Cheers to a Purple Tongue
As a right of passage from young to mature adult you will inevitably trade in your pilsner for a merlot. I think that the best practice for learning about wine is to DRINK. Living in San Francisco afforded me the luxury of napa valley day trips. These trips broadened my appreciation for the grape growing and wine making process. It also gave me the confidence to open the restaurant wine list and buy cases at a time. Never forget that while there are some wine connoisseurs, it is all about personal preference.
Here are some of my favorite Napa & Sonoma valley vineyards:
Gloria Ferrer
If you are fortunate enough to live in a state with permitted wine shipping laws, http://wi.shipcompliant.com/, step up and buy a case or join a wine club. I totally underestimated this gift until I had received it.
Ordering Online? I can personally recommend Wine.com & Bottle Notes. The Wines of the World with Wine.com mixes one red and one white each month and membership can be for 3 – 12months. This is a great way to hone in on vineyards considered to be the greatest wine regions in the world. Bottlenotes.com offers the one stop shop for personalized and social driven packages. I personally benefited from picking a region like Argentina and get to know that county’s varieties inside and out.
I recently joined the Wall Street Journal’s Wine Club. The special introductory offer averages $7 per bottle in the first case. There is no penalty for cancelling so if you are unhappy you can get out before the price hikes to $11 per bottle in all future orders. We were happy with our red & white selection in the first case.
If shopping locally never pass up a Trader Joe’s, Stew Leonard’s Wine or BevMo store. Go with the intention of taking home a case, because there are many choices. No matter where you shop you should receive a 20% discount when you buy a case and if they don’t switch suppliers. WineSearcher.com is a great resource if you are trying to track down that special Boekenhoutskloof Chocolate Block bottle.
* Not all Trader Joes and Stew Leonard’s sell wine so be sure to check out online.
Enjoy Sipping,
K
P.S. FREE THE GRAPES
If you live in a state that has strict ship to customer laws join the FREE THE GRAPES campaign, http://www.freethegrapes.org/ to get change.
