The wine business has its ups and downs, and the grapes in this Issue are as representative of the alternatives for success and failure as almost any we can think of in California. One of them, Pinot Noir, has become the love object of the early 21st century with winemakers in almost every corner of the state trying their hands at it. The other grape in is Gewurztraminer. Here is a variety with a big personality but a distinct lack of fans.

In the long-running argument over the influences and relative importance of site versus variety versus the hand of man, Pinot Noir has always played a central role. Whatever the reason, we now see California vintners chasing the same "small differences make for important distinctions" argument as the Burgundians. Whether those small differences actually matter is but one part of the argument-because as the wines in this Issue show all so clearly, Pinot does vary substantially from site to site.

Arguably so different as to scare off some of its possible suitors, Gewurztraminer has lost standing in California but has not disappeared and may be on the verge of staging a gradual return to prominence.

We look far and wide in our search for the most priceworthy offerings. In this Issue, we focus on wines with good QPR (Quality/Price Ratio) in Zinfandel, Syrah and Chardonnay.