit, though not particularly exuberant seems to stand out because it’s supported by a barely perceptible sweetness. Hugel’s Pinot Blanc – Cuvée Les Amours ’05 – is silky on the palate but quite dry. Lighter and more delicate than the other three wines, it’s still a match for the dish. A touch of sweetness, not unusual in Alsace wines of successful vintages, enhances the mature fruit flavor of Meyer-Fonné’s Pfoeller Riesling ’06, too. It’s my first choice for the chicken in Riesling dish. Willm’s Riesling Reserve Cuvée ’03, combines a lemony nose and flavor with the mineral depths of mature Riesling; Domaine Weinbach’s Grand Cru Schlossberg Cuvée Ste Catherine ’06 is both full-bodied and intensely flavorful; and Ostertag’s Fronholz Riesling ’05 again brings a touch of lemon and a hint of honey to a long, classic wine. Ostertag’s Fronholz vineyard also yields the luscious Gewurztraminer, Sélection de Grains Nobles ’05, that I chose for the pear and almond tart. Sélection de grains nobles is the equivalent of a German Beerenauslese – a wine made from grapes late-picked, one shriveled and intensely sweet berry at a time. Golden in color and in flavor, it tastes of aromatic apples dipped in honey. The Gewurztraminer Grand Cru Furstentum Vendanges Tardives ’05 of the Domaine Weinbach, powerfully concentrated, also smells and tastes of a sun-filled orchard. For those who might prefer a less intense dessert wine, I recommend Marc Kreydenweiss’s Grand Cru Moenchberg Vendanges Tardives ’05, a sweetly balanced wine, without being overly so, and with a fresh piquancy that brings counterpoint to the tart.