The Wine Knows

Last week, I posed the question on what constitutes a bargain wine. This came after a dearth of wines for the "Best Buys" section of the Winter issue of Wine Press Northwest. Currently, a "Best Buy" is a white for $10 and under and a red for $15 and under. The responses I got back (either in comments on the blog or emails) were adamant: Don't go any higher.

Wrote one reader: "I think the price point is great. If the winemakers want to get the recognition, perhaps they will start making wines that fall within those guidelines. It may take a second label for some of them, but so be it. It will be good for the wine drinkers and perhaps get more people started drinking wine that can then graduate to more expensive wines."

Another said he'll turn to bargains from South America and Australia before buying more expensive Washington wines for everyday drinking.

So, we will keep our "Best Buys" at their current levels. As a bonus, I'll try to put together a list of bargains by category and variety over the next several days, based on wines we've tasted in 2007.