In last week's column, you were given the equivalent of the vinous holy grail, those sought-after cups of ambrosia that are as high in demand as they are in price. These are wines of crowning achievement both for winemaker and wine drinker.

You probably folded the paper numb from sticker shock. And you thought the price of gas was high.

Ah, ye of little faith. Did you think that I'd dangle a carrot so tempting and so dear without giving you an affordable way to make it happen?

Read on.

The heavy hitters of last week's column give way to landmark wines from landmark regions.

Penfolds Grange is the Australian red icon. Fashioned after the Bordeaux model, it has the staying power of a cabernet but is crafted from shiraz. Unlike other Old World wines of terroir, this is a multi-regional blend. It does not boast the cachet of an estate-grown pedigree, but in a world of Aussie Rules, it still commands $300 a bottle (if you can find a bottle to purchase).

The wine has widespread renegade appeal. Max Schubert, the original winemaker, went against a direct corporate mandate to cease producing this experimental wine when the product failed to show well in a vertical (multi-vintage) tasting. Grange took years to "come around" in the bottle. While it cellared and matured, Penfolds ate those lost dollars in time, space and non-sales.

Then, like the ugly duckling, it transformed itself into something staggeringly beautiful. It was a broken road that led to fame and fortune and Schubert went from pariah to prophet. But it took him a stubborn, pig-headed decade to prove himself right.

Italy also has its share of visionaries. After World War II, much of the vineyards of Tuscany were planted with big-berried clones of sangiovese to maximize yield. They did nothing to boost quality but did everything to boost quantity.

Moreover, sangiovese, as a grape, is high-acid and oxidizes relatively quickly. Couple these challenges with the fact that, by law, most red sangiovese was blended with up to 30 percent white grapes (in the making of Chianti) and you've set the stage for a fiasco.

Certain producers opted out. They skirted Italian wine law to craft a better wine and decided to eschew the Chianti designation in preference for a simple red table wine classification. Most were non-traditional sangiovese blends, some were not. Within short order, the press had labeled these "lowly" bottlings Super Tuscans.

And they were.

The holy trinity

Tignanello ranked fourth on Wine Spectator's Top 100 List in 2007 ($80). It is a blend of sangiovese, cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc. Sassicaia is a cabernet sauvignon/cabernet franc blend and clocks in at approximately the same price point. Ornellaia also made Wine Spectator's Top 100 List in 2007, ranking seventh. It is a blend of cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc and petite verdot and sells for $150.

A bit further north and west is Piedmont and home to Angelo Gaja, whose Barbaresco is poured with bowed head and whispered words. ($80)

Also sacred is Eiswein, a rich and nervy dessert wine made from grapes that have frozen on the vine. In essence, the water inside the grape freezes as an ice plug, which pops out when crushed, leaving a concentrated sugar syrup behind that is vinified into an incredible sensory palate tease. Although it is most often vinified from riesling, it can be made from other grapes as well. Unfortunately, this product is becoming more and more rare as global warming affects weather patterns.

Germany and Austria are good sources, but so is Canada. Eiswein from the Okanogan is mighty fine! You need to experience one in your lifetime.

Hungarian Tokaji, a dessert wine made from the noble rot-ravaged fermint grape, should make the bucket list, as should a top-quality Madeira from Madeira proper (Broadbent Selections at Country Vintners sells the real stuff), and don't forget Savennieres, a dry chenin blanc from the Loire that can last five generations (100 years) in the cellar. Buy a good one now and wait.

So now the $64,000 question: How to taste most of this and make the mortgage?

Get yourself a ticket to the Wine Spectator New York Wine Experience (www.winespectator.com). It runs Oct. 16-18. The Grand Tastings are held on Thursday and Friday evenings and cost $250 (plus travel and hotel).

In 2007, they poured Lafite, Latour, Margaux, Haut Brion, Mouton, Krug, Opus, Dominus, Dom Perignon, Veuve Cliquot, Gaja, Pol Roger and many other notables. You can achieve most of your life's wine-tasting goals in one evening at this event.

Although you only live once, the New York Wine Experience takes place every year. That's a ticket full of promise. Time to cash in.

Lisa Airey is a certified wine educator.

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