ON THE SHELVES

The House of Gallo now has well-deserved claims to grandeur with the development of its premium single-estate wineries in smart areas such as Napa and Sonoma, but the broad-shouldered base of this Italian family winery has also made vast amounts of wine for the appreciative masses.

They still do so, and thanks for that.

This dry reserve red table wine costs $41 at Park'N Shop, and it is a good buy. There is nothing fancy about this honest, highly-drinkable wine. It is the American equivalent of good French table wine and there is nothing at all wrong with that.

The label allows Gallo's army of winemakers to add whatever reasonable fruit they have handy to huge maturing vats and tanks, then to blend it into a mixture that is even, pleasant and easy to drink.

Easy? At $41, I took a half-dozen bottles to a barbecue and they went down like a dream with the chops and cheese. Good wine, good price.