In these tough times, the market’s crying out for value wines. “Value” means inexpensive and good. It’s wine you can afford to buy by the case, feel good about drinking and confident about serving.

In our search for terrific value wines, we tasted dozens of wines from many parts of Italy. Yet the best provider of value wines was in our own back yard, so to speak: Azienda Agricola Costantini Antonio.

With the skills of the Costantinis’ relatively new enologo, Riccardo Brighigna, the Febe line has evolved into a stunning set of value wines wedding old-world character to new-world prices. Red, white and rosé -- all are made from grape varieties native to Abruzzo.

By the way, “Febe” (“Phoebe”) derives from the Greek Phoebus. The name means “of the sun; luminous, splendid.” And what a splendid bargain they are.