For better or worse, wine makes men dance. I am grateful to have wine in my life, and friends and family with whom to share it; wine is what brings us together. Though I make my living around it, wine is nothing more than a vehicle to share the moment — and sometimes to mark the moment. The following 10 wines are my favorites of the many I enjoyed this year.

No. 1. Produttori Barbaresco 2004: On the first day of spring, as the sun was about to rise in the desert in the middle of a two-day drive to reach my father's bedside in San Francisco, I got the call from my sister that my father had not made it through the night. It was a long drive that day. As I crossed the Bay Bridge, the sun went down, it started to rain and I was reminded of arriving in San Francisco on a similarly gray day 33 years ago when my father boldly moved our family to California from the Midwest when I was 16 years old.

On this rainy night, I made it to Delphina Restaurant in the Mission District, where I got a table at the bar and waited for my older brother and younger sister to join me for a night of proper mourning. When they arrived, I asked our young waiter to pick a Northern Italian wine to start. She chose marvelously. From the classic 2004 vintage, the beautifully young, transparent ruby red Produttori Barbaresco sang from the glass a melody of cherries, roses and violets. The night was on.

No. 2. Château Margaux 1959: Pouring at the Masters of Food & Wine at Pebble Beach as a guest sommelier this April, I had the hard task — with a small group of other similarly sport-jacketed wine geeks from around the world — to open, taste, decant and pour six bottles each of eight vintages of Château Margaux. Standing out in the flight of this legendary First Growth Bordeaux was the Château Margaux 1959, a wine from my birth year that I have been on a quest to try since I started down the wine trail.

No. 3. Curran Grenache Rosé, Santa Ynez Valley, 2007: What is a July picnic with your daughters and loyal Black Lab at Lake Tenaya in Yosemite without a little rosé to swill? This day at the beach, at the tail end of a summer road trip, has become one of my personal highlights each year. And as has been the case for three years running, it has been marked with a new Curran summertime quaffer. In 2006, it was Kris Curran's delicious and steely Grenache Blanc; in 2007 her white, grapefruity gewürztraminer; and this year it's her grenache rosé, a wine with lip-smacking dried cherry fruit.

No. 4. Dom Perignon 1988: A new friend who generously donates to the wine auctions I coordinate has come into my life. Occasionally, he drops a bottle by the office in a paper bag with a note of instruction: "Share with Friends," the true purpose of any wine. So, with a dozen oysters each at the bar of the Hog Island Oyster Company in San Francisco, my two daughters and I celebrated my younger sister's birthday in style with this bottle of DP. Vibrant and austere, the wine made me think of what the old Dom is reputed to have yelled from the cellar to the monks upstairs: "Come, I am tasting the stars!"

No. 5. Domaine Tempier Rosé, Bandol, 2007: After a hard climb up and over the Berkeley Hills, I met and lunched with my mother at Chez Panisse in Berkeley. Domaine Tempier Rosé practically flows like water at Chez Panisse, and rightfully so. Monterey Bay squid was in season, grilled and served with aioli. The wine's refreshing salinity partnered perfectly with the dish, as it did with the pizatta with ricotta salata, the heirloom tomato salad with pulled mozzarella, the salmon croquettes with purslaine, and the grilled housemade sausages with creamed corn and black-eyed peas. (It pays to have a sister who waits tables at Chez Panisse.)

No. 6. Vietti Barolo Le Roche 1996: Taking my dog and my mountain bike on a solo three-night camping trip to the Lizard Head Wilderness in Telluride was my personal treat for my birthday this year. Our first night out, the grilled ribeye at river's and night's edge was a perfect foil for this Vietti Barolo Le Roche. The 1996 vintage from Piemonte is just getting out of its teenage years and starting to strut its stuff. The wine was expressively perfumed with black licorice, red cherries and compelling floral notes. The moon rose over the mountain, reflected in the river and one of us — I can't remember if it was my dog or me — started to howl.

No. 7. Gaja Barbaresco 1998: You can't always celebrate your birthday alone, so a few weeks later I celebrated it again with my best friend and old Berkeley roommate at Pizzeria Mozza in Los Angeles. Corkage fees in restaurants are a gift from God, particularly when you have been saving a special bottle for a special occasion for years. My friend and his wife were floored by the wine. From the moment it was poured into their glasses, the Gaja Barbaresco was so gorgeous and intriguing in the nose we would have been thrilled by just smelling it all night. But there was food, and wine is sauce, so drink we did.

No. 8. Brick House Gamay, Willamette Valley, 2007: Tucked away on the Ribbon Ridge spur of the Chahelem Mountains, Doug Tunnel and his wife, Melissa, have been quietly crafting some of Willamette Valley's best pinot noirs for nearly two decades. Little known — probably because they make so little of it — is the fact that they are among the few outside Beaujolais who produce a gamay wine worthy of your attention. With a Rooftop Pizzeria pie and movie on the couch at home with a new friend, the wine never tasted so good.

No. 9. Domaine Peu de la Moriette Vouvray, 2007: Sometimes not paying attention opens one up for unforeseen surprises, as is the case with my new-found fascination and appreciation for vouvray, sampled at the new Vinaigrette Salad Bistro. Why I have paid little if any attention to this simple white wine from the Loire Valley made from chenin blanc grapes and fermented without oak is a mystery. Domaine Peu de la Moriette vouvray has a zippy apple-lemon flavor with a body and structure that belies its seemingly lithe frame. Served with a rich and savory frisée salad with lardons and a poached egg, it was a compelling match.

No. 10. Domaine Leroy Corton Renardes 1990: Somewhere, somehow, I did something good because this jewel of a wine has appeared in my life more than once. This time, one of my best friends bought it at dinner on Burgundy Night at Coyote Café. I had the immense joy of sharing this bottle with my buddies with Eric DiStefano's fascinatingly rich and enticing food, which has reclaimed the energy of Coyote Café. More than most red-fruited Burgundies that I enjoy, the Leroy Corton Renardes is heavy, dark, resinous and so full of stuffing that it has a long, long life ahead. Should I see it again, I will not be afraid.


As Ben Franklin is supposed to have said, "Wine is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." A baby brunello, the relatively inexpensive Lisini Rosso di Montalcino, happens to be the wine in my glass as I write this column. It captures my love of mouth-puckering, properly astringent Northern Italian wines and it partnered perfectly with tonight's chicken cacciatore. Enjoy the moment and remember: It's not what you drink but whom you drink it with — or where or why — that counts.