A wine shop responds to a food shop: heading into summer with the selections of a new salumeria and the Italian wines to accompany these foods. Sounds like an opportune match to me.

Wine Stores: Wines by Morrell

By the time Tutto Italiana, the new food store connected to the Citarella chain, opens at the Red Horse Shopping Plaza in the next few weeks, Wines by Morrel, in a neighboring building, should be fully stocked with one of the best selections of Italian wines on the East End. Expect to see shelves of barolo and barbaresco, of Chianti Classico, amarone and Super Tuscans. These are the wines you will need to go with the bresaola, pancetta, salame, mortadella, prosciutto and other specialties of a salumeria.

It’s good news for everyone—merchants and consumers—that the Red Horse will be bustling again, so I checked in recently with Rodney Roncaglio and Marcos Baladron at Wines by Morrell to find out more about the Italian selections, and to see what they are planning for what will no doubt be a busy summer. Wines by Morrell opened ten years ago and expanded along the way with an addition designed by Jack Ceglic, an East Hampton resident and designer of the Dean & DeLuca stores. It is a large, handsome shop with two spacious rooms in which to browse through an excellent collection of imported and domestic wines, and a separate room for old and rare wines. The store hosts regular wine tastings in these surroundings.

Overall, the store seems to be focusing more on smaller, interesting producers. They sell some of the big brand names, of course, but it is the less famous labels that show the inner strength, that create the personality of any wine store and set one retailer off from the next. It’s also the primary way in which I judge a shop. The selection at Wines by Morrell is discerning, thoughtful and well rounded.

Anticipating what many consumers will be doing this summer, I asked for some recommendations in Italian wines. The first one I tried was a Chianti Classico 2001 from Rodano. It was typical of the Chianti region in being dry and medium bodied with smooth tannins, but atypical in its fruit profile, exhibiting more of a deep, rich blackberry and cassis character than the more predictable sweet cherry of the sangiovese grape. It’s an easy, satisfying wine that gently harmonizes with Italian food. The $15 price is gentle also.

Kaimira Estate in New Zealand produces a fresh, tangy, herbal sauvignon blanc with stony notes. Some people find this style brash, but it is exactly that buoyant, zestful taste that I sometimes find appealing. If you want finesse in a sauvignon blanc, choose a white Bordeaux, but for high-spirited fun try this 2003 from Kaimira, priced at $17 at Wines by Morrell.

I tend to be skeptical about the quality of pinot noir wines below 25 or 30 dollars. They are generally of no consequence, often timid and listless, and in the end poor values. So I am always looking forward to that occasional discovery of a decent pinot at a decent price. I tried one for $17 at Wines by Morrell and thoroughly enjoyed it. It is from an Oregon producer called Walnut City Wineworks, a name that evokes the history of its town in the Willamette Valley. I judged this 2003 pinot noir on its own merits, not in comparison to more important and more expensive versions of the varietal. With a clear garnet color, a smooth, supple feel and lots of raspberry, cherry and cranberry fragrance with a bit of spice, it offers a reasonable amount of complexity and, most interesting to me, a graceful and serene balance.

In their old and rare room, Wines by Morrell stocks some Arns 2000 cabernet sauvignon. This very small California producer has an excellent reputation. I haven’t yet tried the wine, but at $75 it is a very tempting indulgence. There are many additional temptations on the shelves, some of them value-priced bottles and some of them major league players. Wines by Morrell has a tantalizing inventory to explore.