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More than 20 years' hard experience has taught Pittsburgh-born Jess Peters respect for the murky, fine line between passion and folly in the wine business.

Nonetheless Peters' relentless passion for brokering wine from high-quality, innovative producers in the world's emerging wine-growing countries has led to success and a bag full of fascinating tales.

Tonight, Peters headlines at the Cultural Trust's sold-out Wednesday Wine Flight at the Cabaret at Theater Square. more than 200 attendees will enjoy Argentine and South African wines while hearing Peters recount his terrific journey from growing up in Pittsburgh's Hill District to international wine business leadership.

"I have three criteria for rating wine business destinations: the people, the food and wine, and the music," Peters says with an irresistible laugh and smile. "Argentina is like being in paradise."

The Mendoza region, in the Andes Mountains' foothills, provides outstanding terroir for producing high-quality wines at competitive prices, he says.

"I go for what I like in food and wines," Peters says. "And in Argentina, you can enjoy a big, delicious grilled steak and a bottle of well-made red wine for around $10."

Foreign exchange rates in Argentina and South Africa continue to favor the U.S. dollar. This enabled Peters to invest in an Argentine farm with vineyards. And as an independent wine broker, he can strike deals on superior-quality wines for less than $15 per bottle retail in the United States.

Identifying the wines, however, only begins the story.

"It is important to work with reliable, credible U.S. importers with orderly, professional systems for importing wines," says Peters, mentioning Selena Cuffe of Heritage Link Brands as one of them.

"I never in a million years imagined a professional wine career," Cuffe says. She had only a casual interest in wine as a Stanford (Calif.) University undergraduate.

Later, a Harvard MBA professor advised her to pursue an area that held her passion. Because marketing was her first love, Cuffe went to work for consumer products dynamo Procter & Gamble. But it felt as though something was missing.

While she was on business in Johannesburg, the 2005 Soweto Wine Festival advertisements caught her attention.

"I was used to seeing negative African images," Cuffe says. "Soweto meant apartheid, but the wine festival was completely different and positive."

It was a revelation for her.

"The winemakers I met had, in some cases, been involved with grape growing for generations," Cuffe says. "But it was only after apartheid's collapse they had the chance either to own or manage a piece of the pie."

The dramatic story stirred Cuffe's interest.

"Plus, the wines tasted fantastic," says Cuffe.

Blacks owning 2 percent of South Africa's $3 billion-dollar wine industry were grossly underrepresented within the wine industry worldwide. Cuffe and her husband melded their expertise in marketing and entrepreneurship to form Heritage Link Brands (www.heritagelinkbrands.com), with a mission is to bring Africa's quality wines to America.

She collaborates closely with Peters, who says South Africa's Western Cape terroir is well suited to producing high-quality wines.

"The sea breezes, temperatures and terrain create perfect conditions," Peters says. But he is picky.

"Some producers grow as much as possible and produce cheap plonk by bottling quickly after fermentation," Peters says. "I have a passion for the better quality-wines that are still affordable."

Try the following:

2008 Seven Sisters Bukettraube Odelia, Western Cape, South Africa (Specialty 28537, $12.99): "Seven sisters" refers to the Brutus siblings who, after 20 years' absence, returned to the Western Cape seaside to produce wines reflecting local traditions. A sister's name -- Odelia, in this case -- graces each label. Cultivated with notable success in South Africa, the obscure Buketrraube (pronounced bu-ke-traw-bah) grapes provide peach and floral aromas opening to peach and apricot flavors with a touch of lime. Fine acidity deftly balances an off-dry finish. Try it as either a refreshing aperitif or with baked flounder with a fruit sauce. Highly recommended.

2004 Bouwland Cabernet-Merlot, Stellenbosch, South Africa (Specialty 28578, $12.49): Produced by a farmer-owned and -operated winery created through the "empowerment" program, this is a tasty, well-made, medium-bodied red. Highly recommended.

2007 La Peurta Malbec, Argentina (Specialty 28859, $11.99): A fruity, oak accented, medium-bodied red. Recommended.

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