This is not an easy category. You want robust reds that will hold up to spicy barbecue sauces or the palate-numbing condiments that accompany most burgers. So you want them to be rich and juicy and flavorful--and you want them for less than $15 when it seems all the wine world has discovered that someone, somewhere, will buy plonk for $100 a bottle.
The wines we've chosen below are summer wines. Wines to drink for a day at the beach, on a picnic or at a barbecue. These are wines to be shamelessly enjoyed, not saved or cellared or pondered. Most are very different from each other but have two things in common: They are absolutely delicious and each is a great wine bargain (GWB).
2004 Beaujolais-Villages by Georges Duboeuf (France)
This wine makes me happy. It makes me want to dance, and I have no rhythm. It makes me want to go on a picnic or a hike with my honey. And it costs me less than $9 a bottle. It is very different from the other reds I am recommending. It's light and fresh and you should serve it slightly chilled. It's a gorgeous, delicate ruby color. It offers a whiff of vanilla and berries on the nose, and the first sip is like crushed strawberries with a hint of lavender. This is my house cocktail red, perfect for guests who want a red wine to sip on a hot day. I love it with unsauced pork dishes, veal, salmon, vegetables or most summer pastas. And here is a secret. When you find yourself in a restaurant with an oppressively expensive and limited wine list, you will often find a Beaujolais-Villages, usually the cheapest wine on the list. Look your server in the eye and with absolute confidence tell him or her you'll have the Beaujolais-Villages, lightly chilled. They may not love you for it, but they will respect you in the morning.
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2005 Terrazas de los Andes, Malbec (Mendoza, Argentina)
This is a brilliant wine and completely different from the Beaujolais. Notice first its inky, purple-black color. And see if the aroma of this wine doesn't immediately perfume the air around you with vanilla and coconut and cherry aromas. Taste its deep blackberry-cherry and raisin flavors. Note that though it's a very young wine of huge proportions, it is gentle on the palate and remarkably well balanced. If you can resist, let it sit in the glass for an hour or so as it breathes and becomes even more approachable. This wine is a great excuse to give someone from Argentina a hug. I would have this with a great grilled steak or leg of lamb and, unlike most of our wines, I would think about it. Why, I would ask myself, pay a couple of hundred dollars when you can get this wine for about $12?
2004 Gnarly Head Zinfandel (California)
I've had a lot of practice matching wine with barbecue, and I like Zinfandel best. There is something about its peppery, rich berry flavors and American heritage that fit perfectly with spicy barbecue flavors. This is a big Zin with 14.5 percent alcohol. It has a lovely black cherry-red color with deep blackberry fruit flavors and notes of vanilla and pepper that almost jump out of the glass. The finish is velvety. Drink it with pork ribs or burgers or just about anything else you put on the grill. Oh, go ahead and drink it while cooking the things or thinking about how to cook them. This wine is a heck of a buy for about $10. I'll drink to that!
2004 The Stump Jump, Grenache, Shiraz and Mourvèdre by D'Arenberg (South Australia)
The name is a mouthful and so is the wine. This is one of those sensational bargains from Australia that are just irresistible. It's made by D'Arenberg, one of the great wineries from Down Under, and they used old vine grapes from the McLaren Valley. It has a beautiful medium-purple color and a slightly hot, peppery-plummy nose. It has spicy blackberry-strawberry flavors with a hint of pleasant grassiness. Buy this for $10 along with the Gnarly Head and see which one you like best. They are both perfect for barbecue and burgers.
2004 Amancaya, Malbec/Cabernet Sauvignon (Mendoza, Argentina)
Twice in the last month I had the good fortune to drink this wine at dinners where great California Cabernets or French Bordeaux wines, costing $100 or more, were served. I won't say Amancaya was the best wine of both nights, but it was certainly respectable in exalted company. The wine is a joint effort of Nicolas Catena of Argentina and Barons de Rothschild of France, and it is a delight. It has cedar, blueberries and spice on the nose and rich flavors of dark mocha and chocolate cherry. Great balance. This will work with a wide range of meats and is lovely with a chunk of Parmigiano Reggiano and a good book. At less than $15 a bottle you're taking advantage of the poor winemakers. Enjoy!
A final word about availability: You may not find every wine in your favorite store, but you should be able to find them at another store in your town. Or your merchant can order them for you. If that fails, search the Internet. They are there.
Tom Ryder is the former chairman of the Reader's Digest Association and co-owner of The Cookhouse restaurants in Connecticut, and has been a wine aficionado for decades. He's been lucky enough to taste many stellar wines in some of the finest wine regions of the world.
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