“Plonkapalooza”

When it comes to wine, cheap (what the trade calls ‘plonk’) no longer means undrinkable. We tasted 25 whites and 25 reds — each bottle $10 or under — and picked our favorite everday pours.

By Stephen Meuse, Globe Correspondent  |  October 19, 2005

We asked five retail shops to share their top picks of $10-and-under red and whites that are in stock and in reasonably good supply. We wanted nothing rare or exotic; no roses, sparklers, or sweet wines. The goal was to identify strong candidates that our panel — Globe staff writers Alison Arnett, Ann Cortissoz, and Joe Yonan joined me in the tasting — could evaluate for quality, character, and versatility. Wines were wrapped in brown paper bags and identified only by number. Tasters sampled three wines at a time, and then stopped to discuss and record their impressions. Each was asked to identify five top reds and five top whites (see lists on this page).

The shops that contributed their pick of plonk were Curtis Liquors in South Weymouth; Federal Wine & Spirits in Boston; Shubie’s in Marblehead; Vintages: Adventures in Wine in West Concord; and Wollaston Wines & Spirits in Quincy. Because we knew there would be duplicates, we asked each vendor to nominate six to eight candidates in each category. We paid standard retail prices for all the bottles and settled on 25 whites and 25 reds that are representative of varietals, regions, and current winemaking styles. (Excerpt from article).