Nichol Pinot Gris: Our go-to all summer long. If you can find it, it hovers around $22 plus or minus. Lovely, crisp, gorgeous on the patio, has the stamina for gazpacho, cold meats and cheeses. Great party wine. Guests who don’t know wine always like the pale copper hue and the fruit finish. The acidity is a point of conversation. Seriously, it’s so wonderfully social I can’t believe here we are at the end of summer and I haven’t reviewed it. But I haven’t.

And I haven’t reviewed the Nichol PG because, if you know wine, I think the Blue Mountain is better. Better in that it’s more evocative of the grape. Move evocative of the grape of the wine worth drinking. (Yes, that’s a dig at the pale, thin, crap from Italy they serve at gallery openings.) This is a gorgeous, fruity PG which, as it warms, has that almost rancid green peppery note that is actually exciting, that you anticipate with the Nichol but it doesn’t deliver. My only complaint is that there is a sweet spot, temp wise, with this wine that’s hard to achieve. My protocol is out of the fridge with a “cool” sleeve, if you know what I’m talking about, and let it sit for 15 minutes before the first glass. If you drink it slowly, the final glass should be a goblet that’s come from the freezer. Fickle bitch, but worth it.

I applaud the Nichol, inexpensive, approachable. But I covet the Blue Mountain.

Price: $25 (but you can get a case discount at Everything Wine or Kits Wine cellar).

Market Liquidity: No chance in hell I could age this puppy four years.