We didn't always drink wines named after their grape constituents. At some time in the past we drank a lot of wine named after other things: castles, Madonnas, ditzy ducks, castles, rocky outcroppings, sheep, saints, and a lot more castles.

But then everyone wanted to know what the grapes were called and that became the most important thing on the label. Still, there are thousands of wines named after castles and saints, mostly in France, but even a few here at home. Today, we look at three named after the same point of angular distance on a meridian, the work of the Gray Monk Estate Winery.

The family winery is heading for its silver anniversary in another couple of years and during the past decades has established a solid reputation for fine white wines, principally of the German persuasion; a spectacular rosé called Rotberger; exquisite sweet wines in all kinds of configurations; and, more recently, robust and hearty reds. Bubble, too, in limited amounts.

Says John Schreiner, B.C.'s major chronicler of all things winy: "Juicy fruit--this is the unique style of Gray Monk wines." Like most British Columbia wineries, Gray Monk produces a lengthy list of varietals (founder George Heiss keeps telling anyone who'll listen "we have too many varieties"), but Latitude Fifty, the winery's best-selling proprietary wine, continues to sell out its relatively modest production volume vintage after vintage.

That's the case with the current trio. At this writing, only the red is in the LDB, and there's not much of that. A phone call last week revealed that the white is on its way even as you read and the pink may show up a little later in the season. Various restaurants like to carry them--they are, after all, delicious food wines--and many of the private VQA stores stock the lineup when it comes down to the coast from the North Okanagan.

And north it is, the winery site, precisely three minutes, 19 seconds north of the 50th latitude. That puts it among the most northerly wineries of the world. Here, winemaker George Heiss Jr. produces fine wines to his heart's content and his customers' delight, even if most of the crowd pleasers--the Rotberger being one--sell out too soon for their liking.

The best thing to do if you like the wines is to get your name on the Gray Monk list, keep the toll-free number (1-800-663-4205) handy, and use it often to inquire after availability. That, and your credit-card number, will get a case or two right to your door in no time.

Current price for the three Latitudes is $12.49 each; prices may fluctuate a little in some of the private stores.

Latitude Fifty White was the one that got the ball rolling some years ago; the 2003 vintage is a brilliant blend including Bacchus, Riesling, and Gewürztraminer. Right off the top there's a full, herbaceous array of aromas; you think it's going to be drier than what the front of the tongue gets soon as you tip the glass.

Here is the ideal summertime wine: a little rhubarb, a little gooseberry, a little garden herbs, even a little lilac; in all, a whole lot of fruit and an agreeable 12 percent alcohol. This terrific blend is the one to set alongside appetizers on the deck, with creamy or tangy pasta salads, with rock-salted, virgin-olive-oiled grilled vegetables, with fiery long beans or roasted squash, with anything Asian-spiced, with pork tenderloin wrapped in prosciutto and fresh sage, with fresh berries drizzled with a little sweet wine, and on down the summer-foods list.

Latitude Fifty Rosé 2003 seems to be the hardest to find in any sort of quantity. (Here's where that phone order will stand you in best stead.) It's simply a Gamay Noir blush: a little skin contact until it gets that pale, pretty hue and then into the bottle while it's still fresh and super fruity. Somebody who had access to the back label thought it was reminiscent of "orange mango chutney...with a spicy black peppercorn bouquet and a hint of raspberry", going on to match it with "picnic fare, seafood, game and fowl".

It wants determined chilling to barely dampen the slightly sweaty (but traditional) Gamay nose, then it starts rolling across the tongue with beautiful harmony, excellent weight, surprisingly high alcohol (13.5 percent) so well balanced it doesn't stick out. This is a solid wine from the slightly sweet front palate to the hearty, big-fruit finish, and a serious competitor for Gray Monk's own outstanding Rotberger, one of the unwimpiest pink wines you'll ever meet. Sure, rib-eye steak, rum-and-brown-sugar-cured salmon, even the drastic Janssen's Temptation, redolent of anchovies, onions, potatoes, and cream.

Latitude Fifty Red 2001 comes equipped with the least amount of alcohol (11.9 percent) and the most amount of aging; it's Gamay Noir again, the full-frontal version in all its red-skinned glory. Like Beaujolais? You'll love this one, with its deep ruby colour, medium weight, hint of yeast remaining on the nose--I think it adds complexity--and taste of Bing cherries and some raspberry/black-currant juice.

We're eating pastas (from a spicy puttanesca to a classic carbonara --even to a pasta-and-sauerkraut salad), roast chicken, summer stews, Greek-style oven potatoes, pot roasts, pizzas, sausages of all descriptions--especially chorizo, Portuguese pork and clams, chili'd tofu stir fry with cashews and peppers...

The winery has a convenient three-pack it'll assemble for you when you visit: one of each, just for sampling. Otherwise, check the LDB, your neighbourhood wine stores, or Rikki don't lose that number.

Here are three of the very best portfolio wines in British Columbia today, outstanding work, excellent wines, great value. And after these you can start in on discovering all those other ones, those "too many varieties" from Gray Monk.