One of the reasons online wine guru Gary Vaynerchuk is so successful: He is looking to explode expectations. With something as complex and prone to snobby behavior as wine, there is a huge window to “change the wine world,” as Gary loves to muse about, if you keep your feet on the ground and have a sense of humor about what you do.

That peculiar joy of having one’s expectations totally smashed happened to Hot Plates recently. We were doing our wine shopping at our emporium of choice — which was once dubbed (by a snooty owner of a smallish wine shop) the Wal-Mart of Wine — and on this occasion, we were doing a mega-shop. We were picking up stuff for friends who asked for “big bottles,” which the shop has in spades; we were grabbing a case of semi-pedestrian Chardonnay to have on hand for all the people we adore who love to drink the stuff all year long; and we were also looking to stockpile about a case of what we’d call barbecue wines, picnic wines or just plain party wines.

What do we mean by “party wines,” you might ask? Everyone’s definition has to be a little different. For us, the wines have to be friendly, fruity but not sweet, dry but not austere, flavorful and maybe fizzy. Wines that go with burgers and dogs, tacos or with a huge, fragrant bowl of mussels. Whites, reds and pinks you can serve with food, or just with a few bowls of salty snacks.

As we trolled the aisles, some things jumped out at us. We made a long, fun stop at the rose section, where we picked up a Tavel to put away just for our own selves, as well as a Cotes-du-Rhone and the fabulous Mulderbosch (98 percent Cabernet) from South Africa. What else did we pick up for the summer party supply? White blends, Italian whites, some Dolcettos, a few Proseccos and some Zinfandels.

So now we are getting to the point of the story. As we were there in the “other reds” section, a staffer caught sight of our knitted eyebrows and came by to check on us. We explained that we were mostly all done, but felt we needed to round out our shopping cart(s) with some more reds. Barbecue-friendly wines, we told him. His eyes lit up.

“What do you like?” he asked. This is the kind of wine question that gives a lot of people that deer-in-headlights feeling. We gave him our keywords — fruit-forward, dry, smoke but not oak — and he just started walking purposefully over to a different stack of bottles. He said something like “This wine will knock your pants off,” except we are pretty certain those were not his exact words … but you get the point. He grabbed a screw-cap bottle of Sangiovese from California.

The label was nothing to talk about. In fact, it was so plain as to be uninspired. But the wine is a completely, totally different story.

Sobon Estate 2006 Sangiovese ($10) isn’t a big wine by California standards. But at 14.5 percent alcohol, and with its wild, explosive berry flavors, this wine is a perfect pick for almost any al fresco meal that calls for red. It is also a lovely weight. It is light-bodied, and a gorgeous raspberry color, but it sits strongly on your palate and coats your mouth, leaving you with a tart, mouthwatering finish.

This wine can stand up to grilled meat — especially pork and chicken — but would also not overwhelm a pasta salad. It lends pop to a bland meal, or complements the zing in a spicy dish. That is why it’s so versatile and so yummy-delicious.

But for some reason, domestic Sangiovese was the last thing we were expecting our guide to recommend. What did we think he would offer up? Maybe a blend of some kind, or a Pinot Noir from the Pacific Northwest, or something from South America. While any of those could have been a nice choice, this wine has gone the distance for us already.

The lesson we learned? Just when you think you are on your game and not becoming set in your ways regarding things like wine and food, you are. And it pays off when someone or something comes along and knocks you out of your comfort zone.