It is not that difficult, however, to find wines that can be enjoyed now that offer a very good quality to price ratio.

Spanish wines represent one of the world's best wine values today. Albarino is grown almost exclusively in Galicia in Spain's rainy northwest. Its thick skin allows it to withstand the damp climate of the region and the subsequent fruit is sweet and high in glycerol. High quality Albari no wines are intensely aromatic and give off scents of peaches. The taste is Granny Smith apples with almonds. They are not meant for long-term aging and are best consumed a year or two after the vintage.

Pazo de Senorans retail for under $25 a bottle and it is consistently one of the best producers of Albari no. The 2004 vintage displayed wonderful notes of peaches and pineapple. It is perfect as an aperitif or with a light meal, salads, or seafood.

Another quality producer would be Pazo San Mauro, which makes Albarino with similar qualities. It is also priced between $20 to $25. I scored their 2004 vintage 90 points.

2004 was a very good vintage in Priorat and the Douro Valley.

No one is more associated with the rise in quality of Spanish wines than Alejandro Fernandez. After working in the military, Fernandez started selling agricultural equipment but soon came to manufacture equipment of his own design, attaining success with a revolutionary machine for harvesting beets. During these years, he also made wine from his own vineyards and dreamed of establishing his own bodega for the production of red wines.

In 1972, Alejandro and his wife, Esperanza, opened their winery in Pesquera. Wines produced by Fernandez are made exclusively from Tempranillo. His world famous Tinto Pesquera is aged a minimum of 18 months in oak with selected Reservas and Grande Reserves remaining in the barrel for 24 months at least. The 2003 Pesquera retails for around $25 and contains wonderful blackberry flavors with firm tanins and toasty oak. It is a wine that can be enjoyed now or cellared for as long as seven or eight years. The 2006 should prove to be even better.

I recently tried a 1996 Pesquera Reserva with a grilled New York steak. It was exhibiting a huge bouquet of smoke, tobacco, and black fruits. In the mouth was a slight taste of licorice.

Another wine that hits any radar screen as an exceptional value is the 2001 Muga Reservia that retails for less than $20 per bottle. This is an incredible Rioja made from 70 percent Tempranillo, 20 percent Grenache, and small amounts of Graciano and Mazuelo. This wine has a beautiful bouquet of cherries, tobacco, and chocolate. It drinks well now but will age gracefully for another seven years. I scored it 91 points. This winery was founded in 1932 and is widely regarded as one of Riojas most famous wineries.

Muga also produces a Gran Reserva. The last vintage Itried was 1995. This wine is a bit more complex with notes of tobacco and dried herbs: On the palate, there is the flavor of plums, cherries, and chocolate. This wine is widely available for under $40 per bottle. It merits a score of 93 points.

Italy is the source for many of the bottles that I buy when I am entertaining larger groups at my house or just for every day drinking. Italians make wines that are great matches for food and many of their lower-priced wines taste much more expensive.

I was introduced to the Vermentino varietals while vacationing in Sardinia several years ago with my wife. It quickly became a summertime favorite around the house because of its excellent flavor and price.

Sardinia was primarily a region for jug wine production until the late 1970s. It was at that time when local growers upgraded wines and growing techniques .

Angiolas is one of the better known producers of Vermentino. The most recent release is 2005 and should be available at many wine stores for around $15. It has a clean, focused nose of citrus, apples and spices. On the palate the flavors of citrus and herbs with minerals are readily apparent. This wine is a perfect match for a lunch of salad or shellfish. It merits a score of 89 points.

Antinori also bottles a Vermentino from Bolgheri, an area along the Tuscan coast that is famous as the home to Sassicaia and Ornellaia. I recently tried the 2003 Antinori Vermentino. It is a crisp, full-bodied wine with intense aromatics of pears and citrus. I scored the wine 92 points. It would also be a great aperitif to be served with sharp cheeses such as pecorino or even gorgonzola.

Another white wine from Italy that I consider a great value is Arneis. This is an ancient variety grown near Alba in Piedmont. Arneis is a difficult varietal to grow and the name means little rascal. Arneis was once nearly extinct but it has made a comeback in recent years due to the efforts of several Barolo producers in the area.

Giacosa produced a wonderful example of this varietal in the 2005 vintage. It exhibits a gorgeous aroma of white peaches and honeysuckle. The flavors are apple mixed with pears. It is also a fairly acidic wine so it matches well with many foods. I scored it 90 points and it retails for $22 per bottle.

I have ordered this wine on several occasions for a starter to Lee Hefter's tasting menus at Spago. It is a perfect companion for many of the seafood dishes.

There are many terrific red wines at bargain prices from Italy.

I was visiting my friend, Paul Getty, at his villa in Italy around 17 years ago when I first learned about wines from Montepulciano.

Montepulciano is a beautiful town built along a narrow limestone ridge at close to 2,000 square feet above sea level. The town is circled by walls and fortresses designed for Cosimo I in the 1500s. It is the home of one of my favorite red wines, Vino Nobile. This Tuscan delight is a perfect foil for red meats or pastas.

It is not known exactly when Avignonesi's cellars were built. They are certainly among the most ancient in Italy. Palazzo Avignonesi was built according to a design by Jacopo Barozzi in the second half of the XVI century and it has always been the cellar 's seat.

In 1974, the Falvo brothers, owners of vineyards in Cortona, took over Avignonesi and invested huge sums of money in viniculture.

The 2003 Vino Nobile de Montepulciano is the latest release from Avignonesi. It retails for around $22. It exhibits a rich nose of tar, black fruits, and licorice. The wine is approachable but with adequate tanins to cellar for several years. I would consider this a perfect match for poultry, meats, or pasta. I scored it 90 points.

This winery also produces a reserve wine in good years. The last one I tried was the 1999 Avignonesi Vino Nobile Riserva. This one retails for around $50, but it is quite floral on the nose with a long and intense finish. I would not hesitate to serve this bottle on more special occasions. I scored it 92 points.

Federico Carletti, the owner of Poliziano, is one of the lead producers of Vino Nobile. The Carletti family purchased the Poliziano estate in 1961, but it is Federico who has brought this property to the forefront of the region 's producers during the last two decades.

The 2003 Poliziano Vino Nobile di Monetpulciano is an intensely flavored wine with aromatics of licorice and black fruits. It has a long but round finish. It retails for around $25, which I consider to be a good price for a wine that I scored 91 points.

The 2003 growing season was quite hot in the Piedmont region of Italy. This made for a rather irregular crop of Nebiolo grapes, which vinified to produce Barolo and Barbaresco. It did, however, allow for a very intensely flavored Barbera. This is probably the best vintage of Barbera 's that I have tasted in my lifetime. The wines in stores now are incredibly inexpensive for this type of quality.

I first tried the late 2003 Vietti Barbera--Tres Vigne--with winemaker Luca Currado late last year at his family's vineyard. This is a very rich and flavorful wine with aromas of Asian spices and plums. The taste is of intense blackberries with a slight touch of oak. I scored this wine 92 points and it retails for around $15.

The 2003 Giacosa Barbera ($23) offers spicy tar on the nose with berry and licorice flavors on the finish. This would be a perfect wine to serve with light meats, pasta or even pizza. It is drinking great now but it has enough structure to age another five to seven years. I scored it 90 points.

Marcel and Philippe Guigal produce some of the most luxuriously expensive wines in the Rhone. La Turque, La Mouline, and La Landonne consistently garner scores of 100 points from Robert Parker and the Wine Spectator. They sell for several hundred dollars per bottle on release and are difficult to acquire because they are in such high demand.

Guigal also produces a very good lower-priced wine, called Crozes Hermitage. This wine has enough structure and layers of flavors to be interesting. It retails for under $20. It offers wonderful aromas of cherries and spice. It would be a perfect companion to a prime rib or leg of lamb. I scored it 91 points.

There are many 2003 Bordeaux first growths that are selling for several hundred dollars but there are others than can be quite attractively priced. Marquis de Terme consistently produces a decent wine in good vintages for under $30. The 2003 offers aromas of currants, herbs, and black fruits. It is drinking pretty well now, although it will improve with several more years of bottle age. I scored it 89 points.

Another wine from this region that Ifind to be a relative bargain even though it is higher priced is the 2003 Pontet Canet. This wine is drinking beautifully now with sufficient decanting time. After about three hours of air, the perfume becomes very intense with aromas of chocolate. The taste is loaded with the flavors of currant and berries. I scored this wine 94 points and consider it a bargain for $60.

California wines have the reputation of being overpriced. Some are but most are not.

One of my favorites is Sauvignon Blanc and there are several good producers of this wine in our state.

Martinelli makes the only Sauvignon Blanc crafted by famed winemaker, Helen Turley.

The 2005 Martinelli Sauvignon Blanc is quite decadent with aromas of green apples and citrus. The flavor is lemongrass with a touch of melon. I scored this wine 92 points and it should be available for around $25.

David Arthur is well known for producing some of Napa Valley's finest Cabernet Saugivnons. Many people don't know that this winery also makes a wonderful Sauvignon Blanc. The 2005 was crisp but smooth with a lemon-lime aroma. I scored it 90 points. It should be available for under $25.

One of the best values for California wine is the 2005 Melville Estate Pinot Noir ($28.) It is vibrantly rich with aromas of black fruits such as currants and plum. The taste is quite velvety with flavors of pomegranates and minerals. This wine would pair beautifully with roast beef, lamb, or even duck. I scored it 91 points. Incidentally, it was poured at Spago recently for me to complement a dish of quail served to me as part of their tasting menu.

Melville also produces an estate Syrah which is also a bargain. It is from their ranch in Los Alamos and is composed from eight different Syrah clones. The 2004 Melville Estate Verna 's Syrah ($20) is dark purple in color and it is immediately accessible with an aroma of meat mingled with boysenberries. The flavor consists of berries with white pepper.

This wine would be great with a grilled hamburger or rib-eye steak.

Etude Winery was started by famed winemaker Tony Soter. They have been making Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon for many years. I am particularly fond of the Etude Pinot Noir, which is produced from grapes grown from their vineyards in the Carneros Appellation at the southern toe of Sonoma Mountain. Around 20 Pinot Noir clones have been planted at the Etude Estate vineyard. The spacing of the vines is suitably dense to ensure low yields of concentrated fruit.

2004 Etude Estate Pinot Noir has beautiful aromas of cranberry with a touch of nutmeg. The taste is an explosion of cherries, spices and roasted meats. It has a very long finish. It is very good right now but it will undoubtedly improve with additional time in the cellar. It would be perfect match for a dish of chicken, duck or squab. It retails for around $40 and I scored it 92 points.

There are many great wines in the marketplace today. You do not need to spend a few hundred dollars for a bottle.

Grape growing and winemaking techniques are improving all over the world, creating more competition for your dollars. This has created an ideal situation for wine lovers --you just need to look beyond the trophy wines that have escalated in price at an irrational pace.