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THE WINE TASTER

By Robin Garr

The Courier-Journal, July 12, 1989

     Our brothers and sisters in France are celebrating the bicentennial of
the French Revolution this year, and all the hoopla will reach its peak, amid
world-wide attention, on July 14, the 200th anniversary of the storming of
the Bastille.

     I can't think of a better way to mark the event than to raise a glass
of wine in honor of the country that developed table wine as we know it today
and still produces some of the world's best.

     What's more, the canny French have made it easy for us to do so: They
have widely distributed a pair of decent and inexpensive basic Bordeaux -- a
red wine and a white -- bottled and labeled in honor of the bicentennial.

     "Bordeaux Officiel du Bicentenaire de la Revolution Francaise," with a
colorful label designed by the Belgian artist Jean-Michel Folon, is widely
available at discount in the $5 range.

     It's not great wine, but it is the kind of sound, serviceable table
wine that the French have been making in great quantities for centuries. What
better way to commemorate a people's revolution?

     Inspired by such populist musings, for this column I've rated a
collection of relatively inexpensive ($5 to $7) table wines from France and
around the world. With the exception of a couple of widely distributed losers
rated at the bottom, they'll satisfy your palate without damaging your
wallet.



(4 stars) Domaine de la Batardiere Muscadet de Sevre et Maine, 1987.
(Mus-cah-day.) A yeasty aroma as appetizing as rising bread dough dominates
the scent of this clear, pale straw-colored French wine. Its flavor shows
excellent fruit and a lemon-squirt of acidity that makes it a first-rate
companion with oysters on the half shell and a good match with any simple
dish of seafood or fish. ($5.59)



(4 stars) Ricasoli Chianti, 1986. (Key-ahnt-tee.) This clear, bright
ruby-red Italian wine has a light, fresh scent of cherries and oak, and a
smooth, appealing flavor with plenty of fruit edged by the aromatically spicy
quality of oak and a pleasing touch of bitterness in the aftertaste. It's a
good, simple Chianti at a price that's more than fair. ($5.49)



(4 stars) J. Pedroncelli Dry Creek Valley Sonoma County Zinfandel, 1986.
This clear, dark ruby-red wine from California breathes a delicious aroma of
cherries and raspberries and an elusive hint of oak. Its refined flavor
mingles fresh fruit and restrained oak in a well-balanced red table wine.
($6.79)



(3 1/2 stars) Pasquier-Desvignes Chardonnay de Chardonnay, 1986.
(Shar-doe-nay.) This French wine's gimmick is that its Chardonnay grapes are
grown in the village of Chardonnay in Burgundy, where the grape purportedly
first grew. In fact, the pale brass-color wine's musky scent melons and
peaches and its soft, fruity flavor remind me more of Chenin Blanc than
Chardonnay. So what? It's an excellent picnic wine at a moderate price.
($5.99)



(3 1/2 stars) Fetzer California Zinfandel, 1986. This California wine is a
clear, bright ruby-red with an exuberant aroma of raspberries, blackberries
and woody oak, and a soft, sippable flavor, as fruity as jam, with crisp,
lemony acid lingering in the aftertaste. ($5.99)



(3 stars) Trakia "estate bottled" Strandia (Bulgaria) Cabernet Sauvignon,
1978. This well-aged Bulgarian wine, a high-tone version of the regular
Trakia Cabernet I rated recently, offers an intriguing example of Eastern
European red wine. Its aroma mingles ripe currants and light oak; a
sherry-like nuance suggests that it's near the end of its useful life, but it
still shows the appealing earthy, leathery tastes that come with bottle age
along with simple, prune-like fruit. ($5.35)



(2 1/2 stars) Yvon Mau "Bicentenaire" White Bordeaux, 1988. (Bore-doe.)
Fresh grass and light grapefruit mingle in the appetizing aroma of this
clear, pale straw-colored wine from France. Its flavor is long on crisp,
citric acid and a bit short on fruit, but it makes a palatable table wine
with chicken or fish. ($4.89)



(2 1/2 stars) Yvon Mau "Bicentenaire" Red Bordeaux, 1986. This clear,
bright-garnet wine adds a touch of burnt sugar to the typical cedary scent of
Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. Its simple flavor sets off no sparks but is
entirely respectable for the price. ($5.49)



(2 1/2 stars) Egri Bikaver, 1983. (Egg-ree Bee-kah-vehr.) The evocative name
of this Hungarian wine, "The Bull's Blood of Eger," is perhaps more
interesting than the dark ruby-red wine itself; but it's not bad for a simple
table wine, with a light, jamlike scent and soft, simple fruit. ($4.99)



(1 1/2 stars) Bolla Valpolicella, 1986. The scent of wood dominates the
aroma of this light, rosy-red Italian wine, and an odd, candied taste of
bubble gum and a brimstone breath of sulfur are flavor flaws. ($5.59)



(1 1/2 stars) Robert Mondavi Red California Cabernet, 1986. This clear, dark
ruby-red wine from California's Central Valley has a pronounced smell like
canned green beans, and the same less-than-pleasant quality overpowers simple
fruit in its soft, forgettable flavor. ($4.99)



     "The Wine Taster" appears every other Wednesday in The Louisville
Courier-Journal Food Section. Wine and Food Critic Robin Garr rates table
wines available in the Louisville area, using a one- to five-star scale
determined by quality and value. Send suggestions or questions in care of The
Courier-Journal, 525 W. Broadway, Louisville, Ky. 40202, call [phone],
or leave a message for 73125,70.