Fidelity is a virtue in love and war, but when applied to wine it doesn't make a lick of sense.
American wine consumers, particularly those of us who live in major urban areas, are blessed with the widest choice of wines the world has ever known. The shelves of our wine shops are a virtual United Nations of libations. Our choice of varietals stretches from aglianico to zinfandel.
Still, incomprehensibly, some wine consumers latch on to one brand, one varietal or one region and cleave to it as faithfully as if it were a spouse.
Such a waste. One of the great joys of wine lies in exploration. Some of the most fascinating tasting comes in trying wines from outside the mainstream categories.
Here are some of the places you might want to look for excellent dry table wines. In two weeks, we'll take a look at some of the little-known but excellent dessert wines the world has to offer.
Whites
* New Zealand: This South Pacific nation is better known for sheep and kiwi than wine, but in recent years it has won plaudits for its crisp sauvignon blancs, which come closer to the style of the great white wines of the Loire Valley than any other region outside France.
The 1993 Morton Estate Winery Sauvignon Blanc from Hawke's Bay ($11) is an excellent example. A wine of crystalline purity and laser-like penetration, it is an intense, uncompromising rendition of sauvignon blanc that won't appeal to everyone. Its smoky, grassy, distinctively herbal flavors will come as a shock to someone whose ideas of sauvignon blanc have been formed by the fat, peachy versions popular in California. But this lightweight, refreshing wine with an iron grip could be the perfect accompaniment to salads, blackened fish or fresh shellfish.
* California marsanne: In recent years, California winegrowers have gone ga-ga over viognier, the once-rare variety from France's Rhone Valley. Unfortunately, most California viogniers have been lackluster wines with big price tags.
Meanwhile, some growers who don't follow the herd have been getting far superior results with another Rhone grape, the marsanne of Hermitage. The 1993 Preston Marsanne from the Dry Creek Valley ($20) shows the extraordinary potential of this underrated varietal in the New World. It's a full-bodied, complex wine that is packed with peach, pear, tropical fruit, apple, honey and a lingering pepperiness. Try it with salmon, tuna steaks or swordfish.
* Alsace muscat: At one time, all Alsace wines were off the beaten track for American consumers, but recent years have brought increasing interest in the region's riesling, gewurztraminer, pinot blanc and pinot gris.
What isn't well-known is that there's a fifth great Alsace varietal: muscat. Alsace muscat, which has nothing to do with the muscatel of Skid Row fame, is bone dry and can reach astonishing heights. Zind Humbrecht's 1992 Muscat d'Alsace ($20) is an astonishingly intense wine, and the interplay of herbal and fruity flavors is fascinating. It's a truly exotic, almost creamy-textured wine that would be excellent with spicy Asian cuisines.
* German scheurebe: All other German wine varieties exist in the shadow of riesling -- and deservedly so. Still, scheurebe deserves recognition for the unique dry wines it can yield when vinified by a true master such as Muller-Catoir, Lingenfelder or Kurt Darting. They are among the few wines that can stand up to hot Indian curry and the fiery cuisine of Thailand.
The best dry scheurebes come from the Pfalz region, but these can be hard to find. One well-made scheurebe is the 1993 Karl van der Weiden Langenlonsheimer Bergborn Scheurebe Kabinett ($11) from the Nahe region. While it doesn't have the intensity of the best Pfalz versions, it delivers the unusual lime, grapefruit and peppery flavors that make scheurebe so distinctive.
* California malvasia: You can't do an article about offbeat wines without mentioning Randall Grahm, California's pioneer of the peculiar. Not content with being the original Rhone Ranger, Grahm also has led the way in transplanting lesser-known Italian varietals to California.
One of his most successful is the 1993 Ca' del Solo Malvasia Bianca ($9.49), made from a varietal that is often turned into sweet wine in Italy. Here Mr. Grahm proves malvasia can yield a delightful, fragrant dry wine -- bursting with fresh flavors of peach, pear, melons and honey -- that is an incredible bargain.
Reds
* Greece: For all its ancient association with the vine, modern Greece receives little respect for its wines. A few more wines such as the 1991 Megas Oenos from G. Skouras ($18) could change all that.
While the price might seem hefty for a Greek wine, this full-bodied, firmly structured blend of cabernet sauvignon and the native agiorgitico justifies every penny. It's a layered, complex wine with intense black currant flavors and the potential to improve for a decade or more.
* California petite sirah: Petite sirah is not an unfamiliar variety but it is unfashionable. British wine writers seem to hate it -- often a positive recommendation in my experience.
Yes, petite sirah can be rustic and unsubtle, and no, it is not related to the classic syrah of the Rhone, but this humble varietal can produce some delicious wines in the hands of top-notch producers.
For a fine example of what the varietal can achieve, try the 1989 Ridge York Creek Petite Sirah ($17), a burly, generous wine just loaded with blackberry fruit and peppery flavor. A bit coarse now, it will gain refinement over the next decade or two.
* Spain's Duero River: Rioja is better-known, but Spain's greatest reds come from the Ribiera del Duero, home of the famous Vega Sicilia winery and the somewhat less well-known Pesquera.
These are enormous red wines -- among the most powerful you will find anywhere. Yet they can also achieve a high degree of complexity, as shown by the 1991 Pesquera ($23), a broad-shouldered wine that is stuffed with flavors of sweet oak, herbs, pipe tobacco, blackberry, chocolate and coffee.
* Italian aglianico: The Piedmont's nebbiolo and Tuscany's sangiovese get much more attention, but the aglianico of NTC southern Italy is likely the most ancient of Italy's great grape varieties. It is best known as the varietal that produces Mastroberardino's Taurasi, but more producers are beginning to realize its potential.
A fine example is the 1987 Ocone Aglianico del Sannio Beneventano ($18), a spicy, medium-bodied red with exceptional intensity and excellent flavors of sweet oak and cherries, and a good smack of earth. You'll know you're not tasting California cabernet sauvignon -- and that, after all, is the point.