Cheap is the new pricey

Joel Gott sauvignon blanc ($10) California

This month marks a milestone for the Advocate and cheap wine. In fact, the milestone probably wouldn’t have been possible without the Advocate wine column, which helped demonstrate that consumers are interested in wine that doesn’t cost a lot of money.

Because that interest was one of the first steps in getting to my new book, “The Wine Curmudgeon’s Guide to Cheap Wine,” which will be published later this month. It will be available as an e-book ($9.95) and in paperback ($12.95), and you’ll be able to buy it at the regular online retailers as well as winecurmudgeon.com.

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When Advocate founder Rick Wamre asked me to write a wine column some 10 years ago, I wasn’t sure there would be any interest and didn’t expect to be doing it for long. But there was interest; Advocate readers were looking for simple, clearly written advice about wine they could afford to buy. That’s a market that the wine business has traditionally taken for granted, and hence the column’s longevity and the book.

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The book focuses on the process of cheap wine. In this, there aren’t any recommendations, which is probably a first for a wine book. That’s what this column and my wine blog are for. The point of the book is to help consumers figure out for themselves what they want, offering common-sense advice about how to make that decision.

This month, then, three of my favorite cheap wines:

100,000+

• Any number of $10 white wines from the French region of Gascony. There are cheap, well-made and offer refreshing grapey and citrus flavors. Look for Domaine du Tariquet and Mont Gravet among many others.

• Sicilian reds and whites, which are practically subversive $10 wine is not supposed to be this interesting. They include Notorius, a white, and the Cusumano red.

• California sauvignon blanc, including Dry Creek, Joel Gott and Benziger, all of which are around $10 and are clean, crisp and tasty.

—Jeff Siegel

Dough Pizzeria Napoletana

Serving authentic pizza napoletana. Enjoy simple, fresh, delicious pizza made with passion and artful skill. Texas’ #1 Pizzeria, as rated by Zagat Mon.-Thurs. 11am-9pm, Fri. & Sat. 11am-10pm, Sun. 4pm-8pm