Two contrasting white wines tonight, representing either ends of the (dry) white wine spectrum. First to the plate, Torzi Matthews Frost Dodger Riesling 2006. It's bright and delicately aromatic, with hints of honeysuckle and lime. The palate is bracing with precise lemony fruit backed up by high acidity. It's verging on the austere: bone dry and without much richness of fruit. Very minerally and tight - really needs food. I like this, but it could do with a bit more weight or fruit, or even a bit of sweetness, in order to balance the acidity. A 90 point wine.

Second, a bit of a celebrity wine. Apocalypse Now. The Godfather films, 1, 2 (the best) and 3. Francis Coppola's the dude behind them, and one of his wines, the Francis Copploa Diamond Collection Chardonnay 2004 Monterey County is my other tipple this evening. It's big and fat like an affluent Californian, with lots of peachy, figgy fruit, but there's some seriousness here in the way of good balancing acid. The overall result is a pleasant wine. Chardonnay it may be, and Californian at that, but it tastes good and keeps the drinker's attention. An 89 point wine.

Two contrasting wines. One lean and precise, the other fat and entertaining. Both good, but both different, and fit for different purposes. That's what makes wine such fun.