The Halekulani recently hosted a most memorable wine and food tasting event. Kevin Toyama, cellar master, convinced an all-star group of artisan, family-owned wineries from southern France and Italy to come to the islands to share their wines and expertise.

This opportunity reminded me of a very different take on wines and what they can be. These wines were quite different from those most people would buy at a wine or grocery store, much more about a sense of place than a grape variety or type of oak barrel used in production.

Furthermore, many of these families have been producing their wines for generations, passing techniques down from father to son, mother to daughter, so I would add that culture and heritage also play an important role in the wines’ production.

Two of the many offerings that stood out came from two regions most wine aficionados are familiar with — Champagne and Burgundy.

» Veuve Fourny & Fils Brut Reserve Premier Cru (about $58 a bottle): Here is a terrific “grower” Champagne well worth checking out. Part of the stipulations of the “grower” category of Champagne are that you must own and farm your own vineyards, as well as make and bottle your own wine. While that is not necessarily a quality determinant, it does say something about the value of “boutique” and artisan.

This family has been active with their vineyard in the village of Vertus since the 1850s. Their Brut Reserve bottling is roughly 80 percent chardonnay and 20 percent pinot noir. I love the wonderful purity, freshness, refinement and pedigree of this Champagne and especially the tiny and flirtatious bubbles.

» 2012 Roland Lavantureux Chablis (about $27): I first visited Roland Lavantureux in 1991. He is a humble man from humble beginnings who had always dreamt of starting his own wine domaine and finally did so in the early 1970s.

Fast forward to today, I have had at least four winemakers rave about how Roland’s wines have inspired them, because his chardonnay is certainly much more about the soils the vines grow in than the grape variety. The soil is called Kimmeridgian limestone, which at one time was under the sea. Now, fossilized sea shells and critters are commonly found embedded in that soil.

It is this type of soil that make the wines of Burgundy so revered and noteworthy. I was resoundingly reminded on this day how Lavantureux’s wines exude such purity, amazing lightness and a mesmerizing ethereal quality, and also how crisp, refreshing and absolutely delicious they are. This is a real pleasure to drink, especially on a hot day, or with fresh fish, simply prepared.

Two other standouts are grown in remote nooks and crannies in other parts of France, usually in unique hillside soils surrounded by a wild countryside.

» 2012 Champalou Vouvray (about $22): This is one of my all-time favorite white “country”-styled white wines out of France. It was an absolute thrill for me to see Didier and Catherine Champalou, shake their hands and taste their wines with them. No, I am not a groupie, I just happen to like mastery in those who can create oenological magic between vine, soil and winemaking.

This is another wine completely soil driven, where the minerality and resulting ethereal quality is surpassed only by how delicious and effortlessly light it is on the palate. This is a wine to try with shellfish: crab, lobster, scallops and shrimp.

» 2012 Sang Des Cailloux Vacqueyras (about $34): I was as thrilled to shake the hand of owner/winemaker Serge Ferigoule; the moment was on par with what a golfer would experience shaking Jack Nicklaus’ hand. For me, Ferigoule is a true master and I seek out his wines for every single vintage.

These wines, however, are not for everyone’s taste. In fact, many California winemakers might say his wines are flawed in one way or another. I happen to be one of those folks who is not looking for the perfectly shaped and colored tomato, as long as it tastes good.

This is a hearty, robust, masculine, soulful red all about the vineyard, the vines and a man looking to sing his song his own way. I was recently telling a group of young sommeliers how having the 2007 with a fire-grilled rib-eye steak on the bone with a mortared chimichurri is one of my all-time memorable wine and food pairings.

Chuck Furuya is a master sommelier and a partner in the DK Restaurants group. Follow his blog at chuckfuruya.com.