Those who seek good value in wine seem to have found that Australia and Chile both deliver nicely balanced wines at fair prices.

Indeed, with the U.S. economy struggling, all wine producers are keenly aware that wine is generally an optional purchase. And as a discretionary purchase, they have been sensitive to keeping prices as reasonable as they can.

Yet it has always seemed, since both nations first started importing wine here in a major way about 25 years ago, that Australia and Chile have done a superb job of keeping prices down.

One reason is the lower cost of labor. Both nations have mechanized a lot of the work that once was done by hand. Another is the cheaper cost of land.

But Australia, with a wine culture that dates to the early 19th century and predates Chile by a long way, seems to have developed more tiers in its wine arsenal. Beyond the bargain basement stuff there are many higher priced wines that sell for $25, $50 and even more.

The vast majority of these are from some of the tiny family-owned brands that make up about 95 percent of Australias estimated 3,000 wineries.

In the last few months, Australia has begun supporting a wider array of regionally distinctive wines that sell here for a bit more than the $7.99 many Americans have become accustomed to paying.

At a recent Master Class on Australian Wine held in San Francisco, Aussie government officials poured nearly 50 superb wines that displayed a lot of fascinating but nontraditional flavors. The wines were served to show the great diversity of Australias 64 regional growing areas.

Most of the wines were well above $20, but seemed to be worth a lot more than their price tags indicated.

What was so captivating about these wines was that so few of them were mainstream in flavor; most were distinctively different and showed off their differences.

As winemaker Rob Mann of Cape Mentelle in Western Australia said, In a crowded marketplace, you need to be different. Continued...