If You Like Wine
I am, as you who actually read this mess, no wine blogger. But I am "few glass a week" oenophile. To that end, I joined the so-called Wall Street Journal Wine Club which is sort of a "case of the quarter club" (as in "book of the month club"). The hook is a steeply discounted case of very good wines (you can choose reds, whites or a mixed case) and then the club member can opt for or out of future cases at a not as steep discount. They also hit you up with e-mails about special offers which leads me to call attention to this: 2006 Lionstone Selection Fritz Cabernet Sauvignon. I don't know how available it is out of the club and it's not particularly cheap (case lots will bring the per bottle cost down to under $25) but it is ... in a word: spectacular. Rich and smooth, a low tannin cab but with a tannin finish that gives a wonderful touch of astringency that almost rolls off the tongue. There is a lot of good wine in United States and there are incredible vineyards all over (Virginia, for example, has a vineyard called Naked Mountain that produces truly excellent wines).
I've never had hundred dollar bottles of wine because I ... well, I don't have the resources to put that kind of scratch into something that will last an hour or two and then be a memory. And I'm reluctant to drop even $25 on a bottle but I'm unutterably convinced that the half case I bought was well worth it. I'm even thinking of taking my supply up to a full case. If I had all the money I'd like to have, I'd keep a cellar full of this and drink it regularly.
Oh, and by the way, if you come over, I have several other bottles of good wine that will be deployed to your benefit. Don't be presumin' on my wines!