Corey Beck has made a career, albeit an awfully short one, of proving critics wrong. (And by "critics," we mean "journalists who think they know a thing or two about wine on account of having sipped it for years, even though they don't technically have a bachelor's degree in fermentation sciences, which Mr. Beck happens to have earned in 1994 from the University of California." Just so that's clear.)

	Rebecca Droke, Post-Gazette photos Corey Beck, the director of winemaking at Fancis Ford Coppola winery, pours last Thursday at the Pittsburgh Wine Festival at Heinz Field. Click photo for larger image.

The critics, for example, wondered if Mr. Beck, the director of operations at the Francis Ford Coppola winery in Geyserville, Calif., could come up with a marketable mid-range product that would split the difference between Coppola's top-shelf, $100-a-bottle Rubicon Estates vintages and the budget-priced wines available on liquor store shelves everywhere.

Mr. Beck, after all, had only recently assumed the top winemaking post at the filmmaker's unnamed winery, which Coppola bought in 2005. (The winery, in Sonoma country, is the little sister to Coppola's more celebrated Napa Valley property, Rubicon Estates, formerly known as Niebaum-Coppola). Before his promotion, Mr. Beck was an assistant winemaker with Coppola; before that, he was cellar master at Chateau Montelena. Though he came from a lineage of winemakers, he had no experience as the head man.

But late last year, out came Coppola's newest label, the Director's Cut (get it?), crafted on Mr. Beck's watch, his own twist on the grapes of the Sonoma region. Reviews so far have been positive, and Mr. Beck, young and handsome, was one of a handful of winemakers on hand at the Pittsburgh Wine Festival last week to pour, and discuss, his own fermented creation.

Pouring a sample of the Director's Cut Pinot Noir 2005, his silky, plum-scented handiwork, Mr. Beck explained that pinot noir will continue its meteoric rise through 2007, as pinot vines grafted onto former merlot and cabernet roots continue to mature.

"It's the 'Sideways' effect," Mr. Beck said, referring to the hit 2004 movie about two buddies on a pre-wedding wine-tasting trip.

A decade ago, "there was a huge push for merlot. We planted merlot all through California." And for good reason -- it was the sexiest red out there, and by 2000, merlot passed cabernet as America's best-selling red.

Rozlyn Berty tastes a 2003 cabernet-syrah from Beaulieu Vineyard in Napa Valley. Click photo for larger image.

Then came "Sideways," in which the main character professed his love for pinot noir and his contempt for merlot. By 2006, thanks to overplanting and drop in demand, merlot tonnage prices plummeted, in some cases by more than 70 percent. And that's supposing it was sold at all; last year, some was left to rot on the vine.

Growers reacted to the shift in consumer tastes by planting more and more pinot, Mr. Beck said. Pinot noir sales grew by 20 percent last year in the United States, and he expects the same this year.

The lovely Director's Cut pinot, sadly, isn't being offered by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board. But you can buy the Director's Cut 2005 White Zinfandel ($19.99, LCB #013723). The Director's Cut label also includes a limpid, floral Chardonnay, the grape that has accounted for 20 percent of all restaurant wine sales in the country in recent years.

But Marc Schneiderman of Moon was looking for none of those varietals. Wandering through the international kiosks during last Thursday's grand tasting event, held again at Heinz Field, he eventually found his way to an Amarone, a strong, dry Italian red that has never really caught on in America. It's made by letting the grapes partially dry into something approaching raisins, then fermenting them. (You might care to know that in the novel "The Silence of the Lambs," the villain eats the census-taker's liver with a glass of Amarone, rather than a Chianti, as in the movie.)

"A lot of people come here looking for one grape, one wine," he said. In a wine cellar of 1,600 bottles, he says he has just one Italian wine, and it's the Amarone. Bertani winery out of Veneto, Italy, poured an Amarone last week, as did Masi Agricola, whose head winemaker was in attendance. Its 2003 Costasera Amarone Classico was a garnet gem among the hundreds of international offerings.

In Pennsylvania, you can find several Bertani vintages, which can cost $200 or more per bottle, as well as cheaper bottles from Allegrini ($74.49, PLCB #023149) and Ca De Rocchi ($32.79, PLCB #053438).

While Amarone is a rare pouring, especially in America, Malbecs from Argentina were popular this year.

Ed Harrell, founder of the Pittsburgh Wine Festival, noted that Argentina, much like Chile in the last decade, has improved its winemaking process, putting out enough quality vintages to place fifth among wine-exporting countries.

"The emerging countries [are] making some wonderful, wonderful wines," Mr. Harrell said. "They can be competitive with France and Italy."

Malbec, a soft red grape that originated in Bordeaux, is Argentina's best-known product. It's been around for years, but drinkers are just now warming up to it. "Everything old is new again," he said.

The PLCB sells more than 150 Malbec brands and vintages, though many are through special order. Bodega Norton's Reserve Malbec 2004 ($18.69, PLCB #056236) was one of the many available for sampling, and it packs a jammy punch.

This year, the on-site take -- bottles sold at Heinz Field, where the PLCB set up banks of cash registers -- was $98,000, $7,000 better than the final sales figures from the 2006 festival.

This year's festival events raised more than $230,000 for the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute and Magee Womens Hospital Foundation, plus $1 million for the Stanley M. Marks, M.D. Endowed Research Fund.