In the “Federalist Papers,” Alexander Hamilton went to some pains to describe the advantages and distinctions of what he called a “commercial republic.”

I thought of Hamilton, of all people, when drinking the delectable white wines recommended below.

You would think, in our commercial republic, that wine distributors would want to do business whenever and wherever they can. But it’s not so simple.

Last year, for example, I contacted the New York-based national importer of the superb sauvignon blanc from Domaine Ghislaine and Jean-Hughes Goisot. Was there an available supply so that I could write about it?

The response was, effectively, “thanks, but no thanks. “There was indeed a good supply, they conceded, but they wanted to reserve the wine for “on-premise” rather than “off-premise” sales. That means they didn’t want retailers (“off-premise”) to get the wine, preferring to reserve it for restaurant wine lists (“on-premise”).

It’s difficult for distributors to get placements on restaurant wine lists, especially high-end ones. So, they seek to “protect” the restaurant by ensuring that when they reorder (which they do almost daily; the wine in many restaurants is often fresher than the fish on the menu) that same wine will be available to them.

It was the same story when I recently inquired of the Seattle-based national importer about the availability of the lovely Spanish white wine Can Feixes Blanc Selecció. The owner of Classical Wines, Stephen Metzler, freely noted that the supply of Can Feixes is very good, even though it doesn’t seem to be spread around that much among retailers. “We’ve been using it for on-premise sales,” he said. “But yes, there’s certainly enough for off-premise too.”

“Has not the spirit of commerce, in many instances, administered new incentives to the appetite?” asked Hamilton in the Federalist No. 6. Indeed, it has: It’s made me thirsty for wines that some in our commercial republic would just as soon not buy except by paying three times the cost in a restaurant.

HERE’S THE (YOU CAN GET IT) DEAL

Saint-Bris 2005, Domaine Ghislaine and Jean-Hughes Goisot — Let’s start with the second-most important element of this wine: You can obtain it. Multiple retailers in New York stock it including PJ Wine, Burgundy Wine Company, Martin Brothers Wines and Spirits, and Harlem Vintage, among others.

The most important question is why you should want it. The answer is that this is a terrific, utterly original-tasting sauvignon blanc. It’s the sort of wine you serve to scoffers who doubt that soil makes a discernible difference in the character of a wine.

The soil of Saint-Bris is the same as that of the best parts of Chablis, what’s called Kimmeridgean clay. It’s a strikingly white, chalk-rich soil that somehow allows (no one really knows how, scientifically speaking) a grape to impart what we call minerality. In Chablis the vehicle is chardonnay; Saint-Bris alone grows sauvignon blanc. Indeed, it’s the only sauvignon blanc grown in the entire Burgundy region.

Ghislaine and Jean-Hughes Goisot are the leading lights in tiny — 250 planted acres — Saint-Bris, with an organically cultivated 66-acre estate that includes not only sauvignon blanc but also aligoté, chardonnay, and the extremely rare fié gris, which is also known as sauvignon rosé because of its pink skin. The resulting wine however, like similarly pink-skinned pinot gris, is white.

Saint-Bris 2005 from Domaine Goisot is an exceptional sauvignon blanc: crisp, stony-tasting, beautifully balanced with various citrus notes (lemon, tangerine), and a touch of figs. The 2005 vintage saw especially ripe grapes, creating an unusually dimensional sauvignon blanc from this singularly good estate. It’s a bargain at $13.99 at PJ Wine, with others selling it for a dollar or two more, at most.

Can Feixes Blanc Selecció “Penedès” 2006, Bodegas Huguet — Unless you’re conversant in Catalan, you probably looked at the name and pondered its pronunciation: it’s kahn fay-shuss (the house of the Feixes family).

Grown in the Penedès district just south of Barcelona, Can Feixes Blanc Selecció is a like-no-other blend of two indigenous Spanish grapes: parellada (39%) and macabeo (27%), along with chardonnay (24%) and malvasía (10%).

What makes this dry white wine so remarkable is that, unlike so many other white wine blends, somehow this combination coheres into a seamless whole that practically dances on your palate. You get subtle but unmistakable hints of white pepper, fresh ginger, green apple, and pears buoyed by lively acidity and a surprisingly luscious texture.

You can indeed get this wine, but you’ll probably have to ask around for it at wine stores, for the reasons previous mentioned (the distributor is Lauber Imports). It’s worth hunting down, as this is an original and refined dry white wine that is guaranteed to impress. $13.95.