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There's no thirst like the thirst for knowledge, especially when it has to do with information about how monopoly liquor boards strategize to drive up revenues and profits by emphasizing higher-priced, higher-profit products.

Thanks for the encouraging response to my last column on these pages. Here's one representative example. "When much is being made about the strength of the loonie, wine prices keep creeping up. We recently spent some time in Hilton Head [South Carolina] where you can buy a drinkable wine such as Barefoot from California for $3.97 at Wal-Mart. Standbys like Yellow Tail sell for less than $8 for 1,500 millilitres. I could go on, but that only serves to reinforce your point."

Apparently, many readers disagree with David Caplan, the minister responsible for the Liquor Control Board of Ontario, who has objected to liberalizing the retail system despite great success and customer satisfaction with private stores in Alberta, British Columbia, Quebec and most of the civilized world. Many of you feel the LCBO - as the only game in town for imported, bottled wines - fails to do an adequate job of serving ordinary, modest-income consumers with $7 and $8 gems from abroad, the kind of wines that would be strongly promoted at private stores if the government were more responsive to low-income consumers.

Some of you believe that LCBO executives should not be in the wealth-redistribution game, maximizing sales and profits earned off the backs of wine drinkers (who already pay hefty taxes) just to pad the government's coffers. Imagine if government were to operate a food monopoly and tried to maximize its profit on carrots, meat and cheese? There would be open revolt.

Or let me put it in a way that a responsible government might understand: Is it prudent public policy to increase alcohol-related credit-card debt?

I laid bare in my last column that the LCBO's $1.2-billion annual profit is now generated in part by a conscious, explicit strategy to "trade up" price-sensitive consumers to wines costing more than $8. Here is the Merriam-Webster on-line definition of "trade up": "(1) to trade something in (as an automobile) for something more expensive or valuable of its kind; (2) to stock or purchase higher-priced items."

Don't take my word for it. You can read the agency's profit manifesto by visiting http://www.lcbo.com and clicking on "About LCBO" at the bottom of the screen and then on "Annual Report."

There are all sorts of interesting statistics you can pull from that main LCBO site too, including this: Of the 88 red table-wine listings from Australia, just two are priced at less than $10 - one for $9.80 and another for $9.95. And we all thought Australia was a bargain-wine paradise.

Two weeks ago, I cited official new-product buying plans showing that, among other things, the LCBO's tender for new, permanent listings was calling for submissions from southern Italy costing no less than $9.95 a bottle. This despite a plethora of marvellous wines available from that region costing significantly less. The LCBO says it does make exceptions to those official policy plans when, in its wisdom, it deems a wine worthy of rule-bending.

I say bargain-hunting should be the rule, not the exception. And so do many of you.

Even some of you who say you've been impressed with the LCBO's competitive luxury-wine pricing and evolution toward clean, fancy-looking stores have become disenchanted. You perceive there's a dwindling selection of your favourite low-cost wines.

Here's an excerpt from a letter one reader sent to the LCBO purchasing department (and shared with me) after my last column: "Why does LCBO give much more shelf space, i.e. about 20 or so rows, for certain brands when fewer would surely do, so as to give greater opportunity to other wineries to have some shelf space for good and inexpensive wines which we, as consumers, should have an opportunity of buying?"

The LCBO's publicity machine says there is no shelf manipulation going on, no strategy to motivate you to spend more than you came in for. They say the board is responding to you, the customer, in all of its purchasing strategies. You make the final buying decision, after all, and you wouldn't buy an expensive product if you didn't want it.

To be perfectly fair, this is not to say the LCBO predominantly stocks overpriced wines. Quite the contrary. Many wines, particularly in the premium, $15-plus range, are competitively priced and often cost less in Ontario than in the United States (after currency exchange and sales taxes are accounted for). For those who can afford them, here are some examples from today's Vintages premium-products release, which consists of 84 wines, none under $11.85 for a 750-millilitre bottle.

One of the more impressive wines from a price-quality standpoint is Drei Dona Notturno Sangiovese 2005 ($17.80, product No. 039958). Though made from sangiovese, the classic red grape of Tuscany, it hails from the nearby province of Emiglia-Romagna. Medium full-bodied, it shines with ripe cherry and an undercurrent of earth and wood. The finish is very dry, astringent and almost salty. It could age nicely for three to five years in the cellar.

Not surprisingly, two of the other good buys come from southern Italy, a region embracing clean, modern winemaking to yield some of the world's best, full-bodied red values. La Pisara Primitivo 2004 ($15.95, No. 051656) should appeal to lovers of California zinfandel who have been all but orphaned in the under-$20 range. It's full-bodied and ripe, with rich dark-skinned-fruit flavours, chocolate and a hint of raisin carried on a velvety frame. Great for spicy wings or a winter barbecue of grilled steak.

In a similar style is the excellent Spadina una Rosa Signature Nero d'Avola 2002 ($19.80, No. 010330). I've written about this wine before. It was ranked among the top 100 wines a couple of years ago by Wine Spectator magazine. It is rich and fruity, with substantial weight and delicate spice and acidity on the finish. (It costs $23.05 in Quebec.)

And don't miss two Australians - if you can afford them. The Riebke Ebenezer Road Shiraz 2005 ($25.95, No. 048470). This is a full-tilt, opulent red from a small producer, Teusner, in the Barossa Valley. It's thick and rich, with an almost syrupy texture of berries and cassis and hints of spice and chocolate.

The big value from Down Under is Water Wheel Memsie 2006 ($14.85, No. 656637). A blend of shiraz, cabernet sauvignon and malbec, it's full-bodied and packed with fresh berries and a pronounced savoury edge of black pepper and licorice, with a silky texture and an almost chunky-chewy quality. Loads of wine for the money.

Finally, here's a superb product available only in Quebec at the moment.

PICK OF THE WEEK

Salviano Orvieto Classico Superiore 2005 ($15.95, SAQ No. 10782034). This light, silky white from Italy is considerably better than most lesser-priced Orvietos carried by the liquor boards. It's big flavour in a lean package, with a core of lemon supported by perfect acidity and delicious notes of minerals and herbs.