If you wouldn't think of attending an Atlanta Braves game without your big "We're No. 1" foam hand and you have every Braves bobblehead doll since the team moved from Milwaukee, then Longball Cellars has a wine for you.

Starting Monday, you'll be able to buy the latest in vino-tchotchke from Kroger, Wal-Mart and numerous other wine outlets. For $13 a bottle, you can wash down your peanuts, popcorn and Cracker Jacks with Cabernet Glavingnon, Chipper Chardonnay and McCann Merlot.

KULERS UNCORKED GIL KULERS Gil Kulers is a certified wine educator with the Society of Wine Educators and teaches in-home wine classes. You can reach him at gil.kulers @winekulers.com or by clicking on his photo above. Related: • More on food and drink 2006 Louis Jadot Beaujolais-Villages  Why Australians shake the wine: It's a gas  2005 Greg Norman California Estates Petite Sirah  Good wine is more than alcohol percentage  2006 Kendall-Jackson Vineyards and Winery Grand Reserve Chardonnay

Braves pitcher Tom Glavine, third baseman Chipper Jones and catcher Brian McCann have lent their names and images to a line of wines made by California's Clos LaChance Winery & Estate Vineyard. The project is a part of a larger charity effort that involves more than 30 professional athletes, including Boston Red Sox slugger Manny Ramirez (Manny Being Merlot), Chicago Cubs legend Ernie Banks (Ernie Banks 512 Chardonnay) and former Miami Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino (Marino Estates, Vintage 13). Go to www.charitywines.com to see more players.

Proceeds from the wine sales go to local charities and the Major League Baseball Players Trust.

"We are thrilled to be working with first-class individuals like Chipper, Brian and Tom," said Andrew Graff, founder and president of Charity Wines, which launched the Longball Label in 2007. "Braves fans are among the best in all of baseball and we are elated to give them this unique opportunity to collect and enjoy the wines while also knowing that they are helping make a difference."

Profits from Cabernet Glavingnon will go to Cure Children's Cancer, Chipper Chardonnay supports the Miracle League and McCann Merlot helps the Rally Foundation for Childhood Cancer Research.

Graff and co-founder John Corcoran launched Charity Wines after several friends and family members were diagnosed with cancer and heart disease. Charity Wines is a philanthropic division of Massachusetts-based VinLozano Imports and has donated nearly $500,000 so far.

Since this is a column about baseball and wine (probably the top two pursuits in my life), I think it is somehow appropriate to pause here for the seventh paragraph stretch. And a one and a two...

Take me out to the vineyard.

In the ol' wine game.

OK, so buying a bottle of wine to help out a charity may make you feel good, but does it taste good? These are generic California wines and they taste like it, which is to say, they're not bad. Could you buy the same for four or five dollars less? Probably.

But if cost vs. quality is the first thing you think about when you talk about wine, you're missing out on a lot.

Here's a scenario that I hope will be played out in the near future (or perhaps even in late October). You toss a bottle of Chipper Chardonnay in your grocery basket and pop it open with your baked chicken dinner that night. After the dishes are washed, you sit down with your glass of Chipper, turn on the TV to find that the Braves are down by two in the ninth inning with your wine's namesake coming to bat with two men on. You look at the hay-colored liquid in your glass, then look up at the screen to see Chipper belting a home run into the right-field bleachers.

Was it the wine or was it Chipper? Do you want to take that chance that it wasn't the wine? And even if you rationalize that there can't be any game-winning magic mojo in your glass along with the pleasant flavors of citrus, apples and vanilla, your connection with baseball, the Braves and your wine just got a bit stronger.

WINE RECOMMENDATIONS

Nonvintage Longball Cellars McCann Merlot, California
• $13
• One thumb up
• It has refreshingly sharp acidity like a snap throw to first. A pleasant smoky, coffee-dark chocolate quality reminiscent of a brewing rally in the bottom of the ninth.

Nonvintage Longball Cellars Cabernet Glavingnon, Cabernet Sauvignon, California
• $13
• One thumb up
• Like a slider into the dirt, it has an earthy quality with blackberry flavors that curve over the back corner of the palate.

Nonvintage Longball Cellars Chipper Chardonnay, California
• $13
• A singular citrusy aroma that's doubly apparent on the palate. It has a triple dose of peppery spices and grand flavors of apricot and tangerine that slam the door on the finish to complete the tasting cycle.

Note: Wines are rated on a scale ranging from thumbs down, one thumb mostly up, one thumb up, two thumbs up, two thumbs way up and golden thumb award. These are suggested retail prices as provided by the winery, one of its agents or a local distributor.