I haven't had a chance to post about the wine dinner I went to....

[droner]

Some friends of mine invited me to their country club for a wine dinner. We started the evening at the meet-and-greet with some hors d'oeuvres and a couple of glasses of Cabernet Sauvignon. We were then seated and started with the grilled scallop appetizer and 2 to 3 glasses of Chardonnay. Next was the salad and 3 or 4 glasses of Sauvignon Blanc. The entree' of lamb was served with 3 or 4 glasses of Zinfandel. Finally the dessert, creme brulee was served with 4 or 5 ...maybe more...glasses of Pinot Noir. And from what I remember, after dessert we continued to drink up what was left.

The glasses weren't regular full-size wine glasses and they didn't fill them to the brim each time. But I lost count of how many glasses we had right around the entree.

Oh by the way, I have a found an excellent cure for a mild hangover: coconut water. It's amazing how well it works. Not coconut milk, but coconut water. You can find it in the refrigerated juice section in your grocers, same place as the POM.

[Black Diamond Vol]

Some friends of mine invited me to their country club for a wine dinner. We started the evening at the meet-and-greet with some hors d'oeuvres and a couple of glasses of Cabernet Sauvignon. We were then seated and started with the grilled scallop appetizer and 2 to 3 glasses of Chardonnay. Next was the salad and 3 or 4 glasses of Sauvignon Blanc. The entree' of lamb was served with 3 or 4 glasses of Zinfandel. Finally the dessert, creme brulee was served with 4 or 5 ...maybe more...glasses of Pinot Noir. And from what I remember, after dessert we continued to drink up what was left.

The glasses weren't regular full-size wine glasses and they didn't fill them to the brim each time. But I lost count of how many glasses we had right around the entree.

Oh by the way, I have a found an excellent cure for a mild hangover: coconut water. It's amazing how well it works. Not coconut milk, but coconut water. You can find it in the refrigerated juice section in your grocers, same place as the POM.

Question: Every time I receive my cigars in the mail, they throw in a flyer from Virgin Wines with my order.  Seems like an interesting concept.  Is this a good way for a wine noob like me to get started, or would I be better off buying them ala carte?

http://www.virginwines.com/

[droner]

Question: Every time I receive my cigars in the mail, they throw in a flyer from Virgin Wines with my order.  Seems like an interesting concept.  Is this a good way for a wine noob like me to get started, or would I be better off buying them ala carte?

http://www.virginwines.com/

The best way is probably to have a good wine shop and someone you can trust to recommend wines. But it's hard to argue with the introductory offer of less than five bucks a bottle. I don't see anything I recognize in the pictures which probably means that they are wines from low production and/or new wineries that are trying to get their wines known. The worst part is that if they're shipping automatically each month you have to keep up with the notices. This is like the old Columbia record club. The 11 records for a penny to start was great. It was that monthly shipment that was a pain. If you didn't respond to the notice you could get something you didn't want. Or you had to make sure to mail in the card to stop that month's shipment. And it required you to buy so many more at regular price. From what I (briefly) read this doesn't seem to require the mandatory purchases. But you would still have to pay attention monthly.

I still think that the wine shop is best. But I would be interested in what you get for five bucks a bottle. I didn't see Two Buck Chuck in there so they could be bargains.

[EmerilVOL]

The best way is probably to have a good wine shop and someone you can trust to recommend wines. But it's hard to argue with the introductory offer of less than five bucks a bottle. I don't see anything I recognize in the pictures which probably means that they are wines from low production and/or new wineries that are trying to get their wines known. The worst part is that if they're shipping automatically each month you have to keep up with the notices. This is like the old Columbia record club. The 11 records for a penny to start was great. It was that monthly shipment that was a pain. If you didn't respond to the notice you could get something you didn't want. Or you had to make sure to mail in the card to stop that month's shipment. And it required you to buy so many more at regular price. From what I (briefly) read this doesn't seem to require the mandatory purchases. But you would still have to pay attention monthly.

I still think that the wine shop is best. But I would be interested in what you get for five bucks a bottle. I didn't see Two Buck Chuck in there so they could be bargains.

I am a memeber of Laithwaite's Wine Club and they have some excellent wines. While I am not an oenophile the wines have been very good and have really been very palatable and many have added to my repetoire of classic french cooking as well.  I can highly recommend the service and they are great in that they deliver on a quarterly basis at a very reasonable cost per quarter.

I can hook up anybody with a initial offer if interested so hit me up at a tailgate and I can hook you up (and get a bonus for myself since I am hooking you up) and hey who doesn't want to help EmerilVOL with wines?

[Black Diamond Vol]

The best way is probably to have a good wine shop and someone you can trust to recommend wines. But it's hard to argue with the introductory offer of less than five bucks a bottle. I don't see anything I recognize in the pictures which probably means that they are wines from low production and/or new wineries that are trying to get their wines known. The worst part is that if they're shipping automatically each month you have to keep up with the notices. This is like the old Columbia record club. The 11 records for a penny to start was great. It was that monthly shipment that was a pain. If you didn't respond to the notice you could get something you didn't want. Or you had to make sure to mail in the card to stop that month's shipment. And it required you to buy so many more at regular price. From what I (briefly) read this doesn't seem to require the mandatory purchases. But you would still have to pay attention monthly.

I still think that the wine shop is best. But I would be interested in what you get for five bucks a bottle. I didn't see Two Buck Chuck in there so they could be bargains.

That's about what I figured.  I think the shipments are quarterly, so it's not quite as bad as the record club, and no further purchase is required after the introductory offer.  And it's a lot easier to cancel those shipments online than it was to remember to mail back that card every month.  I may try the introductory offer and see how I like it.