"The wine industry at home and abroad continues to remain healthy because of the mass producers of inexpensive, daily table wines...UNDER FOUR DOLLARS." Wine whiz Robert Lawrence Balzer wrote those words 23 years ago. If you change the limit from $4 to $10, they still ring true today... so here are our TOP TEN VALUES from recent tastings.

WHITE

5th—$10 Sauvignon Blanc by Pedroncelli, Dry Creek Valley, 2000
4th—$9 Chardonnay by Luis Filipe Edwards, Chile, 2000, Importer—Wm. Grant
3rd—$9 Sauvignon Blanc by Camelot, California, 2000
2nd—$6 Gewürztraminer by Sutter Home, California, 2000
1st—$6 Sauvignon Blanc by Amberhill (Raymond), California, 2000

RED

5th—$10 Gamay Beaujolais Rosé by Preston, Columbia Valley, Washington, 2000
4th—$10 Barrel-Aged Merlot by Chateau Julien, Monterey County, 1999
3rd—$10 Merlot by Camelot, California, 1998
2nd—$10 Zinfandel by Kempton Clark (R.H. Phillips), Dunnigan Hills, 1998
1st—$8 Monsieur Omo's Red Sunshine by Charles Mitchell Vineyards, California, NV

Comments

* If long ago you gave up on inexpensive Sauvignon Blanc because of coarse grass-herb flavors, try one of the above three California Blancs. Tell Global Gourmet what you think. We find them much more pleasing than in the past

* Regarding drinkable reds under $10, Zinfandels and Merlots continue to outperform the competition, including Cabernet Sauvignon.

About the Writer Fred McMillin, a veteran wine writer, has taught wine history for 30 years on three continents. For information about the wine courses he teaches every month at either San Francisco State University or San Francisco City College (Fort Mason Division), please fax him at (415) 567-4468.

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