We challenged Vino's Chuck Furuya to a blind tasting of six types of wine — white, red, sweet, dry, domestic, imported — that ranged in price from $4.59 per bottle to $44.95 per bottle.

We wanted to get his unbiased opinion on our wine choices, and he gave us just that, and then some.

Though we went into this experiment as wine amateurs who just thought it would be fun to see what the expert had to say about our wine choices, we left amazed by Furuya's ability to identify the wines and their properties, right down to the kind of soil in which the grapes were grown.

Note: This wasn't a scientific endeavor by any means, thus results are not scientific. All six bottles of wine were bought at Fujioka's Wine Times.

WINE #1

Chuck's take: "This wine is really good. It's an old-world (European) wine. Sweet, effortless, light on the palate. It's like biting into a cold pineapple. This is probably a German riesling. I would pay $15 for this wine."

The facts: This wine was indeed a German riesling. It was a 2007 Donhoff that sells for $18.69 per bottle.ᒠ

WINE #2

Chuck's take: "This one has a much deeper golden color, which tells me it's from a warmer climate. It's a new-world wine (from newer growing regions, such as the United States, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, etc.). It's bold, showy and brilliant. It jumps out, out of the glass. It's modern, not rustic. Hopefully this is a wine that's of value, meaning hopefully it's on the lower price end."

The facts: This was a 2006 Martin Ray Chardonnay from California — a new-world wine from a warm climate just like Furuya guessed. We paid $14.99 for the bottle.

WINE #3

Chuck's take: "I smell fruit. Just so you know: When you smell fruit first, it's probably a new-world wine. This wine is not expensive. And it's not going to offend anyone. It's like a fast-food burger — it appeals to a wide spectrum of palates. I would pay $12 for this wine."

The facts: This was a 2007 Solnia Rioja from Spain. We paid $9.99 for the bottle.

WINE #4

Chuck's take: Furuya tasted this one, shook his head, and said one word: "No."

After a long pause, he went on to say: "I don't want to pass judgment on anyone because wine is such a subjective field. Everybody has their likes and dislikes, and I'm not one to tell you which wine you should and shouldn't drink. For me, it's about figuring out who would like that kind of wine. ... I don't know how much I would pay for that wine."

The facts: This wine was a 2007 Cellers Can Blau Montsant. It sells for $15.99 per bottle.

WINE #5

Chuck's take: "This one is earthy. Much more interesting and complex than the other reds. This is a good wine. I would pay more for this one — maybe $20 to $25."

The facts: This was a 2005 Napa Valley Neal cabernet sauvignon. We paid $44.95 for the bottle.

WINE #6

Chuck's take: "This is a flawed bottle of wine. It should be returned to the store."

The facts: This was our bargain wine. We paid $4.59 for this bottle of 2006 Citra montepulciano. Furuya said that the fact that he thought this bottled was "corked," or flawed, had nothing to do with the price.