Even Snobbery (or lack of) Must Raise It's Bar!

Journals, like good wines, become more balanced and wise with time ... in theory. So, with the encouragement from someone who holds my greatest respect and deepest trust, I have decided to test that hypothesis by resurrecting this one. 

Call it a journal, call it a blog, call it ramblings from the depths of a glass (or bottle) ... let's have some balanced, wise, and aged fun!

Three years ago, $10 was my litmus test for a great wine discovery at a cheap price. Much discord has happened in the realm of world economics since then; consequently, I have just discovered that I am forced to raise the bar to $14, if only to avoid crawling on hands and knees to reach the bottom rows of the retail shelves, where they showcase the gasoline ... err, bathtub ...I mean, the wines we all used to sneak in high school.

On my first trip to the Class 6 after returning from deployment (that's 'liquor store' to the civilian world) - although it's really more like 'ABC store', but that is a subject for another post - anyway, my wondering eyes beheld an entire new row of shelves filled with brand new Italian wines! I had to rub my eyes and re-focus, thinking I was hallucinating after six months living dry. Nope ... new wines, and good ones!

Looking at the labels, I wondered how I would ever sample them all. But wait ... $54, $38, $26 (ouch) ... and $14, $12, $11 ... Bardolinos and Super Tuscans for $14?? Chiantis for $11? I happen to know for a fact that the Chianti in my hand sells for $30+ in the states. I am confused.

 But, my wine rack is empty, and I need to fill it. So, after setting aside a few of these lovely Italians ... I meander over to the domestic section so I can pick up a handful of an old $10 favorite that has been my standby porch-pounder for the last couple of years: Gnarly Old Vine Zinfandel. I glanced at the shelf tag, and good thing I did, because that wine is now $14!

Fourteen dollars for a newer vintage, which, by the way, is not even close to the same quality heavenly balance of the previous year's bottlings. Now, I am really confused.

Looking around, I see, once again, that the $10 wines are on the bottom shelves! Okay ... I see what's going on. Wine inflation, or grape inflation, or import inflation ... or perhaps even inflation of the buyer's ego ... it doesn't matter because, unless I want to give up wine - and I do not - then I need to walk away from this battle and raise the standard of my litmus test to $14 (read: 'cheap')!!

Okay! Let's sample some more great wines at cheap prices!!

Hey, Mambo

As a rule, I typically don't buy something just because someone thrusts an item into my hand and says, "Here, try this, it's really good!"

First of all, I don't know who the heck you are, and subsequently have no clue about what you might think is "good". Secondly, you're shoving a bottle of GENERIC wine into my arms - which, I might add, are already full with "real" wines, thank you very much. But your eyes are gorgeous, and you have such the winning smile - and, well, I couldn't resist. Besides, who could pass up a California Sultry Red? (Don Sebastiani & Sons (The Other Guys), and less than $10, I might add ...)

Oh my ...this yummy treasure, a blend of Syrah, Barbera, Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, Malbec, and Alicante Bouchet (gesundheit!) grapes, will most definitely hold a spot in the cabinet! So. to describe this big, big wine, let me just transcribe the story on the label - I couldn't have said it any better:

Down some alley off Columbus, I bang on an unsuspecting door. And of course, there's some big brute just waiting to hassle me. Once inside the hollow building, he points me down a dim set of stairs. A bar and tables emerge out of the SMOKY blackness. I sit in the back corner and order the house ravioli and a bottle of wine. On the postage stamp of a stage, the lights reveal a LUSCIOUS gem - with COCOA brown hair and CRANBERRY lips. She belts out a lonesome note to awaken her band. Like striking a match, the room comes ablaze with music. Her voice like velvet beckoning strays to the dance floor. A few couples and then a few more. The crowd is insatiable. The music, the food, the wine, all together hypnotizing. I savor every drop.

Was perfect with my elk roast!