Cheap Wines That Don't Suck: Blason Cabernet Franc

In Italy's northeastern Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia regions, your typical wine bar doesn't print up a list telling you you which wineries or vintages the wines they're pouring come from, or describing their characteristics. Instead, they just write a list of grape varieties and prices on a chalkboard. This may seem very strange to a visitor from California, but it makes sense: Their everyday wines are made from a single grape variety, rather than blends; vinified without oak, emphasizing freshness and varietal characteristics; released early in the year following the harvest; and consumed by the time the next vintage comes out. Thus, if you know the grape, you have a pretty good idea of what the wine will taste like.

These wines are not all that common in California, and those that are around have often been damaged by sitting in an unrefrigerated container in summer heat, or have simply been held too long in a warehouse. One notable exception is Blason Cabernet Franc ($9.99), which K&L Wine Merchants (638 Fourth St.) imports directly to ensure it arrives in good condition. The wine has a canonical cab franc nose, lots of peppery fruit, a tart, refreshing finish, and pairs well with a wide variety of foods including pizza, pasta, poultry, and meat. The current vintage is 2007, but I've been drinking it since the 2005, and they've been consistently delicious. Before being laid off from my lucrative software-company day job, this was my house red, and it's still the best value I know in the $15-and-under range.