Mike Dunne's Wine of the Week pick: 08/19/09

Jeff Runquist Wines "R" 2007 Amador County Dick Cooper Vineyard Barbera ($24)

White zinfandel, sauvignon blanc, pinot grigio and other light and refreshing wines that invite quaffing in hot weather most likely will be the pours of choice in the wine garden when the California State Fair opens Friday.

Barring an unprecedented series of cold storms during the fair's run, this isn't the time of the year or the venue to deliberate over a glass of a dense and concentrated red wine.

At the wine garden, however, several visitors no doubt will make an exception for the one big red that is generating the most buzz on this year's wine-competition circuit.

That would be the Jeff Runquist Wines "R" 2007 Amador County Dick Cooper Vineyard Barbera, an unusually hefty take on the varietal. But while the barbera is plenty ripe, with an alcohol content topping 15 percent, the brightness of the wine's cherry fruit and the sweetness and smoke of its oak invite swigging as much as sipping.

Jeff Runquist doesn't make reserved wines, and while most of his releases are rich and robust they nevertheless seduce even judges who are making a conscientious effort to seek out and reward wines leaner and more delicate. At the Amador County Fair commercial wine competition earlier this summer, for example, the Runquist barbera was singled out as best of class in a field of 38 barberas. And in the spring, the Runquist stood alone as grand champion of the Pacific Rim Wine Competition at San Bernardino.

And last month, the Runquist barbera was crowned best-of-show red wine for the California State Fair, topping a field of around 1,500 reds. The final round of voting to determine the winner of the red sweepstakes involved 11 candidates, three of which, remarkably, had been made by Jeff Runquist. His other candidates were the Jeff Runquist Wines 2007 Clarksburg Salman Vineyard Petite Sirah ($26) and the McManis Family Winery 2007 California Petite Sirah ($12). (Judges, incidentally, don't know the identities of the wines until after the competition.)

By the numbers: 15.2 percent alcohol, 841 cases, $24.

Context: The barbera's keen integration of fruit, flesh, oak and acid make it a particularly apt companion at the table with dishes dressed up with a vibrant Mediterranean sauce that could include feta or parmesan cheese, anchovies, olives, capers and even chile peppers. Think puttanesca, suggest Jeff Runquist and his wife Margie.

Availability: The wine is sold out at the winery, and supplies could be thin at Nugget Markets in El Dorado Hills, Roseville, Elk Grove and Davis; Total Wines & More in Roseville; Wine Styles in Folsom; and WineSmith in Placerville.

More information: Visit Runquist Wines, 10776 Shenandoah Road, Plymouth, open noon-5 p.m. Fridays, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.

Source Sac Bee