Telling folks to buy wines is like suggesting they play the ponies. “Sure,” they say, “I couldn’t agree more. You got any picks?” Not a bad question, especially when the subject is inexpensive summer drinking.

Choosing wines – especially cheap ones – is remarkably like handicapping horses. It’s no sure thing. But it’s not all luck, either. You can assess the field. In wine, as in racehorses, breeding counts. Good wines have track records: good bloodlines (vineyards), trainers (winemakers), and past performances (vintages). What’s more, there are always up-and-comers.

The great New Yorker writer A.J. Liebling once celebrated a fellow called Tex (real name: Augustine J. Grenet) who was the leading horseracing bookmaker in the early 1900s.

“Tex believes that horse racing, like history, moves in cycles and that everything that happens on a race course is bound to recur,” Liebling wrote. “Since he forgets nothing, each year adds to his estimative equipment.”

I agree with Tex. Everything that happens in wine – such as good vineyards and high-minded producers – are bound to repeat their performances. And I do flatter myself in thinking that every year does add to my “estimative equipment.” Beyond that, I make no boasts.

HERE’S THE DEAL

The following summer wine picks are handicapped by a simple system: They must taste great right now, must be delicious when served cool, and, not least, they must be reasonably priced.

SOAVE CLASSICO After World War II, tourists to Italy – especially Americans and Brits – decided that they liked the light, crisp, flinty dry white wine called Soave, made entirely from the local garganega grape variety. Probably, they also liked saying it, too. To order Soave seemed, well, molto soave – very suave. From this emerged a massive local wine industry. And that, in turn, transformed Soave from a delicious local white wine with a whiff of almonds and minerals to a bland and dreary white wine with an inviting name and little else.

Soave is now issued in industrial quantities, with upward of 5 million cases a year. Vineyards have expanded from the traditional, highly desirable hillsides near the town of Soave to the Po Valley floor, where high yields and banality rule.

Look for Pieropan Soave Classico 2004. At $15.95, this is the real “classico” thing: balanced, refreshing, minerally, and ideal for grilled fresh fish and the like. Pieropan also makes more expensive, and very fine, single vineyard Soaves called Calvarino (70% garganega and 30% trebbiano) and La Rocca (100% garganega plus oak).

Look also for producers such as Anselmi, Gini, Pra, and Inama.

GERMAN RIESLINGS German rieslings are famously complicated. So let’s make it simple. What you want are wines designated kabinett (a bit off-dry) and spatlese (lightly sipping sweet).Vintages count, but happily 2004, 2003, and 2002 were all worthwhile.

German rieslings are great summer whites as the alcohol content is always very low, typically only 8% or 9%. Rieslings age well, so older is often better. Producers matter mightily. Among the top are Fritz Haag, J.J. Prum, Dr. Loosen, Christoffel, Hermann Donnhoff, Egon Muller, von Schubert, von Kesselstatt, Willi Schaefer, Hans Crusius, and Burklin-Wolf. Prices can vary from $15 to $30 for kabinetts and spatlesen, depending on vintage and, especially, producer.

CHIANTI CLASSICO A huge category. Sangiovese is the grape variety here, at least among the best producers striving to create authentic Chiantis Classicos. Prices are all over the map, with no correlation to quality, so don’t assume that more expensive is better. Among the best for the money are: Castellare, Castello di Fonterutoli, Castello di Volpaia, Castello di Ama, Vignamaggio, La Massa, Castello della Paneretta, Felsina, and Riecine. Look to spend $15 to $30, tops.

As for vintages, the hard, cold (and unwelcome to the trade) truth is to steer clear of the 2002 vintage. It was a washout. Look instead for 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2003.

CHIANTI RUFINA Keep an eye peeled for Chianti Rufina (a separate district from Chianti Classico). Frescobaldi is the big name in Chianti Rufina. But the producer Selvapiana is this taster’s top pick. Almost anything from Selvapiana is sure to please from any of the same vintages recommended for Chianti Classico. Prices range from $15 to $30.

DOURO (PORTUGAL) TABLE WINE Now this is an esoteric category, I admit. But there are some real deals here. The Douro is famous as the river valley where port is produced, a sweet, fortified-with-brandy dessert wine.

But now several producers have taken to making genteel table wines from the same grapes. And the results are strikingly good. Yet table wines from the Douro remain largely undiscovered.

Composed of traditional port wine grapes such as touriga franca, tinta roriz (aka tempranillo), and tinta barroca, these table wines always employ a proprietary name such as Duas Quintas from the producer Ramos-Pinto or Terroso from Bago de Touriga. Ideal barbecue reds, you just can’t beat them as bargains, especially considering that they sell for $9.95 or even less.