What the Heck is This?

So I want to ask you this .... how did you get here? You must be in dire straits...or you googled something along the lines of WINE CRISIS! WINE EMERGENCY! or WHAT DO I DRINK WITH DINNER? Well, You found home...salvation... The right place. A place where questions are answered in normal people's language but with knowledge behind it. Cuz the last thing you want to do is stroll into a party thrown by your boss and sound like a complete moron. Or engage in a conversation with a subtle person who doesn't advertise what they know cuz they think it's pretentious (me) and often to sound the very worst thing imaginable ... Some wine snob who doesn't have a clue as to what he/she is talking about. So if what you search for is ammunition ... The kind of knowledge used to make you sound smarter the everyone else ... The kind of knowledge that you hoard in the hopes of actually excluding people from the wine-loving process (because it is a process that very often starts with white Zinfandel)... Then this is definitely not the place for you. Keep googling. Move along! But if what you want is an online equivalent of a scavenger hunt (we'll actually be doing this as a matter of fact) then welcome aboard! There will be a lot of areas to explore...conversations to have and bottles to sip. So. Let's get started, shall we?

What I Drank with What I Ate

Kind of selfish, I suppose, to think that this is the kind of information that you would be interested in -- what did I eat for breakfast or dinner last night and, more importantly, what did I think just went so well together. But...isn't that what we're sharing and what we're learning from? And I think the title is relevant because so many of the best wines are made even better but food. And very often...honestly? Not even "great" food. Like...do you need to spend $200 going out to dinner for that "great" meal and then buy a mediocre wine because of the senseless three or four times markups most restaurants continue to insist on using as the basis of a destined to fail soon business model (see the column sidebar of Where to Eat and Drink)? No. One of my favorite pairings in the Ham &  Cheese Croissant from Best Buns in Shirlington, VA with a bottle of Cotes du Rhone Villages. Or the bottle of Vilmart & Cie Cuvee Rubis champagne I had with a BLT that I made with thick-cut Black Forest bacon from Whole Foods. Great food can be just what makes your heart sing...what you crave on a cold, snowy day or warm evening in the backyard when there is just the slightest cool, lilting breeze.

So the favorites from this little column will get "promoted" to the favorite duets sidebar. Let me know what your favorite pairs are and why!