SUPERMARKET SLEUTHING

Wine

Wine shopping the Safeway

JOEL L. FLEISHMAN

When I travel around the country on business, I usually scout out the local wineshops between appointments, and (less predictably) I also browse through the wine departments of upscale supermarkets. For, as canny shoppers know, supermarkets—or at any rate those in states with reasonable liquor laws—are full of bargains. Rarely does one come across a supermarket with a truly broad selection of wines—or the sort of hard-to-get labels from boutique California wineries that the best wine merchants have access to only through persistent, solicitous relations with wine-makers—but there is some very good hunting to be had. At Safeway, for instance. Of all the national supermarket chains, Safeway offers the best selection of both premium and mid-priced wines, sometimes in considerable depth, and occasionally one can find even the scarcest of the scarce on its shelves. I discovered the Dunn Howell Mountain Cabernet—hands down one of the nation's greatest, as well as rarest, wines—in a San Francisco Safeway. (Perhaps the principal reason for Safeway's oenological distinction in the past was its ownership of the Liquor Bam chain in California, which, alas, was sold within the past year. One hopes that Safeway's commitment to fine wines will not suffer. For the moment, it hasn't.)

The main disadvantage of supermarket wine shopping is the lack of expert advice from the wine salesmen. Consumers who depend on such guidance should stick to wineshops, at least for counsel. It is with respect to the lowpriced wines, however, that wine consumers least need counsel. We can afford to experiment. So, keeping this in mind, I assembled more than sixty reds, whites, and sparklers, all bought at supermarkets and all costing less than $6.15 a bottle, for a blind tasting by a group of knowledgeable friends. None of the wines was a genuine diamond, in the rough or otherwise, but that was not what we were looking for.

My personal favorite among the sparklers was the Ballatore Spumante. While a sweet wine, and therefore more suitable as an aperitif or with dessert, it has a delicacy that refreshes. It has genuine character too, which I found lacking in most of the other bubblies. Among the dry Tizzies, the Codomfu Blanc de Blancs, which offered a vigorous mousse of citric bubbles in the mouth, was my favorite. Among the whites, I liked the Rutherford Hill, Monterey Vineyard, Corbett Canyon, and GlenEllen best. All of them have discrete, recognizable Chardonnay flavors of tobacco, citrus, and apple.

As a group, the reds showed considerably better than the whites. To my taste, the Beaulieu Vineyard Beau Tour (also the group choice for best-of-tasting red) was tops, and it will develop to a gloriously ripe maturity over the years. Of almost equal quality is the Fetzer, the second-best red in the tasting, a handsome wine that has a soft, velvet Cabernet Sauvignon nose with rich, chewy cassis and tobacco flavors in the mouth. Both Louis M. Martini reds are excellent values, too, as are the Taylor California Cellars, Almaden, and Sebastiani Cabernet Sauvignons, and the Monterey Vineyard Classic Red. One caveat. These wines are not for sniffing. Don't expect to be overwhelmed by bouquets; inexpensive wines can rarely afford them. Be content with a satisfied palate.

The wines are ranked below from best to less good, by flight, according to the group judgment. Except as otherwise noted, all wines are American and all prices are for 750-milliliter bottles.

FLIGHT one—sparkling wines: Blue Nun Sparkling Wine (Germany), $4.49; 1985 Codormu Brut Classico (Spain), $4.49; 1984 Codomi'u Blanc de Blancs (Spain), $5.49; Taylor New York State Extra Dry Champagne, $4.99; Ballatore Spumante California Sparkling Wine, $3.69; Almaden Blanc de Blancs Extra Dry Champagne of California, $4.49; Lancers Blanc de Noir Brut (Portugal), $4.39; Freixenet Cordon Negro Brut (Spain), $4.95; Andre Dry California Champagne, $2.79; Taylor New York State Brut Champagne, $4.99; Cook's Imperial Brut American Champagne, $3.59; 1984 Paul Masson Brut California Champagne, $4.99.

FLIGHT two—white wines: 1985 Monterey Vineyard Monterey County Chardonnay, $5.99; Taylor California Cellars California Chardonnay, $4.59; 1984 Rutherford Hill Partners Selection Napa Valley Chardonnay, $5.39; 1986 Paul Masson Monterey County Chardonnay, $4.99; 1986 George Duboeuf Chardonnay (France), $5.46; 1986 Robert Mondavi White, $4.19; 1986 Mouton-Cadet (France), $5.79; Chantefleur Blanc de Blancs (France), $2.79; 1986 Antinori Orvieto Classico (Italy), $5.89.

FLIGHT three—white wines: 1986 Rosemount Estate Diamond Reserve Hunter Valley Dry White (Australia), $4.79; 1985 Torresella Chardonnay Delle Venezie (Italy), $4.99; 1986 Corbett Canyon Coastal Classic California Chardonnay, $4.99 (liter); 1986 M. G. Vallejo California Chardonnay, $3.49;

1986 Glen-Ellen Proprietor's Reserve California Chardonnay, $4.69; 1986 Bolla Trebbiano del Lazio (Italy), $3.99; 1985 E. & J. Gallo Limited Release California Sauvignon Blanc, $2.99; Alexis Lichine Bordeaux Sauvignon Blanc (France), $4.29; 1985 Bolla Soave (Italy), $3.99; Riunite Blanco (Italy), $2.99.

FLIGHT four—red wines: 1985 Mouton-Cadet (France), $5.79; 1983 Konocti Lake County Cabernet Sauvignon, $4.38; 1985 J. Lohr California Cabernet Sauvignon, $5.69; 1984 Paul Masson Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon, $4.99; Taylor California Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon, $4.39; Mark Swann Australian Proprietor's Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, $3.82; Chantefleur Rouge (France), $2.79; 1983 Mountain View Mendocino County Cabernet Sauvignon, $4.13; 1984 Trakia Merlot (Bulgaria), $2.29; 1984 Torres Sangre de Toro (Spain), $3.29; 1986 Rosemount Estate Diamond Reserve Hunter Valley Dry Red (Australia), $4.67.

FLIGHT five—red wines: 1984 Beaulieu Vineyard Beau Tour Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, $6.11; 1983 Sebastiani Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon, $5.99; 1984 Lindemans Australian Victorian Cabernet Sauvignon Bin 45, $5.95; Rene Junot Dry Red Table Wine (France), $2.79; 1982 Almaden Monterey County Cabernet Sauvignon, $5.34; 1985 Glen-Ellen California Proprietor's Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, $3.89; 1985 Beaujolais Regnie Jadot (France), $4.99; 1985 Robert Mondavi Red, $4.19; Alexis Lichine Bordeaux Cabernet Sauvignon (France), $4.29; 1983 Premiat Cabernet Sauvignon (Romania), $2.59; 1983 Concha y Toro Cabernet Sauvignon (Chile), $3.85.

FLIGHT six—red wines: 1985 Fetzer Lake County Cabernet Sauvignon, $5.69; 1984 Monterey Vineyard Classic Red, $3.99; 1984 Louis M. Martini North Coast Cabernet Sauvignon, $5.99;

1984 Louis M. Martini North Coast Merlot, $5.19; 1984 Sebastiani Merlot, $5.50; 1984 M. G. Vallejo California Cabernet Sauvignon, $3.49; 1980 Christian Brothers Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, $5.99; Cribari California Cabernet Sauvignon, $2.79; 1984 Trakia Cabernet Sauvignon (Bulgaria), $2.29;

1985 Carmel Samson Cabernet Sauvignon (Israel), $4.35.