Careful Shopper Cabs

My branch bank manager, a man on whose good side I intend to stay in case I ever need his kindness, has invited me to speak at a Rotary Club meeting. It turns out that 60 to 80 of the leading civic do-gooders are Rotarians. Not only is my banker among them, so are my dentist, my accountant and the local acupuncturist.

Clearly, this is a group that needs to be drinking good wine, both for their health and for the betterment of the community.

But I have learned over the years that these ladies and gentlemen, despite their affluence and love of wine, are keener on getting a bargain than on collecting the latest $50 masterpiece wine. They will be aware, as all wine drinkers are these days, that the price of wine is climbing faster than the Dow Jones average.

And they already know that wine buying is no longer as simple as it was once. The regular Cabernet bottlings from standard names like Beaulieu, Beringer and Robert Mondavi, which used to be among the better buys in the market, are now $15 and $20 or even more. Today, the best buys in Cabernet Sauvignon come from a different set of players.

I’m going to tell the Rotarians that they need to be good shoppers. They will need to look around to see which stores are offering special prices on particular wines. If they follow my advice, they will buy more than a couple of bottles at the right price in order to have a small supply on hand.

In the list that follows, the prices given are generally at the upper end of the retail range. You may find big discounters offering them for as much as 20% less, and that places them in the $8 to $12 range. I include a pair of very special mid-$20 Cabernets because they prove that memorable wine need not set you back $50 a pop.

$ 1996 Columbia Crest Winery, Columbia Valley, $10. This clean, direct, nicely endowed offering is sure to please when a bright, easy-to-take Cabernet is called for. It might be argued that it is too simple, but complexity in Cabernet comes at a high cost these days. In any case, this wine is not exactly a lightweight.

$ * 1996 Gallo of Sonoma, Sonoma County, $10. Very few wines are going to beat this one for out-and-out value. Here is a bottling with depth, weight and richness. Perhaps a bit of its muscle comes at the expense of polish, but its ripe and chewy style more than holds its own. It is one to remember when savory meats want a solid wine as a mealtime partner.

$ 1996 Meridian Vineyards, California, $10. Here is a reliable wine, light and somewhat soft, whose direct, cherryish fruit makes it one to remember in its price range. It often is among the more heavily discounted wines, and that can’t be bad either.

1997 Pedroncelli Winery, Morris Fay Vineyard, Alexander Valley, $13. This wine presents a different style for a bargain-priced Cab. Its good beginnings--ripe cherries and sweet oak, medium body and medium-depth flavors--are chased down by a wall of tannic astringency that needs half a decade or more of cellar aging. But it is the sturdiest wine you are likely to find for the money.

$ * 1996 Perry Creek, El Dorado, $12. Like the Pedroncelli, this wine is not from one of California’s volume leaders and may not be available everywhere or as heavily discounted when seen. But it has plenty of nicely proportioned fruit with hints of chocolatey ripeness in the mix. If not a wine for the most elegant of meals, it nonetheless has the stuffing to accompany savory, long-cooked meats like beef carbonnade.

$ * * 1997 Pine Ridge, Napa Valley, Rutherford, $24. The combination of impeccable winemaking and perfectly focused black cherry and currant fruit lifts this medium-intensity beauty into the ranks of the highly recommended. Nuances of sweet loam and vanilla add to its richness and complexity. In an era of inflated pricing for Cabernet Sauvignon (this one is blended with other varieties in the Bordeaux manner: 11% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc, 4% Malbec), this handsome wine is one of the few remaining bargains at its quality level.

$ * 1997 Quatro, Sonoma County, $12. This label may not be on its way to becoming a household word, given its small production, but it deserves to be remembered, especially for this keenly focused, curranty and moderately oak-rich Cabernet. A firm but not hard wine on the palate, it could serve perfectly well even now, but it is destined to smooth and unfold further over the next several years.

$ * 1996 Toasted Head, Dunnigan Hills, $15. It was the Australians who taught us that Cabernet Sauvignon blends well with Syrah, and this bottling contains a whopping 45% Syrah. It comes across as more boysenberry in tone than the curranty and ripe cherry notes one expects in 100% Cabernet, and it has plenty of outgoing fruit and mouth-filling body. Essentially forward and open, it may improve a bit with age, but it is wholly enjoyable now with steaks and chops.

$ * * 1997 Whitehall Lane Winery, Napa Valley, $26. Here is another price-worthy choice among the crowd of highly regarded Cabernet Sauvignons. This one follows the winery pattern of fairly high ripeness set against lots of sweet, creamy oak in both its outgoing aromas and in its near-succulent yet youthfully direct flavors. It will certainly be enjoyable now, yet its best lies some years down the road. Why not put aside a few bottles of this enticing youngster?

Definition of Symbols

* * * A world-class wine, superb by any measure, the top 1% to 2% of all wines tasted.

* * An exceptional wine, well worth the effort to find, 10% to 12% of wines tasted.

* An admirable wine, tasty, focused, attractive, about 25% of wines tasted.

No Rating: The best are quite pleasant and can be good buys when moderately priced.

$ Good value for the money.

x Below average quality, to be avoided.