GREAT che-e-e-p wine

[Randy Caparoso]

Dudes, my favorite "cheaps":

#1 is the '97 or '98 Carchelo Monastrell from 2500 foot elevations in South-East Spain. Soft, supple, yet dense and rich stuff retailing for well under $10 most places. The '97 is 80% Garnacha and 20% Merlot. The '98 has an unbelievably wild element added -- 10 % Tempranillo. This wine has soul and class!

#2 for me is Kermit Lynch's yearly selection of Domaine de la Gautier, Provencal vin de pays. 100% organic/unfiltered as is their custom; but these days it's also 100% Syrah, with luscious peppery black fruit aromatics and soft tannins supporting round yet zesty flavors. Also under $10.

#3 for me is the '96 Heron Merlot; its lineage being of pure varietal from South-West France and carry a vin d'oc classification. For $7-$10, it's much more Merlot -- plump, juicy black cherry and rolly-polly flavors -- than absolutely anything from California in the $7-$14 range.
Put together by an enterprising young woman from San Francisco named Laely Heron.

Finally, I agree that "cheap" can also mean $12-$18 that taste like a million. For those, I think the best regions currently to mine are Irouleguy in South-West France (sturdy yet classy stuff made from Tannat and Cabernet Sauvignon), Cahors from the same region, Carmignano (rich, smooth Sangiovese based Tuscans with usually subtle Cabernet complexities -- especially Capezzana's), and some of the better Cabernets from Chile (my hands-down favorite is Patrick Campbell's Terra Rosa).

Oh, don't forget Laurel Glen's extraordinary, Zinfandel based "Reds." Nothing, I say noth-thing in the $7 and under category beats that!