One Italian and one French under $9 and the last one, a Super Tuscan rather more….

You might be able to find this popular Cote du Rhone locally for around 10 bucks although I have seen restaurants charge about $35 for a bottle. (Tip: beware of the second lowest priced bottle of wine at restaurants. Restauranteurs being smart people have figured out that nobody picks the lowest priced wine and few people pick the higher priced wines – ergo they charge the most profit on the second cheapest wine….)

I tasted the Sammarco Super Tuscan for the first time in Florence in 1996. A friend of mine called the winery hoping to send a couple of cases back to the U.S., but when he finally reached a person at the winery after several days of trying they laughed at the request and said….maybe we can sell you 4 bottles, we are sold out….Hm, you know, I shouldn’t even tell about this wine because the price has already doubled in the last 5 years – supply and demand….