Judging from the number of complaints coming to me from Post-Gazette readers, it would seem that Pittsburgh wine buyers are looking back nostalgically on the reign of Jonathan Newman, the former chairman of the board of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board.

Mr. Newman, who resigned from that position in 2007, initiated in 2004 the popular program of The Chairman's Selection, a collection of reduced-price wines. We also have him to thank for Sunday afternoon openings of some state stores and for wine and liquor sales inside a few supermarkets. After Mr. Newman's departure, wine shoppers noticed a decline in both the quality of wines and the size of the discounts on wines for the program.

There are 620 wine shops in the state but only 73 are designated as "premium stores." The Chairman's Selection wines are sold only in premium stores. Although they represent only 3 percent of the LCB's total revenue of $1.6 billion, these wines account for 30 percent of premium store sales.

There are nine premium stores in Allegheny County. The five largest with the most complete stock of wines are:

• Oxford Center, 320 Smithfield St., Downtown.

• Waterworks, 974 Freeport Road, Fox Chapel

• Eastside, 5956 Penn Circle South, East Liberty

• Sewickley, 521 Beaver St., Sewickley

• Robinson Towne Center, 1850 Park Manor Blvd., Robinson

Now, more than a year into the tenure of chairman Patrick J. Stapleton, the Chairman's Selection is making a comeback. The list of wines currently in stores includes some great wines at attractive prices. They have been selected by a panel of five PLCB buyers headed by Anthony Jones, the chief of product management for the PLCB.

The latest purchase of 100,000 cases of wine was the largest single buy in the history of the program. Of these wines, Western and Central Pennsylvania will each receive 25 percent, with the remaining 50 percent going to Eastern Pennsylvania stores.

Stocks are limited and cannot be reordered so it is imperative not to wait to buy a Chairman's Selection wine when you see one you think you will like. My own policy is to buy several bottles of something that looks promising. If, after tasting the first bottle, I decide that it is not a keeper, I can return the remaining bottles with the original sales receipt for full credit. If I buy only one bottle to try before investing in more, there is the likelihood the wine will be sold out before I can return to get more.

To avoid such disappointments, I suggest you ask your store manager to register you for the biweekly e-mails they send to customers announcing new arrivals before they are in the store. That way you can call the store and reserve bottles you wish to try.

When you are dealing with a retailer who adds a $1 handling fee plus an 18 percent liquor tax to the retail price of each bottle before computing the 7 percent Allegheny County and state sales tax, the savings represented in the Chairman's Selection wines helps.

To take full advantage of the program, I like to print a list of the Chairman's Selections currently in stores as well as the list of upcoming selections. I usually check the out-of-state prices on the Internet to see how they compare and usually go to the winery Web site to read the winemaker's notes for a particular wine.

My own preference for grape varieties or wine regions will narrow the list until I have selected a few wines that I want to purchase. Chairman's Selection wines range in price from $9.99 to $29.98. Another group of wines, designated "Sommelier Collection," start at $29.99. Get the list from the LCB Web site: www.lcb.state.pa.us

What about older wines or wines made in quantities too small for state-wide distribution? These special bottles are available at the state's online store. With orders of $200 or more, shipping is free. Go to www.pawineandspirits.com to view the list. That is where you will find cult wines, which are rarely sold in wine shops.

For example, you might want to consider a magnum of 2004 Screaming Eagle, the famous Napa cabernet, currently available for $8,500 (yes, that's eight thousand five hundred dollars). Or you could order a bottle of Chateau Pavie from 2005, the vintage of the century in Bordeaux, for $382.99, or a Leoville Las Cases 2005 for $351.99. Both wines received the enviable score of 100 points from the Wine Spectator.

From the list of Chairman's Selection wines available in Allegheny County and priced under $20, I have selected the following as especially worth trying:

Red

• Bodegas y Vinedos del Jalon Las Pizarras 2005,PLCB #26175, $19.99. An impressive wine made from 100 percent grenache grapes from 70-year-old vines. Lots of lavender and violet aromas envelop the usual red fruit and herbal characteristics of the grape variety. Can be cellared for three to four years.

• Rolf Binder Halliwell Shiraz Grenache 2005, PLCB #28404, $15.99. This wine is a 60-40 blend of shiraz and grenache from the Barossa region of Australia. It is a lot of wine for the price.

• Sieber Road GSM 2005, PLCB #27571, $16.99. Another Australian rendition of a Rhone Valley wine. The G, S and M on the label refer to the blend of grenache, syrah and mourvedre in the blend.

• Parson's Flat Shiraz Cabernet 2004, PLCB #27526, $19.99. An opulent wine, velvety in the mouth, it is made from 70 percent shiraz and 30 percent cabernet sauvignon. This is a fabulous price for a wine that is hard to find and priced higher when available.

• Comenge Ribera del Duero 2004, PLCB #26163, $19.99. A fine tempranillo with lots of ripe cherries and blackberries laced with spice and tobacco. This rated a score of 91 from Robert Parker.

White

• Tangent Edna Valley Pinot Gris 2006, PLCB #18066, $11.99. A lively, medium-bodied California white with melon and white fruit aromas that finishes with a squirt of lime.

• Yalumba Viognier Eden Valley, 2006, PLCB #28399, $16.99. A rich white from the exotic Rhone grape grown in the Barossa region of Australia. Yalumba is the oldest family-owned winery in Australia and a pioneer for growing viognier in that country.

From the list of upcoming selections, I will reserve some of the following:

• Bodegas y Vinedos Murcia Sierra Carche, Jumilla, 2005, PLCB #26873, $29.99. A powerful and classy red that merits a few years' aging in the cellar, this is a combination of 50 percent mourvedre, 25 percent malbec and 25 percent petit verdot that has spent 13 months in French and American oak.

• Chateau de Camplong Corbieres, 2002, PLCB #19065, $14.99. A big and chewy red from the southwest of France, it is a blend of essentially carignan grapes with some mourvedre, grenache and syrah.

• Ruffino Modus Red Blend, 2005, PLCB #24214, $14.99. A blend of sangiovese, cabernet sauvignon and merlot, this elegant super-Tuscan-style wine is full of cherries and plum flavors wrapped around tobacco and spice and soft tannins.