Greenfresh Market co-owner and wine steward David L. Allen was looking for a local, signature wine for under $10. He came up with a blend called “Greenfresh Market Renton Red.”

It doesn’t get more local than that.

The wine is a 2005 Merlot from Northwest Cellars, a Woodinville outfit that puts wines from the Pacific Northwest’s top winemakers in bottles with labels custom-made for private clients.

Clients include El Gaucho, Microsoft, QFC, Teatro ZinZanni and W Hotel. And now, Greenfresh Market. “Greenfresh Renton Red” features a photo of Renton’s “green” store on Rainier Avenue .

The $9.99 merlot, syrah and cabernet sauvignon blend has been out less than a year, but it’s already become the market’s top-selling red wine. Greenfresh sells 500 to 600 wines.

“It’s totally taken off,” Allen says. “This thing sells out almost as soon as we get it in.”

Greenfresh manager Dave Berner says some customers buy the wine just for the novelty of its label.

But it’s also “a really good wine,” Berner says.

The 2005 Merlot won the Gold, Grand Award of Excellence in the 2008 Seattle Wine Awards.

Greenfresh introduced a local white wine blend a couple months ago, predictably called “Greenfresh Market Renton White.”

While the white-grape blend isn’t as popular as Renton Red, Berner says sales are “steady.”

Also $9.99, “Greenfresh Market Renton White” features the same Greenfresh photo on its label, with greener coloring.

Allen suggests serving Renton White with shellfish, or with a cheese platter.

“It’s really a great entertainment wine,” he says.

He describes Renton Red as a “fairly robust wine” that would go well with a heavier dish like steak or hamburgers or foods with a heavy sauce, perhaps pasta.

“It’s been hugely popular for the very reason that I thought it would fit in with our goals,” he says. “That is, it’s local, it’s quality wine and it’s under $10.”