MIGUEL Torres has released the 1988 vintage of his best-selling red wine, Coronas, in a Bordeaux-style bottle.

That hierarchy is the sacrosanct 1855 classification, which selected and rated the 60 best-selling wines of the Medoc region of Bordeaux.

One measure of consumers' acceptance, he said, is that "our three best-selling wines are some of our most expensive."

Americans who concern themselves with top-end wines, whether from California or anywhere else, are rarely familiar with the best-selling wines in America, which often cost less than $10 a bottle.

Instead of serving the usual best-selling wines at restaurant prices, Mr. Peters "digs a little deeper," a regular says, and offers lesser-known bottles more reasonably.

Meanwhile, Riunite, America's best-selling imported wine, increased its dominance, with shipments growing 14.6 percent and market share expanding three percentage points, to 18.2 percent, in 1988.

According to the Wine and Spirits poll, red-wine sales have grown to 44 percent, from 38 percent, among the best-selling wines.

Premiat, one of the 25 best-selling imported wines in this country, costs around $3.50 a bottle.

Managers were asked to list their 10 best-selling wines for the last three months of 1989.

It was far and away the best-selling Italian wine in the United States.