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I still focus on widely available wines that taste good but don’t cost too much. There still are quite a few well-made wines that sell for less than $10, and many good wines that sell for less than $15.
While serving in Vienna on postwar occupation duty almost 50 years ago, I learned about the definitive character of fine European wines. I now focus on affordable, well-made wines of European ancestry grown in this hemisphere, especially those that sustain the classic marriage of wines with other foods.
My experience teaches that “New World” wines generally tend to be more available and dependable and less costly than European wines of comparable quality. California is still the best place to look, although other Pacific rim wine regions continue to gain stature.
Many cocktail wines still offer good value; the better pink or “blush” wines, such as top-ranked Barefoot Cellars White Zinfandel, continue to be among the most popular and affordable wine styles.
Tasty values from around the world also can be found in off-dry cocktail and lighter table wines made from such vitis vinifera varieties as Chenin Blanc, Gamay, Gewurztraminer, Grenache, Pinot Grigio (or Gris), Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Syrah (aka Shiraz) and most especially this season, white Rieslings from Kendall-Jackson, Jekel and Fetzer.
Good-value reds can be found in southern-hemisphere (especially Australian) varietals, in California’s red Zinfandels and Syrahs, and in regional red blends from Italy and the south of France.
I tend to favor wineries that earn competitive awards and critical acclaim, and I write mostly about the samples wineries send me. I also rely on selected wine journals and results from major California wine competitions, having judged at one of them for a decade.
I welcome reader questions and comments at P.O. Box 328, Winona, MN 55987 or www.winonadailynews.com.
The first precept of the wine wise is “quality ought to dictate price” — wines that cost more should taste better. The other precept asserts “If you can’t taste it, then it’s not there.” So if you don’t like a wine, try another until you find one you enjoy.
Though based on research, tradition and experience, my comments are only suggestions, not rules for your taste nor proxies for your judgement.
The bottom line: Wine that tastes good, is good; a few sips will tell you most of what you need to know.
Bon de Vendange!
John Breitlow is a retired Winona State University speech professor who began learning about good wine in the 1950s while serving in Vienna, Austria, with U.S. armed forces.
