While my friends who garden look forward to long-delayed spring digging and planting, my thoughts roam in reverse: back to the wines of winter. Of the 1,000 or so wines I tasted during the cold season that was late to arrive and even later to depart, hardly any bottles were just plain bad. Most modern wines are competently made, decently fruited — and ultimately forgettable.

There’s nothing dishonorable about wines that furnish their hour of pleasure, never again to be given a moment’s thought. But if that were all that wine could bring to the table, then why expend our passion as well as our pretty pennies on it? What makes the wine game worth pursuing is the unexpected dalliance with a bottle whose personality is distinctive enough to command our attention while it’s in our glass, and which afterward has the “legs” to lodge itself in memory.

What defines a wine with staying power? Pure muscle is no guarantee: High alcohol, blockbuster wines often deliver an opening big bang of flavor, but are incapable of having an extended conversation with the palate. Other wines are very ripe and beguilingly “pretty,” but they also do a quick fade. As with people and paintings of character, it’s hard to put a finger on what makes a wine memorable. The only certitude is that you’ll want to drink them again. The following are 10 memorable wines of deep winter, all of them still available for purchase locally.

1.

La Chateau Liviniere Maris 2004 , Minervois ($10 at PJ Wines, pjwine.com)

Even among wines from the Languedoc, not known for shy flavors, here’s a wine that cuts through the chorus with startling purity and intensity. Robert Eden, the Englishman who has been tending Chateau Maris since its first vintage in 1997, makes a range of gorgeous wines from Rhone varietals. This one, blending syrah and grenache, is preposterously underpriced.

2. 2004 Guttornio , Colli , di La Piacenti Stoppa

($14.40 web special at Vino, vinositeshop.com) Like many northern Italian wines, this one is animated by high acidity. Unlike some others, this one has the parallel energy of zingy, even brilliant fruit — red cherries, in this case. An offbeat blend of bonarda and barbera gives this wine distinction. It’s a perfect partner to a wedge of Parmigiano Reggiano.

3. 1999 Schramsberg ($85 at Astor J. Schram Wines)

This bubbly, an assemblage of chardonnay and pinot noir from 80 cool climate California vineyards, carries a tensile power that puts it right up there with the best premium champagne. It stays in my memory as the best-ever American sparkler.

4. Hofstatter Gewürztraminer Kolbenhof 2004 , Alto Adige ($44 at dotcom.wines.com)

The most “in your face” of major wine grapes, gewürztraminer typically evoking lychee, dried roses, and fresh ground pepper. It can be as tiring as it is intriguing — especially the full-throttle, high alcohol versions from Alsace. This one, from Alto Adige in northernmost Italy, is dialed back to delicacy, yet loses none of “gewürz’s” distinctive character. It was a joy with Thai-spiced crabcakes.

5. Baron Herzog Zinfandel Special Reserve, Lodi, 2005

($26 at Astor Wines, astorwines.com) Forgive me, but I don’t expect a great zinfandel to also be kosher. Yet this wine answers to both descriptors. It sends out a surge of spicy raspberry flavor and smells like Bananas Foster — not a bad thing in a wine this lush. Lodi is too hot for most other fine wine grapes to excel, but old vine (60 years) zinfandel like this one can be great.

6. Chateau La Nerthe Blanc Châteauneuf -du-Pape, 2004 ($47 at Pop’s Wines, popswine.com) I long wondered what was the point of white Châteauneuf-du-Pape when the red version was so satisfying. Too often, the whites were ponderous and unfresh, yet priced dearly. This wine, ample-bodied yet lightfooted, sings out with tangerine and almond notes. For a complex white wine that is a diversion from chardonnay, this blend — grenache blanc, roussanne, clairette and bourboulenc — fills the bill.

7. Hamilton Russell Pinot Noir, Walker Bay, 2005

($29 at Garnet Wines, garnet wines.com) A hauntingly gentle wine from South Africa, sacrificing overt fruitiness for a wash of forest-y and mineral flavors. Sipped on three successive evenings from a single open bottle, this wine got only more expansive.

8. Domaine du Comte Pommard Armand 1er Cru , Close des Epenaux 2004 ($90 at Zachys) As young burgundies go, Pommard has a reputation for being hard-edged and clunky, a REAL palate batterer. So why does this 2-year-old example turns out to be silky-textured and plush with rich dark chocolate nuances that ought to take a decade to achieve? Perhaps this wine will yet close down, but for now it seduces as only great burgundy can.