Wine!

We have a cavernous basement, I mean, it is absolutely huge and empty, not to mention dark and creepy. I thought and M thought that it would be a great place for a wine cellar. We aren't yuppie enough yet for the de facto wine fridge in the kitchen and if you have seen our kitchen, it needs much more than a wine fridge to spruce it up ...Yet the basement, however, gives multitudinous possibilities.

I have loved drinking wine for some years, mostly 2 Buck Chuck or whatever I could afford. I definitely lean toward strong reds with mineral flavors. I don't care for sweet or jammy wines or many white wines, so my tastes may be different than yours. I've never purchased an entire case of wine, I was terrified at the thought, ( It's so much money!) We entertained the idea many times because we drink wine on the regular and spend more than we should by buying per bottle. Last week we went to one of the local wine shops just to grab some beers and a few bottles of wine. I casually asked the clerk what the discount was for a mixed case. He replied 15%!!!!! Holy smokes, I was grabbing bottles faster than you can say cheese. We experimented a bit and to be honest some of the bottles weren't so great, but most of them were (and discounted!)we're prepared for next time. This is what we found;

Grenache Noir - Domaine de Gournier, France
(Oops) - Cab Franc and Carmenere, Chile
Strong Arms - Shiraz, Southern Australia
Little James Basket Press - Vin de Table, France
Domaine de la Petit Cassagne - France
Albarino Burgans - Albarino, Spain (white)
Cassilero del Diablo - Carmenere, Chile

The Cassilero is an old standby, almost every one of their wines is satisfying and affordable. Their Carmenere is basically our standard Vin de Table. So the next time you think about buying a mixed case, just do it. We did and found some amazing new wines and saved some money, but it is surprising how quickly they go.