Plonkapalooza

At our fall tasting of cheap wines, three sommeliers sampled 25 reds and 25 whites, chased them with crackers, and gave us their favorites

(Aram boghosian for the boston globe)

In medieval myth, the Land of Cockaigne was every peasant's dream. Within its fabled borders, fruits ripened every month of the year and rivers of wine flowed. Centuries later, although cabernet still refuses to gush spontaneously from the earth, wine is nearly that abundant. We are experiencing a Golden Age for the little wines of the world. Never have small producers of relatively modest wines had more access to markets, and never has so much of the produce of their vineyards and cellars been readily available to consumers.

Our Plonk of the Month column of $12 and under wines is meant to highlight the best of these - wines with the character and versatility to make for pleasurable and affordable everyday drinking. Once each year we ask a group of five retailers to nominate between six and eight red and white wines they believe represent exceptional value in this category. From their nominations, we settle on 25 reds and 25 whites for a panel of experts to evaluate in a single, blowout, blind - no labels visible - tasting. The 50-wine roundup we call Plonkapalooza, now in its fourth year, continues to provide insight into where real value can be found among inexpensive wines - and deliver a surprise or two en route.

Pitching in with nominations for under-the-radar, high-value labels this year were OurGlass Wine Company in Saugus, Menotomy Beer & Wine of Arlington, Bin Ends of Braintree, Panzano Provviste e Vino in Southborough, and Brookline Liquor Mart.

Joining your correspondent on the tasting panel were Nicole Bernier, general manager and wine director at Rendezvous restaurant in Cambridge; Kelly Coggins, wine and beverage director at Rialto Restaurant & Bar in Harvard Square; and Cat Silirie, wine director for the No. 9 Group. On a recent Saturday afternoon the team worked its way through the nominees glass by glass until each taster felt confident naming his or her top five reds and top five whites. Winning wines were those garnering the most top picks.

In some years at least one unanimous champion emerges. In others - as is the case this year - no single wine appears as a top pick on all four tasters' lists. Four red wines and three whites did manage to distinguish themselves by receiving a thumbs-up from three of four tasters.

Reds bearing off the laurels this year included (in order tasted) the 2007 Cave de Cairanne "Secret de Campane" from France, the multi-vintage Herdade Do Esporao "Alandra" Tinto from Portugal, the 2006 Velenosi "Quattro Mani" Montepulciano d'Abruzzo from Italy, and the 2006 Chateau de Calce Cotes du Roussillon from France.

Top finishers among whites were the Hugues Beaulieu Picpoul de Pinet, Coteaux du Languedoc from France, the 2007 Falesco, EST! EST!! EST!!! di Montefiascone from Italy, and the 2007 The Wishing Tree Unoaked Chardonnay from Australia.

The surprise element was provided by a pair of entries from seldom-seen regions. The first was a Hungarian wine made from the királyleányka grape. While Hungary has a long tradition of winemaking - including the celebrated, super-rich Tokaji - we have yet to see much from this former communist bloc country. Nevertheless, the Craftsman Neszmely Királyleányka finished as the white category's first runner-up, earning a top score from Bernier and this reporter.

A second we-didn't-see-that-one-coming moment occurred when we discovered a contender from India in the lineup. The Sula Vineyards chenin blanc raised eyebrows when it was unwrapped, but failed to garner kudos from the panel.

Once again, Western Europe dominated the pool of wines suggested by our retailers (34 of 50 originated in either France, Spain, Italy, or Portugal). Of non-European entries, a total of six came either from Chile or Argentina.

A consensus emerged around the notion that, as a group, the whites seemed both easier to taste and easier to like - a conclusion confirmed by the fact that 13 of these wines (52 percent) received at least one vote. Reds seemed distinctly less successful, with only 10 of 25 (40 percent) receiving at least one vote. Several panelists expressed disappointment with wines that seemed to reach for something (alluring aromatics; enhanced extraction) that their raw materials failed to warrant or support. In wine as in anything else, it's possible to strive too much.

But such miscues are to be expected this side of Cockaigne. Good wine doesn't just spring from the ground, you know.

Stephen Meuse can be reached at onwine@comcast.net.