To see my article on Holiday Wines in the December issue of Hilton Head Monthly Magazine, please go to:

http://www.hiltonheadmonthly.com/dining/space/79-features/1188-holiday-wines

To see my article on Grapes and Wines in the March 2009 issue of Hilton head Monthly Magazine, please click on the following link, flip to Page 38, and click on the text to zoom in and read:

http://www.hiltonheadmonthly.com/hhm0903.html

To see my article on Fall Wines in the October 2009 issue of Hilton head Monthly Magazine, please click on the following link, flip to Page 24, and click on the text to zoom in and read:

http://www.hiltonheadmonthly.com/hhm0910.html

How often do The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal agree completely about anything? It happened last year when both printed excellent articles by their regular wine columnists, identifying a selection of inexpensive French wines as one of the better values in the current market.

How do you find these values, and avoid the mass-produced factory wines made as frequently in France as anywhere? One solution is to look for wines made by a group of small producers who have banded together under the name “Vigneron Indépendant”. Their logo, reproduced with permission to the left, is found on the bottle cap and sometimes on the label of their wines as well. They are committed to producing wine of high standards, reflecting the “terroir” where they are made. Their website (alas, only in French) is: http://www.vigneron-independant.com/

Wines from these producers are found in most markets with serious wine stores, with many in the $10-20 range, including reds, whites and rosés. Many different companies – typically those that focus on artisanal wines – import their wines. However, there has been no concerted effort to draw attention to the group, since the organization itself has no marketing presence in the US. This is probably why many wine stores (and distributors’ reps) seem unaware of what the logo signifies. It is also hardly ever mentioned in wine articles. Having visited many of the wineries, I’ve learned to look out for the logo, and have rarely been disappointed by their wines.

A second solution is to avoid wines from the renowned districts of Bordeaux and Burgundy, and explore wines from districts where the wines command less lofty prices. Look instead for wines from the Rhône valley (Côtes du Rhône Villages), the Loire valley (Saumur, Touraine), and the Southwest (Cahors, Côtes de Gascon, Gaillac, Minervois, and Pays d’Oc).

There are several stores on Hilton Head Island where Vigneron Indépendant wines can be found, in most cases from the Rhône or Loire valleys.

To see my article on Rosés in the June 2009 issue of Hilton Head Monthly Magazine, please click on the following link, flip to Page 50, and click on the text to zoom in and read:

http://www.hiltonheadmonthly.com/hhm0906.html

In the current economy, there’s a sudden focus on value.   For wine, the key is to define the relationship between price and quality and it’s not simple.   In a different context, an impressive example of raw pricing power was reported in a recent interview with the spokesperson for a pharmaceutical company.   Responding to a query about the price of a particular drug in relation to manufacturing cost, he stated that it reflected its “value to the patient”.

Such pricing power is also found in most consumer products: wine, where there can be enormous price differences without a comparable variation in quality, is no exception.   A reputation for quality spanning centuries or favorable reviews by well-respected wine writers such as Robert Parker have a major impact on the pricing of a wine.

As one example, wines ranked of equal quality using stars in The New York Times or descriptions in The Wall Street Journal can have retail prices varying by a factor of two or even more.   What the consumer gets by buying anything other than the “best value” isn’t always clear.   As another example, in magazines reviewing wine using a 100-point system, it’s common for scores that differ by a mere four points (e.g., 88 to 92), to result in as much as a ten-fold price difference.   So, what’s the value-minded consumer to do?

Some years ago a Napa Valley winemaker told me he thought (to my mind, fairly) that his Cabernets compared favorably with wines from Bordeaux costing over $100, while his were going for not much more than a third of that.   He could also have cited some of his competitors in Napa in the same breath.   Unfair as this pricing might be for such a winemaker, his wines and other underpriced wines like them are the ones to be seeking out in the next few years.

One of the goals of Hilton Head Wine Consultants is to focus attention on wines in this category.   Watch this space for future blogs on the subject.