I normally avoid wines with hokey labels like this – I am only surprised one of the messieurs in the illustration doesn’t have a baguette, that other seemingly unavoidable French cliche, clutched under his arm – but then this offering comes from an organization, B&G, Barton & Gustier, that enjoys a long and well deserved reputation for producing very decent value wines.

To anyone with a passing acquaintance with Bordeaux, the name Barton should be familiar. They are one of those Franco-Irish families that have been involved in the wine and cognac trade between the west coast of France and England and Ireland since the 18^th century – think of Lynch, as in Lynch-Barges, and Hennessey.

Thomas Barton of Curraghmore, Ireland, founded the négociant house Barton and Gustier in 1725 and the business remained in the family until 1986 when control passed to Joseph E. Seagram & Sons. It was subsequently absorbed by the British drinks conglomerate Diageo in 2001, though Anthony Barton still owns Ch. Léoville-Barton in St-Julien.

Here B&G have crafted a terrific value white, the Bistro Wine Chardonnay 2006 ($9) from the Languedoc in south west France. People have been predicting good things from this vast region for years but it has rarely lived up to expectation. The Bistro Chardonnay however is an exception. No new world oak-bomb here, but a charming chardonnay that’s packed with an earthy, flinty minerality. I never would have believed that I would use the term “elegant” to describe a $9 wine but here it is appropriate.

On consideration, it occurs to me that perhaps I am being too harsh about the name and label. It is the sort of marketing ploy that will put off the wine aficionado but should attract the more casual drinker, and that’s unfortunate…..for the aficionado, of course, because he or she will be missing out on a good thing.  So, if the two caricature français, replete with their black berets, can help sell this terrific wine, good luck to them!