Have you looked at the exchange rate between the American dollar and the euro lately? Recently, the euro hit an all-time high against the dollar: One euro now costs about $1.38.

But when you wander into wine shops, you’d think that only some European wines are being sold to us in oppressively priced euros, while others must be traded in Polish zlotys (about 37 cents buys a zloty).

What’s happening here? The answer varies with the wine, but the gist is that while prices for a relative handful of privileged wines (top red Bordeaux, red and white Burgundies, and Brunello di Montalcino, for instance) seemingly have no limits, the prices for many other wines have actually declined in price, especially when you factor in the unfavorable exchange rate.

The reason warms the hearts of freemarket proselytizers everywhere: It’s competition. According to the Paris-based trade group, Organisation Internationale de la Vigne et du Vin (the International Organization of Vine and Wine, also known as the OIV), the percentage of the world’s wine-export market held by traditional wine-producing countries has declined over the past two decades.

As recently as 1990 the five leading exporters from the European Union (France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, and Spain) had, on average, 78.8% of the total market, according to the OIV. Back then, the Southern Hemisphere (Argentina, Australia, Chile, New Zealand, and South Africa) held just 3.1% of the export market.

However, by 2006 the OIV estimated that Europe’s share had eroded to 62.2% of the export market. The gains all came from Southern Hemisphere wine producers and, to a lesser degree, from California.

What’s more, according to Stephen Tanzer in the July/August 2007 issue of his private wine newsletter, International Wine Cellar, a recent industry survey reports that in the first quarter of 2007 — for the first time ever — the Southern Hemisphere exported more wine to America than France, Spain, and Italy combined.

Mr. Tanzer’s analysis points to the ever-larger influx of wines imported from Argentina and New Zealand that have adroitly navigated the American market, swallowing an ever-larger market share at the expense of European producers.

Now you know why, despite the weakness of the dollar against the euro, we’re seeing astoundingly low prices on some terrific European wines. Simply put, Europe’s back is against the wall.

HERE’S THE (EURO) DEAL

Château Bonnet “Entre-Deux-Mers” Blanc 2005 — If you need proof of how competitive France can be on both the palate and in the pocketbook, you need only try this superb dry white wine bargain from Château Bonnet in Bordeaux’s Entre-Deux-Mers district.

André Lurton, who is one of Bordeaux’s most powerful and ambitious wine producers, owns Château Bonnet, as well as 11 châteaux in Bordeaux. The Lurton family, more than most, knows just how competitive Southern Hemisphere producers have become, if only because Mr. Lurton’s sons, Jacques and François, both consult for and own wineries in Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay, as well as in Spain and France’s own Languedoc and Corbières regions.

Not least, Mr. Lurton is modernminded. In the 2003 vintage, he became the first producer in Bordeaux to use screw caps for his expensive highend white Bordeaux Château Couhins-Lurton and Château La Louvière, as well as for the much more humble Château Bonnet, which Mr. Lurton inherited in 1956 from his grandfather.

Château Bonnet Blanc 2005 is a blend of sauvignon blanc (50%), sémillon (40%), and muscadelle (10%) that has benefited not only from Mr. Lurton’s modern ambitions but also from the ancient blessing of the superb weather that graced Bordeaux in the 2005 vintage, creating some of the finest wines the region has produced in modern memory.

This is a strikingly fine dry white wine with hints of ripe peach and pineapple, and citrus notes such as lime allied to a luscious texture and invigorating acidity.

It sells for $7.99 a bottle at PJ Wine, and at Zachys, If there’s a better dry white wine selling for this low of a price, I haven’t tasted it.

Beaujolais 2005 “Pierre Chermette,” Pierre-Marie Chermette/ Domaine du Vissoux — Beaujolais, like Bordeaux, enjoyed simply stunning weather in 2005, so much so that it has emerged as the finest vintage of Beaujolais in at least 20 years.

Proof is found in this modestly designated yet superb 2005 Beaujolais from the grower Pierre-Marie Chermette (his wines also sell under the name Domaine du Vissoux.) This is Beaujolais as it should be, but as it so rarely is: intense yet delicate and utterly natural without any sense of the wine being manipulated — which is too often the case in Beaujolais these days.

Beaujolais 2005 “Pierre Chermette” is an ideal summer red with a seductive suppleness and surprising depth of flavor paired with an unforgettable scent of ripe crushed raspberries. It’s a bargain red at $12.99 at Astor Wines, and $13.49 at Chambers Street Wines, among other stores.