A Good $3 Red Wine

Dan Berger was right on the money with his call for good $3 wines (Jan. 23). I’m tired of wineries fretting that Americans do not drink wine as an everyday mealtime beveragewhile they keep pushing their super-premium varietals onto the market at $20 a bottle. I would like to drink wine every day, but all I could afford are flat, lifeless jug wines. Like Berger, all I require is a wine with some simple but definite flavors to wash down the food.

Berger also suggests that a lighter-styled Zinfandel blend would fit the bill. May I suggest a blend of Cabernet (for some depth and backbone) and Gamay (for grapy fruit flavors)?

In the aftermath of the “60 Minutes” segment on the “French Paradox” and the suggestion that moderate daily consumption of red wine is beneficial to one’s health, I would think that wineries would be rushing to make inexpensive red wines for the uninitiated.

--GREG MESSNER, Bakersfield