Quality Needn’t Break the Bank

What’s good value to one person can be rip-off to another. I know of people who will spend $40 on a bottle of wine and say they just got a bargain; I’ve done it myself. But for most of us, $10 is the most we’re willing to spend on a bottle, $7 is plenty and $4 is just about right.

Sound like dreaming? Not necessarily; there are many perfectly good wines in the $4 to $10 range. Take the 1993 Santa Rita “120” Merlot from Chile, which has a suggested retail price of $5. Not only is it excellent, but I have also found it selling for as little as $3.79 a bottle. Now, that’s a great value.

But price, of course, isn’t everything. No matter how cheap a wine is, it must have quality. A good example of classic varietal character at a moderate fare is the 1994 Davis Bynum Sauvignon Blanc ($8.50). Then there’s the 1993 Concha y Toro Merlot ($8), which is not very much like Merlot, but it’s an excellent example of rich, red table wine at a fair price.

Another good wine at a good price is the 1994 Castello Banfi Pinot Grigio “San Angelo” ($8.50). Pinot Grigio should be a simple white table wine with light, fresh, crisp, refreshing flavors, perhaps a hint of spice and pear in its aroma and relatively or totally dry. This one is soft and very fruity but has excellent acidity, which makes it perfect with first courses.

There are certain wines that can always be relied on to deliver good value. For instance, I loved 1994 Buena Vista Vineyards Fume Blanc ($7), and one taste was all I needed to recall a decade of excellent wines from this grape, this region (Lake County) and this producer.

For good value, I doubt there’s a better grape than Chenin Blanc, the white grape from which Vouvray is made. In a recent tasting of a dozen randomly collected Chenin Blancs from California, found a number I liked.

One of the best was 1994 Girard Winery ($8), a stylish, complex wine made in the style of the Loire Valley, with no sweetness and a melon aroma and taste. It has a slight spritz on the tongue, giving a lively taste.

Chenin Blanc used to be widely planted in California and made a lovely wine with a slight sweetness. One winery that still makes it that way is Husch Vineyards in Mendocino. The 1994 version ($8) is soft and has melon- and pear-like fruit and spice. An excellent quaffing or picnic wine.

More complex and drier, with hints of citrus and apple, is the 1994 Dry Creek Vineyards Chenin Blanc ($7). It’s just a trace sweet, but very complex. Also excellent is 1993 Mirassou Chenin Blanc ($6), although the wine is more challenging, with an aroma reminiscent of fresh-cut green beans, apples and olives.

Wine of the Week

1993 Chappellet Vineyards Chenin Blanc ($7.50) --This is a wine made in the classic Loire Valley style, with mild underripe melon and faint hay scents, dry entry with lovely softness in the finish. This is a great alternative to Chardonnay, with more fruit than most Chardonnays and better balance, because the oak aging here is modest. It is a totally dry wine from Donn and Molly Chappellet’s home ranch high on Pritchard Hill on the eastern slopes of the Napa Valley. As it has been for the quarter of a century they’ve been making it, the wine is a marvel of balance and finesse. Here’s a chance to try a true classic at an affordable price.