Seeking a good value in wine? Look to imports. Places like Australia, Argentina, France's Languedoc, and Chile are bursting with new vineyards and bumper crops (vines that yield more fruit than expected). These regions have been making wine for decades, but are newly venturing out into the export market, seeking new customers and bigger sales. Chile stands out as a more recent entry in the import race, still finding footing in both quality and merit.

Wine stores nationwide are filling up with Chilean values (priced $5-$14 a bottle). And, they taste good to boot. The Aresti Winery is a wonderful example of this "wine find." Their regular bottling comes in under $10 and their reserve line is only four dollars more. In the wine world, reserve can mean many things, but at Aresti, it means that the wines have spent up to 13 months in oak barrels, providing vanilla and toast flavors consumers love at a price much less than many domestic wineries.

Established in 1951, the family-owned winery typically sold their harvest to other local wineries (in the form of grapes or finished wine). Recently, the Aresti family invested in new winemaking equipment - increasing their ability to produce quality wine on their own--an important investment, since the family name now appears on the label.

Other Chilean wineries have decided to export their wares as well. Some keep with their tried-and-true traditional methods, while others have made improvements and changes to their production equipment. After changes to the political atmosphere in the late '80s, U.S. and European wine companies started to invest in the country, bringing in new equipment and improving vineyard management.

Progressive changes have created a launch pad for exporting wine back to the United States and Europe. Chilean wine, as a result, is a formidable competitor in the world wine stage. Chilean wines rank third in wine volume imported to the United States, just behind France and Italy.

Chile has ideal areas to grow grapes, located primarily in protected inland valleys that run the length of the country. There are several vineyards on the coast, just outside Chile's capital, Santiago, but this locale isn't totally ideal. However, there's more land to cultivate in Chile including sloping hillsides to the south that will eventually be Chile's future, because they enjoy both a maritime climate and moderate rainfall (lessening the need for irrigation). We are only now seeing the first wines from areas like Maipo and Casablanca Valleys - Chile has a bright future and we're looking forward to reaping the rewards.