Change in season. The older I get, the harder it is for me to cope with the turn of cool to warm, hot to cold again, overcome by barometric languor. One thing that helps me to cope is the delicious variety of fall whites that I suddenly start to crave. The nutty, slightly oxidized flavors of this rich, strange Alsatian pinot gris were the perfect fall into, well, fall.

Patrick Meyer, the son of the founder, has embraced biodynamic practices, and a quirky nature shows through in this wine. It’s not a typical Alsatian pinot gris: the honeyed, medium-rich nectar rests delicately on the palate, its richness sitting warmly in the mouth, yet brightened by the minerality and acidic backbone typical of the region’s wines. The perfect wine to carry me into autumn.

4 out of 5 stars.

Imported by Costello Wines.

This wine from St. Emilion on Bordeaux’s right bank is predominantly of merlot and cabernet franc. It’s a Grand Cru Classé, a second tier wine from St. Emilion’s 1954 classification. The area is full of hillsides with limestone outcroppings and plateaus, along with gravelly terraces: the soil a hodge-podge of clay, sand, quartz, and chalk.

I decanted the wine two hours before we planned to drink it. The cork crumbled as we tried to pull it out, so we pushed it in and poured the wine through a coffee filter into a cut-crystal vase. The wine was a garnet, rusty color, with a nose of stewed fruit, earth, and fruit leather.

Two hours later, the nose had burst open into notes of dark berries and prunes. On the palate, it was brighter, ripe with fresh berry notes and a tangy finish.

Beautiful paired with blue cheese, such as a quiche au Roquefort.

4 out of 5 stars.

I first heard about Kim Crawford a few years ago while I was working at Alphabet City Wine Co. in New York when a few women came in looking for the sauvignon blanc. We didn’t carry it, but I made a mental note to find and try it. Well now I see ads for it everywhere, and it’s no wonder; the wine is imported by the behemoth wine company Constellation Wines from Marlborough, New Zealand. I found it, tasted and enjoyed it, and moved on.

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I spent Veterans’ Day at Franciscan Winery in Napa Valley in the company of winemaker Janet Myers and chef Cory Strike. Both have been at the winery for several years, 8 and 10 years respectively, but Strike turned out to be a more traditional kind of vet as well: he took leave in 2004 and volunteered to spend four years in Iraq, running the kitchen for the US Army, serving over 22,000 meals each day. We tasted a little more refined version of his cooking over lunch, alongside three beautiful wines—the 2009 Franciscan Cuvée Sauvage reserve Chardonnay, the 2006 Franciscan Magnificat Cabernet Sauvignon, and the 2004 Mount Veeder Reserve Meritage blend. An excellent way to toast him and all those who have served.