Alberto Longo, Cacc'e Mmitte di Lucera, 2005 (Italy) - A recent trial at our wine tasting club at work.  I found this in a boutique Italian wine store in the North End and it's special because of the Uva di Troia grape which is very hard to find.  The entire wine tasting group thought it was smooth and balanced, seemed fresh, had nice fruit.  However, once I revealed it was around $30 several thought it wasn't worth the price, and actually I agree, although I really think the price is up there due to the rareness of the grape and not because a blind taste testing would score this as a $30 wine.  Regardless, it's still upper average so I'll give it a 6 out of 10.

Fetzer, Valley Oaks, Gewurztraminer, 2007 (California) - I bought this in a supermarket and I've had few good discoveries from their store selection, just lower average mass produced junk.  But we were pleasantly surprised with this one.  For $10 you get a typical aromatic Gewurz with nice fruit.  It's not the most exotic sample I've tried, nor the spiciest, but it was a value for the price.  6 out of 10 for upper average.

Sfida, Rosso (Primitivo 70%, Negroamaro 30%), 2007 (Italy) - Every now and then I give Primitivo another try watching to see if it can bring the joy to me that a very flavorful California Zinfandel can (after all, they're genetically the same grape).  I've had Primitivo that tried to mimic the style and fell far short, I've had Primitivo made more in the Italian style and found it unrelated, and now here's this sample which blends it with another Italian native grape.  In this case I think 30% Negroamara actually overwhelms the Primitio and what you end up with is a pretty good sample of Negroamara but yet again a Primitivo which can't match California.  I give this a 5 out of 10 for lower average.

Brownstone Winery, Chardonnay, 2006 (California) - This was recommended by Best Cellars as a decent affordable Chardonnay and I'd say they're right.  It wasn't the richest, butteriest, fruitiest Chardonnay, but for the $10 range it was better than many of its competitors.  Still, I'd just call it lower average for 5 out of 10.