2023 Guinigi Prosecco Rosé 

Pretty in pink — and make it Italian.

There are few more delightful ways to enjoy the last days of summer than sipping a glass of 2023 Guinigi Prosecc Rosé  ($17).

From Italy’s northeastern province of Treviso, this pale pink-salmon bubbly, of which I received a sample bottle, was made by winemaker Alex Beloz and proprietor August Sebastiani. Yes, you know the name well, as he’s the fourth-generation winemaker of one of California’s oldest and most storied wine families.

The Guinigi label, under the Gehricke winery umbrella, honors his family’s roots in Italy. It pays tribute to the Guinigi tower, a historical landmark in the town of Lucca, Tuscany, from which the Sebastiani family immigrated in 1895.

A blend of Pinot Noir and Glera (also known as Prosecco) grapes, it has fine yet gentle bubbles. It smells delightfully of strawberries, and tastes like it, too, along with juicy notes of raspberry, and blood orange. With loads of lively acidity and a delicate through-line of vivid fruitiness, it’s crisp and easy-drinking. It makes for a perfect aperitif or a partner for chicken or pork slathered with barbecue sauce.

Besides the Gehricke tasting room at the 3 Badge Firehouse in Sonoma, the prosecco is available at Liquor Empire and Off Broadway.

Cheers: Look closely at the label and you’ll see the Guinigi tower on it. Laser-cut in gold foil, it’s not merely decorative. Nope, it also doubles as a marker as the wine level drops in the bottle. How fun is that?

2024 Rodney Strong Alexander Valley Sauvignon Blanc

Only the second vintage of this particular offering, the 2024 Rodney Strong Alexander Valley Sauvignon Blanc ($25), of which I received a sample, goes through a three-stage fermentation. Most of the wine is fermented in French oak barrels, the majority of them new. Thirty-six percent is put into stainless steel, and just 1 percent is put into a ceramic egg.

The result is a Sauvignon Blanc with real complexity. The French oak lends a vanilla note, as well as more body; the stainless steel maintains its bright acidity; and the egg creates a slight creamy mouthfeel.

It’s not overly ripe. Nor is it searing in acid. Instead, it has zing from lemon and lime, roundness from peach blossoms, a hint of the tropics with kiwi, and just a touch of vanilla French toast at the end.

It would star at brunch with eggs Benedict, at lunch with a smoked salmon-draped bagel, and at dinner with grilled fish finished with lemon butter and capers.

Pick up a bottle through the Rodney Strong website. Or at Safeway.

Cheers: As often as I’ve enjoyed Rodney Strong wines, I hate to admit that I knew little about its founder. And that’s a shame because Rodney D. Strong was quite the multi-talented Renaissance man. Born in 1927 in Camus, WA., he was a three-sport athlete in high school, a musician. senior class president, and a dancing prodigy. In fact, he studied under none other than George Balanchine and Martha Graham. He danced on Broadway, before going on to produce shows at The Lido in Paris, where his passion for wine was ignited. After retiring in 1959 and marrying his dance partner, Charlotte Ann Winson, the couple settled in Sonoma County to start their winery.