Wine on My Mind

I'm hardly an expert in wines - often I get lost in a liquor store, overwhelmed by the selection, often drawn to a low price and a cute animal on the bottle rather than knowledge of good tasting product. Peter is a beer guy, so I can't rely on him for wine selection, and my one friend who is pretty good at wine selection lives too far away to rely on her expertise.

I don't want to be an expert, but I want to have more than just one wine I go to all the time. Especially if that wine is mostly a dessert wine and sold at Trader Joe's and I can't find it half the time. Last year, while in my favorite Italian restaurant, I fell in love with Montepulciano d'Abruzzo wine, however finding the right maker of wine has been hit or miss. If you like Cabernet, you will like this wine, the ones I come to love have a hint of cherry - without being overpowering or sweet. (The article linked suggests The Masciarelli winery). I wish I was savvy enough to write down the brands I like, however this has not occurred in the past. So now, I'm going to try to keep track of wines I like and that are in my budget.

This morning, waking up with a stuffed up nose, a deep throat cough, and a mild temperature - the laptop was a natural distraction, so I found myself on the WSJ site - watching their Food & Drink video section. Apparently having a bad cold makes it impossible for me to read anything. This video caught my eye about the "trading down" phenomena in the wine industries, but other videos from Dorothy Gaiter and John Breche - give good suggestions.

The "polka dotted" wine in the video is Monte Oton Garnacha Borsao Campo de Borja.
If you have any suggestions of your own, please let me know, especially the bottle is under $20.