Simply Wine!

We love the 1/2 bottle and when we find a store that carries a nice 1/2 bottle selection, we make sure we frequent them....... Often :)

Sure, you can open a full bottle, but sometimes, during the work week, you just want a (one) nice glass of wine to accompany your meal!

Also, tonight for example, we were having a nice cheese appetizer, which we wanted to have with Pinot Noir. For dinner we were having tenderloin steaks with truffle butter and grilled asparagus, which MUST be paired with a good California cab! Viola, two half bottles, one nice full glass of each wine, nothing left over and not too drunk ;)

Yet another advantage, you could try a much better wine then you ever might purchase in a full bottle. Going back to tonight's example; We had a Barnett Pinot Noir(California), that we picked up for $19 ($9.50 a glass, avg for what you pay in a restaurant). The 750ml bottle was $45/bottle, which would classify as the "special occasion" range for us. We followed this up with a Galante Vineyards (Carmel, Ca) cab at the same price point as the Pinot. Now we know what both these wines are like (excellent, by the way!) and would be more likely to pick up the full bottle for that next "special" occasion!

So, don't be afraid to give 1/2 bottles a try, you might find something so good, you'll have to go back for the full bottle :)

-Rich-

Yes, it's true! We found this Maine Shore Dinner kit at Costco for $53.99. It is a bit pricey, but you get 2 lobster tails, 12 mussels, 8 shrimp, 8 scallops and two pieces of corn! The kit is from the Hancock Gourmet Lobster Company.

We had the opportunity to have the Lobster Pot pies from the Lobster Company earlier this year. We received, as a gift, a gift certificate from Hancock and we ordered the pot pies. They were wonderful, came in their own ceramic ramikens and decorated with puff pastry lobsters on top.

When we saw that the Shore dinner was from the same company, we knew we couldn't go wrong! We cooked it on the grill. The directions called for 35-40 minutes. We pulled it off at 30 minutes and found the scallops still slightly opaque in the center, perfect! We think if you went the full 40 minutes, the scallops would be rubbery(just our opinion, of course)

What ever you do, DO NOT look at the nutritional label on the box. Trust us on this one.....Just remember, enjoy it now....Work it off the next day :)


We decided to pair the dinner with a Trader Joe's special. Napa River chardonnay is from the guy who brought you "2 buck chuck", but better! It's buttery, aged in oak and priced at $4.99. Call this one "5 buck Chuck ;)

With the butter, Old Bay and lemon in the dinner, this one was perfect!

Get it while it last, it was a limited production wine and when it's gone, it's gone.

We have a case, in storage!

By the way, pick up this one while it's still in stock! Costco is notorious for having items for a short time, then... poof...No more. Here's what the box looks like so you can pick it up too(in the frozen meat section):

-Rich & Laura-

Thanksgiving is a special time, requiring a special wine. So, for our holiday wine picks we'll do away with our typical under $25 rule(We use the term "rule" really loosely ).

We would recommend earthy, spicy, peppery flavors to go with a traditional Thanksgiving feast. You could do white(white with poultry, right?), Chardonnay or a good Washington Pinot Gris would work well for you. However, we prefer to pair our wines with the flavors and sauces, rather then the protein! Gravy, stuffing, potatoes, yams, cranberries and salads; earthy flavors scream for an earthy, spicy wine. Steer away from cabs and other "heavy" or tannic wines, they'll just over power all of those great flavors.

Here are a few wines we've had in the past that would go great with your turkey:

Matthews Claret is a 60% merlot, 40% cab blend that just borders on to powerful for turkey, but this one is soft on the tannins and just a wonderful wine! The only downfall to this one is trying to find it! Woodinville, WA around $40.






DeLille Cellars Doyenne Syrah(not the correct label on the left, but that what it looks like) Directly from the website tasting notes, "Concentrated chocolate and raspberries are combined with espresso, white pepper and a floral nose." With a description like that, how can it not go with Thanksgiving dinner? Washington around $45








A legendary Washington syrah. Unfortunately, another one almost impossible to find.....But worth the search! Around $75






Most of you already know, our absolute favorite pinot noir of all time! This is what we would be serving (if we were doing dinner). For a budget, stick with the premier cuvee at $35. We highly recommend the Arcus or Red Hills single vineyards at $70, words just can't describe it; you just have to try it :) McMinnville, OR








Our second favorite pinot from Oregon, Patricia Green Cellars. Her "Oregon pinot noir" is an awesome deal at $22. But, like Archery summit, spring for the single vineyards priced from $32-$40. For a really special treat, go for the "Notorious" which is a blend of her best barrels, $70!





Ciel du Cheval Vineyard syrah. An unbelievable single vineyard Syria. I don't think we've ever had a poor wine that came out of the Ciel du cheval vineyard :) Multiple producers use grapes from this vineyard, but McCrea seems to do an exceptional job!












Andrew Will Champoux. An interesting blend of 44% cab, 25% cab franc, 22% merlot and 9% petit verdot. Pushing the limits of "bigness" for a turkey dinner, but oh so wonderful! Maybe a better choice if you are having prime rib :) Washington, around $65

Alright, enough dreaming! Now for a few recommendations in a normal "everyday" price range:)


Hogue is a Washington Syrah you can find just about anywhere, around $10. If you really want a white with your meal, check out their fine fume blanc, chenin blanc or pinot grigio, all around $10.







chateau St Michelle cab Franc, $12. Cab franc is traditionally a blending grape. However, we think it drinks very well, completely on its own. Give this one a try or many of the other producers that produce a cabernet Franc (McIllroy is our FAVORITE cab franc, and only $14!)








We spent quite a bit of time at King Estate winery when we were "stuck" in Eugene, OR for 3 weeks for motorhome repair. We got to know their wines quite well :) Their pinot noir is a great value at $20. Again, if you want to treat yourself, go with their single vineyard pinots, bargains at $25-$28!

Whew! There you have it, our picks for Thanksgiving wine. Did you notice a trend? All of the wines are from Washington and Oregon! This area has become our new favorite wine region. We like earthy and spicy vs. Fruit forward that California seems to do so well.

Hopefully, you'll give one of these wines a try (maybe you'll get lucky and find one of the "hard to finds" listed above). Remember, taste is totally subjective, what we like might not work for you. This is our opinion and you asked for it :)

......... Miranda Golden Botrytis (Austrialia).

More to follow, wanted to get the picture up before we drank the bottle ;)





















-Rich-

Nothing goes better with BBQ then a good peppery, jamy, smoky zinfandel! I'm not talking about that "white" zinfandel either (is that stuff even wine?!?)! There a tons of great zins out there under $20 as well!

We went to a free wine tasting at Pastiche, here is Tucson and found one of our favorite Russian River producers! The McIlroy zinfandel pictured above was $14.99 and I'd put it up against zins costing 2 or 3 times as much. The bad part, good luck finding McIlroy wines unless you are in the Russian River valley or Tucson :(

McIlroy Winery is a small family producer of some really extraordinary wines. Most of the wines in their catalog are under $20 too! Their flagship is probably their Cab Franc which is absolutely amazing! They also do a classic buttery/oaky chardonnay, a honey like Late harvest desert wine, a cab based blended called Interplay which is a wonderful alternative to overpriced California Cabernets and a wonderful Syrah.

The story of how we found McIlroy wines is interesting. A couple of years ago, we where on a mountain biking vacation in Sedona, AZ. We went to wine tasting at a fun little place in uptown Sedona called the Wine Basket. That night, Will McIlroy himself was in town and doing the tasting of his wines. We really enjoyed the wines and arranged to have bottles shipped back to Michigan. We struck up conversation with Will, who didn't have any distribution in Michigan at all. He gave us his cell number and suggested we give him a call anytime we wanted to restock. Needless to say, we called Will a couple of times since then! We always seem to catch him out in the vineyard, yet he always personally filled and shipped out our orders. Gotta love the personal attention and service!

In our year of traveling the country we had not found his wine anywhere. We could not really place an order while we where on the road, rules for shipping wine vary from state to state and we were moving every couple of weeks. It goes without saying we were very excited to find a store near our winter home that stocks these wines on a regular basis!

Ask your local wine store if they can get these wines through their distributors, you will not be disappointed!

Some of our other favorite inexpensive zins:

• Cline Old Vine Zin, $12.99
  
• Bogle zin $9.99
  
• 7 Deadly Zins $12.99
  
• Turley Zin, $60 (For that special occasion!!)
  

-Rich-

We've heard and read some great things about Paul Hobbs wines. However, they are pretty pricey, $45 and up, so we've not taken the opportunity to try them.

We found this Russian River blend at 58 Degrees, here in Tucson. At $46, the least expensive Paul Hobbs we have seen, we decided to see if it lived up to the hype!

We decided to team this up with Roasted duck breast, which just simply cries out to be paired with a good Pinot.

The wine lived up to the expectation and paired perfectly with the duck. The wine was fruity without being overly "jammy". We would have liked to experience a little more "earthiness" as you tend to get with Oregon Pinots (our favorites!)but with duck, fruit forward is exactly what was needed. This wine was also nice and balanced to drink all by itself.

A winner for sure, but definitely save it for a "special" occasion.

-Rich-

Rich and I were at Trader Joe's earlier this week and saw that they were selling Napa River wines, which is brought to you by the Two buck Chuck people. Since it was only $5, we decided to try it. It's great! It's even better than I expected it to be. We only bought the chardonnay. I don't remember if there are others. The label on the chard recommended having it with fish, chicken, or a creamy pasta dish. Since I was having trout for dinner, along with leftover pasta from lunch the day before, I put it to the test. Success! This is definately a "must buy".

-Laura

P.S. I'll fix the pic later when I have a faster internet connection.

After our resounding success with the Blackbox chardonnay, I picked up a couple more boxes of wines at our favorite wine store in Denver, Applejacks. This time the wine was another chardonnay made by French Rabbit, which I think was about $8. First, it wasn't a very good wine to begin, and second, the wine isn't sealed like the Blackbox. There's a screw cap on a cardboard box. By the 3rd day the wine was bad. So...bottom line, French Rabbit is a "don't buy" from us.

-Laura

.....Let's pause to give thanks to those whose sacrifices have made it possible for us to enjoy life's pleasures tomorrow.

The day was pretty uneventful; surfing, blogging, clean inside the coach, two more windshield repairs(Yes! Covered tonights event!) and chilling out. The evening, however, had a nice dinner in store for us.

We've been watching our dining budget pretty closely and what better way to celebrate keeping it down then by adding to it :)

We decided to check out The Granary at Spring Creek Ranch in Jackson Hole. We picked it out of a local dining guide based on the sample menu they had in it. We called to make sure you could bring your own wine in (you can), its a great way to keep the cost down as restaurants usually double what you would pay retail in a store. The corkage fee was only $10, very reasonable, especially for a resort town.

Here was the view of the valley and the Tetons from our table. On the way up to the ranch we saw a pair of Osprey and a Red Fox, but were not quick enough with the camera!

We brought along one our favorite Archery Summit Pinot's we picked up on our last visit to McMinnville. We shared a wonderful scallop dish to start. For main courses, Laura had a Halibut with mushroom risotto and morels. I had Asian spiced duck with the same mushroom risotto. Both dishes were fabulous and paired just about perfectly with our Oregon Pinot Noir.

Bring on the holiday weekend..........

We've all seen them in the grocery store, boxed wine! If you're an enthusiast, you often shake your head and walk on by. Well, today, Laura and I decided to see what the fuss was all about.

Black Box Wines is the equivalent of 4 bottles of wine sealed in a plastic, air tight bag packed inside, what else, a black box. The company claims it will hold for up to four weeks in the fridge.

We picked up the chardonnay for $18.99 at the local Safeway Supermarket. We served it up with steamed crab legs and fresh, local Washington sweet corn. We both decided the wine wasn't quite buttery enough to go with our dinner. That could be a good or bad thing, depending on what you're doing with the wine. It is slightly oaked without being over the top, balanced with a fruitiness suitable for sipping on it's own. We think this one is best served chilled.

We would say this one is worth having on hand if you are having a large group over and wine isn't a major focus of the gathering. As for the longevity claim, we have it in our fridge, we'll let you know how it holds up.

-Rich-

Finally got around to finishing this entry:

Archery Summit is our favorite Pinot Noir. We joined their wine club when we were in town this past May. The wine club entitles you to free tasting when you visit, special events they have throughout the year and great deals on their wines! In fact, they sell 80% of their yearly production strictly to wine club members! (Sorry, there's a 3,000 member limit, we just made it, and the waiting list now is about a year out!)

We knew through the newsletter that they had "Lobsterfest" going on this weekend. We figured it was full and we didn't know exactly when the coach was going to be ready, so we didn't give it much thought.

We pulled into McMinnville at 4pm on Friday afternoon. Laura said, "Archery Summit is opened till 4:30 and we're 5 minutes away". Being the good husband I am, we parked the coach and made our way to the winery for our free Pinot tasting.

We were chatting with Lynda, the customer service manager, and she let us know they had a cancellation for the Lobster Fest and we could get in if we wanted too. Now, it was a bit expensive, but we were here and they had a cancellation; Who am I to mess with Karma ;)












While the lobsters' cooked, we drank Pinot! They had quite a few vintages availble for trial and purchase; 97 cuvee, 2000 cuvee, 03 Redhills just to name a few. They were all delicious, but we didn't have the budget to buy any 40-60 dollar Pinot Noir!


After about an hour of mingling and drinking, we were summoned to the "feast" and it was amazing!

They poured the lobsters directly on to the tables; No plates and the only utensils available were the lobster Krackers. Thank goodness they gave us all aprons before we got started :)

Beside the lobster, this one pot dish consisted of whole shrimp, artichokes, potatoes, corn, onions and cloves of garlic. It was all served with drawn butter, fresh baguettes and of course Pinot Noir!














In both pictures you can see the amazing view of the vineyards we enjoyed during the meal! The weather was fabulous, 80 degrees and not a cloud in the sky!

The cave was open during the event, you actually had to walk through it to get to the rest rooms. It was a nice refreshing walk to get out of the sun and cool down for a moment.

We stuffed ourselves silly with lobster and washed it down with plenty of Pinot. It ruined the "dining" budget for the rest of the month, but we both agreed it was well worth it and an experience we won't soon forget!

-Rich-

I discovered Eric Solomon wines in my all too short tenure in wine sales back in Michigan! They import awesome handcrafted wines at amzing prices. I put some of their wines up against similar wines cost 2 to 10 times as much.

These wines were basically unheard of, until Robert Parker gave the 01 Las Rocas ( Spanish Garanche) a 92 point rating. I think it was the first time, ever, a $7.99 bottle of wine was rated this high! Of course, because of that rating, this wine sells out, fast. It also now ranges in price from $8.99 to $15.99 per bottle.

Solomon has a great bunch of wines, below $15 that just have to be experienced to be appreciated. You have to search these wines out though, you won't find them on the shelves at just any wine store. They ARE worth the search though.

Some of the Solomon wines we recommend:

Las Rocas Garanche. A great "spicy" red that goes great with BBQ, a cheese spread and is great all by itself! $8.99, sells out FAST!

Novellum chardonnay A great unoaked chard from France. $9.99 bottle. A refreshing change from the Napa oak bomb chard!

Castano Hecula This one might go over $20 put I would put this smooth, spicy Spanish red against wines costing 5 times as much!

Castell de Remi Gotim Bru and Blanco A red and white that are under $10 each. Gotim Bru is a tempernello/cab blend goes with BBQ or a steak. The blanco is a sauv/chard blend that is a great way to get the party started!

Domaine la Garrigue A great Rhone wine for around $12!

They also have a bunch of amazing wines well over $20 bottle. However, we're trying to stay under $20 here! Give these try if you can find them, you won't be disappointed!

"What about pairing with beef, chicken, pork....."

These are questions that followed after the "cheese pairing" entry. Well, for your surfing pleasure, here are a bunch of links to pairing everything imaginable, what glass to use and some recipe's too!

Just click the links to be whisked away :)

-Rich-

We have always been a fan of King Estate wines. They have a Pinot Gris that is just wonderful and priced around $14. They also have many estate, limited run and specialty wine (most over $20) for the cork dorks out there, that are available only at the winery.

The winery grounds are some of the best we've visited! The tasting are FREE (Did you hear that Napa? I'll save my rant on Napa for a different post), the view is spectacular, they are certified organic and they serve food! It just doesn't get any better then that!


Here is Laura enjoying the view while we look over the lunch menu. This, of course, after we had our FREE (did you hear that Napa!?) tasting in the main building. Thus explaining the BIG smile on her face!

Laura enjoyed a bay scallop and shrimp tart with field green salad. The greens are all grown on site, remember they are certified organic! She had a Pinot Gris wine flite, a tasting of 5 pinot gris from different vintages and vineyards.

I choose a spinach salad with grilled Flank Steak. I paired my lunch with the historical flite of Pinots. I had a tasting of each of the following vintages; 92, 93, 96, 97. Here are my Pinots' before I dug into them! (the 96 was the best of the flite, btw!)

The lunch was everything a great lunch should be; Small yet filling portions, outdoors with a great view, reasonable prices, organic, REALLY yummy and best of all included wine!

There were so many wonderful things on the menu, we are planning on going back next week! They also have free tours of the facilities. That should give me the chance to get some more pictures and update the journal entry.

If you're looking for a nice alternative to the typical tasting stop, head towards King Estate! Make sure you are there for a late lunch/early dinner!

-Rich-

Everyone love's wine & cheese, right? Well, you do if you're following this journal!

I found a great on-line pairing tool. Just click the screen shot above! First you select your type of cheese; Firm, soft, extra firm etc... Next you select from the drop down list the specific cheese you are serving. You get a brief description of your cheese and suggested pairings to go with it! On the downside, the site is run by the Gallos', so of course, they are going to picture and suggest Gallo wines, not necessarily a bad thing (they are under $20), but I'd rather just take the varietal recommendation and then choose my own brand :)

This one is definitely for the rookies out there. The cheese selection is limited; They don't even touch goat cheeses!?!? But, it gives you a great place to start your wine and cheese education!

-Rich-

Matthews wines are probably the greatest wines out of Washington that most of you have never heard of! I was introduced to them when I sold wine back in Michigan. We always sold out our allocation of Matt Loso wines within a few days!

You will typically not find a Matthews wine under $40. The exception being his Claret which I think we found for $34.

We ran Across his Sauv Blanc in a MArket of Choice Store in Eugene Oregon; Price $13.99!

I found this review of the wine on the internet. It is spot on, not only about the Sauv Blanc but of Matthews and Matt's work as a winemaker!

Enjoy it if you can find it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Published Wednesday, January 29th, 2003

Appellation: Red Mountain

Simply put, Matt Loso is one of Washington's great winemakers. His focus on Bordeaux-style wines results in reds and whites of grace, power and depth. World-class wine starts in the vineyard, and Loso uses grapes from famed Klipsun Vineyard for this suave Sauvignon Blanc. It's a delight to the palate with aromas of gooseberries and essences of peaches and pears and hints of lemons. The mouth feel is perfect from first sip through the lengthy finish. Rated "Outstanding" by Wine Press Northwest.

Price: $20. Track this down at wine shops.

Food matches: Perfect with shellfish, grilled halibut, pasta in a cream sauce or pork.

16116 140th Place N.E., Woodinville, WA 98072, 425-487-9810,

http://www.matthewscellars.com

-Rich-

If you check back a couple of posts, you will see Bogle Petite Syrah($8.99) made our list of favorites' under $20 (See "The post That Started It All").

Based on that, we decided to give Bogle Old Vine zinfandel($10.99) a try . It's available at Trader Joe's. Unfortunately, it's too much like the Syrah! If you're looking for Syrah, spend $2 less and get the Petite by Bogle, its very good for the price. If you're looking for a big, bold, peppery Zin, you'll want to look elsewhere!

The point of the post is that we are not just going to blog about our fav's under $20. You have to go through quite a few not so good bottles to get a few good one's. Was the wine horrible? No, we finished the bottle :) However, we had BBQ, and were in the mood for nice peppery zin.

Oh well, the search continues!

-Rich & Laura-

OK, here is a sample of how we would like to share our "wine finds" with you! Laura found this one in a little Italian place in Denver, CO. Nothing like a nice plate of pasta after a long mountain bike ride!



2004 Five Rivers Pinot Noir; Santa Barbara County, CA ($12.99)

You're Probably only going to find this one in wine shops; Not your local grocery store, Costco or Cost Plus! (Which is a bummer 'cause it was good) We found it at Applejack Wine Shop, here in Denver. This place is HUGE and deserves it's own post on the blog. Maybe they will let me take a few pics in there and I can post them here!

If you're new to wine, Pinot Noir is probably somewhat mysterious to you. Everyone knows Merlot, Chardonnay and Cabernet. Here is our quick lesson on Pinot. You can put them into two distinct categories; Fruit driven, described as "jammy","berry" or "fruity" and terrior driven (cork dork speak for earth) often described as "dirty", "earthy", "tobacco" and "smoky". We both prefer "earthy" when it comes to Pinots'. It has been our experience that most of the Pinot coming from Santa Barbara (also considered the Central Coast of California growing regions) leans towards the "fruity" category and we usually pass them up for something from Oregon, which we feel lean more towards the "earthy" side.

Laura really felt like a glass of Pinot at this particular restaurant. Their glass pour selection was pretty limited (it was an Italian place, they want you to drink Chianti, but that's for another post). The menu described this pinot as "earthy" so she decided to give it a try. . She tried it and was impressed. Then I sampled it and was impressed too! It was indeed earthy and slightly smoky. Not to the level of a good Oregon Pinot, but good none the less. The fruit was still there, it just wasn't the first thing that hit you.

So, what would you serve this with? I would say pasta with a simple marinara sauce works just about right. However, if you like a really spicy sauce or you add, say, Italian sausage to the sauce, you would just over power the wine. Spicy or zesty sauces would deserve the Chianti mentioned above. However, if mild is your preference, Five Rivers will work well for you. You could also serve this with a cheese course using the same logic, anything strong (think "stinky") will over power this one, but at this price it's hard to beat.

-Rich-

This post first appeared on our travel journal. It was the spark for the creation of this journal! Our goal is to improve on this list with pictures of labels, tasting notes and food pairing. which will help you in choosing what you might like out of the list and help you find the product in the store. Here is the post as it first appeared:

OK, the "under $15 a bottle" comment on the previous post seemed to stir up a few people. I've gotten some e-mails and comments asking, "what are they?"

So, here are some of our discoveries. We'll call this "Rich & Laura's Best under $20" not in any particular order:

-Bogle Petite Syrah, CA ($8.99) great wine at this price

-Kings Estate Pinot Gris, OR ($14.99) great summertime sipper

-Sonoma Cutrer Chard, CA ($16.99) classic CA, buttery/oaky chard

-Las Rocas Garanche, Spain ($11.99) Greatest $11 bottle you will ever have(if you can find it!!)*Note: Be sure to get the 2003 as it's much better than the 2004. We've found it for as cheap as $8 in Salt Lake City.

Kanu Chenin Blanc, South Africa ($8.99) light, crisp amazing white at this price

Dry Creek Chenin blanc, CA ($11.99) a good find while biking in DC valley.

Lolonis Fume' Blanc, ca ($11.99) think smoky Sauv blanc, and you've got it

Arbios Cab, CA (17.99) a good summertime BBQ cabernet, not your typical heavy ca cab

Cline old vine zin, ca ($12.99) the best zin you will ever have at this price

Erath pinot, OR ($16.99) good, fruity entry level Oregon pinot

Golden Botrytis, Australia ($17.99) greatest dessert wine you will ever have (IF you can find it!)

Waterbrook Melange, WA ($12.99) a great meritage from Washington

Castano Solenaro, Spain ($11.99) a great Spanish blend zesty and peppery, like a zin great for making sangria

Cape Mentelle, Australia ($18.99) a good non-oaked chard

Andrew Rich Cuvee Pinot, OR ($17.99) a good entry level smoky pinot (there aren't many of those)

OK, now for the disclaimers. These are the prices we have paid for the above, your price may vary. Taste is an opinion, yours may vary from ours. We have tried each and every one of the wines mentioned above. We have also gone through a bunch of losers in this price group, I like to forget about them, so don't ask which ones we hated (I tend to only remember what the label looks so we don't buy them again) These are the only wines I can think of right now, there are a bunch more.

If any of our dear readers have good wines under $20, by all means share them with us! We have found Cost Plus World Market and Costco are both great places for under $20 discoveries. The best recommendation I can make, take a chance, buy something under $15, take it home and try it, you never know what you might discover!

-Rich-

Welcome to Simply Wine!

On our travel journal, The Bag-It-Tour, we often comment on wines we try or vineyards we visit. These entries always seem to generate the most comments, questions and e-mails. People want to know; Where did you get it; How much did you pay for it; Was it good; What would you pair it with; What would serve with....

You get the idea. For a large amount of people, wine is a mystery. Wine Shops and restaurants often add to the mystery, or, what we like to call the snob factor. Some sommeliers (that's the wine "expert" in the store, from here on out to be referred to as "Cork Dorks"!) like to throw out wine regions, growing conditions, the weather the morning the grapes were picked, what school the winemaker went to, soil conditions. The winemakers mothers maiden name etc..... It all comes down to one thing.

What taste good to you?

Because taste is subjective, our goal is simple. To tell you, our reader's, what we think are the good from the bad wines and keep them all under $20! Experimenting in this price range should be all about fun, but where do you start? We'll try to explain it in simple terms, suggest what to pair wine with and even give you some of our favorite recipes along the way.

Wine & food should be an adventure! Hopefully we can provide you with some direction to start your own journey!

-Rich & Laura-