2007 Alondra Chardonnay ‘Middleridge Ranch Vineyard’

Alondra is Spanish for Skylark, the wine company established by John Lancaster and Robert Perkins, who run the wine program at Boulevard Restaurant in San Francisco. Their 2007 Chardonnay from Middleridge Ranch Vineyard in Mendocino is a cool customer with a bracing mineral bent, a beautiful balance and a seductive scent of ripe pear and tropical fruit. No oak gives this Mendocino County Chardonnay a light, lean profile, which makes it wonderfully versatile. Not to mention friendly on the pocket book at about $16.

Break it out for chilled seafood, steamed clams and mussels, for spaghetti alle vongole (with clams) or a plain grilled fish. Or simply a bowl of almonds and some olives as an apéritif.

-- S. Irene Virbila

Region: Mendocino

Price: $15 to $19

Style: Lean, crisp

Food it goes with: Chilled seafood, steamed shellfish, seafood pasta, grilled fish

Where you find it: Flask Fine Wines in Studio City, (818) 761-5373, www.flaskfinewines.com; Goudas & Vines in Santa Monica, (310) 450-6739; Le Petit Vendome in La Cañada Flintridge, (818) 952-4084; www.lepetitvendome.com; Mission Wines in South Pasadena (626) 403-9463, www.missionwines.com; and Silverlake Wine in Los Angeles, (323) 662-9024; www.silverlakewine.com.