Cristobal 1492 Torrontes

Wine: Cristobal 1492 Torrontes.

Grape: Torrontes

Region: Mendoza, Argentina

Vintage: 2008

Price: $7.99

In the glass: Torrontes wine is a firm, golden citrine-yellow color with a slight greenish tinge, star-bright core going out into a glass-clear rim definition and light to medium viscosity.

On the nose: There is immediate and pungent pear sparkler, honeydew melon, Braeburn applesauce, apricot skins, almond paste and pungent chalky minerals underlying, with absolutely no hints of wood or oak.

On the palate: It is a massive mouthful of white wine with very different characteristics from, say, chardonnay or sauvignon blanc. You first get the apple-laced fruit with huge acidity and structure underneath, then there's white currants, white cranberry juice, pomelolike citrus notes, then steely minerality going through the midpalate and just remarkable length on this white wine, which ends in a soft, but dry note. It is a very interesting wine.

Odds and ends: Before you start high-fiving your friends that you bought a bottle of wine from 1492 for less than $8, I want to remind you that the name is a tribute to Christopher Columbus. This wine is from a white grape variety called torrontes, which is aromatic and dry at the same time, not like any other white wines that you may know, but utterly delicious and crisp for this kind of weather. It comes from the vast Mendoza area in central Argentina, which is completely covered in vines of all varieties and is currently the champion of good buys in the wine market. This is an easy wine to enjoy, and you can chill it to 52 degrees Fahrenheit and drink it by the glass or you can pair it with a grilled piece of whitefish, such as sea bass or bream. Drink it now through 2013.

Gil Lempert-Schwarz's wine column appears Wednesdays. Write him at P.O. Box 50749, Henderson, NV 89106-0749, or email him at gil@winevegas.com.