Wondering about these wines I found in store?

[stevebody]

2,

All these wines would fall into the category of "bargain" wines, into which you can read whatever you want. They're known more for their small price than relative quality and no one who drinks them expects they're getting a great bottle of wine. In fact, that's the aim of the wineries: to make a serviceable bottle that sells quickly and is meant to be drunk now.

This is not to say that all these are bad wines. Far from it. The Banrock Station Shiraz and Cab-Shiraz are enormously drinkable and priced to be affordable for everyday. They're very good bottles for the $5 or so they cost. Ditto for the B&G. Some of their bottlings, in fact, cause a bit of a stir in the wine trades when they more or less inadvertently issue a bottle that flirts with truly fine quality, which happens more than you might think. The Yellow Tail sells like a bandit in my shop and restaurants and I'm not at all ashamed to carry it. It's solid and priced right. For the rest, well, try 'em and see what you think. For me, I wouldn't touch the Ecco Domani with a pitchfork and have simply found more interesting alternatives to the rest for about the same money. If you'd like some suggestions for bargain wines with a bit more character, please feel free to contact me at stevebody@go.com and I'll send a list.