recently had the $19 Nicolas Potel 2006 Bourgogne rouge and found it a great value, lean, old world pinot. Tags: Polls wine picks The whole concept of Pinot under $20 is enough to make some Burghounds shudder. In previous vintages, I’ve enjoyed value Pinots from Austria (e.g. Hofstatter) as well. search for these wines ). MORE >>

Started in 2006, John has quickly won the respect of collectors and the people in the trade. To give you a flavor of his preferences and picks, I asked him several questions via email. Tags: wine picks wine collecting John Gilman is one of the people who I have enjoyed getting to know in 2008. broke it up in to two postings. MORE >>

JL Chave, Mon Coeur, Cotes du Rhone, 2006. Charles Hours , Clos Uroulat, Jurancon, 2006 (about $35; find this wine ). Tags: wine picks French wine Here’s a trio of French reds under $20 (plus a bonus) for your weekend pleasure. Domaine de la Pepiere, Clos de Briords, 2007 (about $16, find this wine ). MORE >>

Joseph, “Offerus” 2006 (about $28). Our final wine was the “Chaillot” 2006 (about $56) from the famed, rugged individualist Thierry Allemand. Tags: American wine French wine wine picks While Merlot’s fall from grace can be traced to one line in the movie Sideways , the fall of Syrah has been more difficult to track. alcohol. MORE >>

The 2005 vintage was lost to frost for many of his wines so the first vintage of the new regime was 2006 (many of the 2008s were lost too, to smoke this time). American wine wine picksSaul had his conversion on the road to Damascus. Wells Guthrie had his conversion on the road home from Burgundy. Thus he decided to change his style. MORE >>