Suitable cases for treatment

THE judges have gone home, the cases of wine have found new homes and 34 of the participants in the annual Wines of the Pacific Rim (Winpac) Festival 1993 are off today to eat in Beijing. Of course, they're bringing their wines along.

For the professional wine judges, the Winpac event, held last weekend at the Conrad, meant two days of tasting more than 300 wines from Australia, New Zealand, Chile, California and China.

Dressed in white lab coats, the five experts sipped, swirled and mused in a conference room with the ambience of a church at midnight. Not even the arrival of lunch trays or visitors disturbed their concentration.

Gold, silver and bronze medal winners emerged from this marathon session and out of the 39 sauvignon blancs, 69 cabernet sauvignons, 82 chardonnays and each of the 15 rieslings, pinot noirs and methode champenoise, came good news for value hunters.

Many of the medal winners fell into the best value category where retail prices hover between $88 and $152.

Justice Noel Power, chairman of the event, was the designated price-watcher. After he received final results from the judges, he matched bottles with price lists from the local distributors.

''We looked for sound wines of good value within each class,'' said Power, the chairman of the International Wine and Food Society of Hongkong. ''When you see a gold medal winner and you look at the price, some just stick out, like the Mills Reef (Hawkes Bay 1991 Sauvignon Blanc) or the Yalumba Pinot Chardonnay. They're great value within their categories.'' Though some consumers might find Wolf Blass Presidents Selection 1988 to be too pricey ($150) for a cabernet sauvignon, it's a good value when compared to others in its class, added Power.

The following wines are winners in the best value category.

In the following listing the name of the wine appears, followed by the name of the distributor and suggested retail price for a single bottle, not the case price.

Most wines are available at speciality wine stores, major department stores, gourmet and speciality food shops.

For specific information, contact the distributor: Caldbecks (HK), 635-1183 ext 209, Priscilla Lee; Casella Far East, 398-3636, Lily Yip; EAC Marketing Services, 487-5111, Anne Stenseth; Elite Wines, 869-0164, Flavia Li; Force 8 Cellars Ltd, 527-6217; Jebsen & Co, 922-62253, Irene Wong; Northeast Trading Co (HK), 865-2178, Kate Sanders; Remy Fine Wines, 891-8086; Seagram Hongkong, 376-1768, Bronwyn Kerr; USA & Co, 868-3083.

Best Value Overall: Mills Reef Hawkes Bay 1991 Sauvignon Blanc (Northeast). $110. Best Value by category: Chardonnay: Orlando RF 1992 (Casella) $111. Oxford Landing 1992 (Force 8) $88. Estancia Monterey 1991 (USA & Co). $105. Stoneleigh 1991 (Remy) $100.50. Methode champenoise Yalumba Pinot Chardonnay (Force 8) $152. Pinot noir Yarra Ridge 1992 (Caldbecks) $136. Monterey 1988 (Seagram) $115. Riesling Orlando St Helga Eden Valley 1990 (Casella) $128. Penfolds Bin 202 Traminer Riesling (Seagram) $100.

Cabernet sauvignon Wolf Blass President's Selection 1988 (Remy) $150.50. Rosemount Show Reserve 1988 (Jebsen) $136.50. De Bortoli Yarr Valley (Elite) $133. Montevina 1989 (Casella). $114. Canepa Novisimo 1991 (Force 8) $89. Masson Vineyards 1988 (EAC) $82. Sauvignon blanc Mills Reef Clifton Road 1992 (Northeast) $109. Stoneleigh 1991 (Remy). $97.50. Matua Valley 1991 (Jebsen) $89.