Rounding Up the Whistle-Wetters

The days when you could get clean, characterful dry white wine for less than $2 a 750-milliliter bottle are gone, but there are still a few low-priced whites around that will do to quench a thirst, wet a whistle or help put down the halibut.

Moreover, inflation and tax increases have made that $2 wine into a $3 wine, and in some cases you have to buy it in double-sized 1.5-liter bottles (for $6).

I tasted through more than a dozen white table wines, most of them widely available generics, in that price range. I intentionally avoided trying Sauvignon Blanc since I feel there are some particularly good values in that varietal and will test that category separately soon.

There were no great wines in the tasting, though four could be recommended as tasty and merit consideration for dinner or sipping. All prices are for 750-milliliter bottles unless otherwise noted.

1. 1992 Fetzer Vineyards “Premium White” ($5.88/1.5 liters): Not as great a wine as it once was, this nevertheless remains a good value. It is composed of 65% French Colombard blended with Muscat, Sauvignon Blanc and Gewurztraminer. The aroma is fresh and the taste lively and dry, relatively crisp and fruity. It has a $9 suggested retail price, but I found it at most grocery stores for less than $6.

2. 1992 Parducci Wine Cellars “Vintage White” ($5.99/1.5 liters): John Parducci has long made a tasty white wine, and this one is similar to those of the past but with a trace more sweetness. Because of that it would be good for parties where wine will be served to people with varying tastes. It is dry enough for wine snobs, sweet enough for those who only sip once in a while. The aroma is mostly of Riesling and Gewurztraminer, but the taste is not too floral. Very attractive.

3. James Arthur Field “California White” ($5.99/1.5 liters): This wine had the best aroma of all, mainly leafy/melony notes of Colombard. However, the wine is searingly dry and lacks fruit. A good wine for people who are used to totally dry wine.

4. 1992 De Poursac, Bordeaux ($2.99): Attractive earth-chalk aroma of Bordeaux with a hint of olive. The wine is quite dry and clean, lacks some flavor and is better with seafood than alone. Found only at Trader Joe’s stores in California.

The majority of the remaining wines are all drinkable if you’re very thirsty or desperate for something other than cola, but there wasn’t much here to excite me:

Gallo “Chablis Blanc” ($3.50): The standard in the industry and one of the best-selling white wines in America. I tasted three bottlings of it: one in a 1.5-liter bottle (fresh, clean, without much distinction); one Burgundy-shaped bottle (earthy, papery notes, lacking in flavor) and one Bordeaux-shaped bottle (fresher, but with hints of sulfur dioxide in the aroma). Gallo appears to have repackaged its Chablis Blanc in the Bordeaux-shaped bottle. A company spokesman was checking at press time.

Round Hill Vineyards “Premium White House” (5.88/1.5 liters): A note of oak makes this otherwise simple wine interesting.

1992 Glen Ellen Winery “Proprietor’s Reserve White” ($5.99): Clean and fuller-bodied than some, but softer than I prefer.