Seven good red wines

Today I offer a week's worth of red wines, all of which involve the traditional Bordeaux grapes, cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc and malbec.

Simple and direct yet with surprising dimension for the price, Moore's Creek Cabernet Sauvignon 2001, South Eastern Australia, made by Tyrrell's, is an appealing combination of plum, mulberry and cranberry fruit, spicy oak and hints of tar, smoke and lavender. About $8, a Terrific Bargain.

Malbec is what Argentina does best, and a great example is the Martins Malbec 2002, Mendoza, an amazingly attractive wine. It features vibrant cranberry and currant scents and flavors woven with smoke, lavender, licorice, violets and minerals, all set in plush tannins that turn a little barky and branchy on the finish. A Wonderful Bargain at about $9.

This Chilean combo is a project of Bordeaux's Baron Philippe de Rothschild firm. Made in Chile's Maipo Valley, Escudo Rojo 2001, a blend of cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc and carmenere grapes, offers a dark ruby color that presages the darkness of its ripe, fleshy and jammy black fruit flavors permeated with a truckload of spices. Large-framed and sturdy, its velour-like texture gives way to austerity on the finish. Good now with hearty fare, it could age two or three years. About $15.

Keeping the polished tannins and spicy oak nicely in line, the Jepson Merlot 1999, Mendocino, is as pretty, balanced and drinkable as merlot gets. But it still offers plenty of substance to bolster its round, ripe, fleshy cassis, black raspberry and cherry flavors. About $18.

A completely different style of merlot is the Newlan Merlot 1999, Napa Valley, an example that plunges the grape into its more exotic side. It starts with a beautiful medley of chocolate-covered raspberries, blueberries and plums and adds smoke and a whole box of dried spices, ensconcing all these sensual qualities in a network of cushiony tannin and oak that pulls up bark and underbrush on the finish. It could age two or three years. About $19.

A few producers in California make wines in which the cabernet franc grape dominates, and one of the best is the Trefethen Cabernet Franc 2000, Napa Valley, blended from 86 percent cabernet franc, 13 percent cabernet sauvignon and 1 percent merlot. An arrow of lead pencil surges from the seething smoke and minerals, the intense blueberry and plum fruit; heady aromas of potpourri weave through the seductive bouquet, while pillows of dusty, polished tannins and oak offer support but gain power in the glass. This begs for a grilled ribeye steak. About $26.

Highly unusual for the Left Bank of Bordeaux, Chateau Clarke is a blend of 70 percent merlot and 30 percent cabernet sauvignon. Chateau Clarke 1999, Listrac-Medoc, is a rapturous amalgam of smoke, cedar and tobacco rising through ripe, fleshy, roasted currant and black cherry fruit imbued with dried spice and thyme. Very attractive, but could age four to six years. About $27.