I didn’t expect to like the Fortant. Not quite sure why, but had my doubts. Which violated the first rule of wine tasting: Drink the wine before you make up your mind.

In fact, this is a well-made cheap wine that delivers a lot of oomph for the $8 it costs. It has lots of strawberry and a long finish – a splendid example of how to make quality wine and not charge a lot. And yes, it’s a dry wine, despite its name (which may have been the reason I had my concerns). Not surprisingly, Fortant is part of the Robert Skalli family, which has been doing fine work with wine from southern France for 40 years.

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Serve this chilled, and sip it on the porch as long as summer is here. And even after summer if you want.