One of the best ways to learn about wine and to discover new wines is to be a member of a wine tasting club. Why not consider starting one and take the month of December to organize your club and set up a tasting for January 2010. A wine tasting club functions somewhat like the popular book clubs held in homes all over the world today. In this case, the purpose is not to read and discuss books, but to taste and discuss different wines. Which one of these clubs do you think is more fun?

Our Vintage Wine Tasting club consists of 7 members who meet every other month. We meet at noon, taste and judge our wines, and then the host serves us a fabulous lunch. We like to focus on wines that are in the bargain category, no more than $20 per bottle. Once a year we splurge and do a Cabernet Sauvignon tasting at $40. We each put an extra $5 in the kitty at our meeting to help fund this tasting. We also get together as a group with our spouses three or four times a year for a festive dinner and we each bring a special bottle of wine from our cellars. The idea of the wine tasting club has brought a whole new level of commodity and enjoyment beyond our expectations. Read the rest of this entry »

This is the time of the year for wine sales. This year more than any other, wineries are in need of selling a lot of wine and so wine sales should be plentiful. So how do you know if you are really getting a good deal or not on a bottle of wine? For example, you might see this sale: Edna Valley Chardonnay on sale for $11.99, regular price is $14.99. Ignore the regular price figure and compare the sale price to other wine retailers. The easiest way is to do this is use one of these three Websites to comparison shop.

I use the Wine-Searcher, WineZap, and Snooth. With each of these Websites you can simply enter the exact wine you are interested in comparing and you get a list of wine prices for various wine retailers. I usually do nothing more than compare prices. I rarely take the next step and click to go to the online retailer to buy the wine.

For a 2008 Edna Valley Chardonnay, I entered that exact Vintage into the three sites mentioned. I found the lowest price to be $8.49 and the highest price to be $15.99. I basically use these websites to compare wine prices and then shop locally to find the wine. There are two advantages to using Snooth. You can plug in your ZIP code and narrow the choices to local wine shops. Secondly, wine drinkers who have registered with Snooth can write their own reviews of the wine.

These three wine comparison sites do not always have the latest wine prices nor do they have prices from some of the biggest discounters of wine like Costco and Trader Joe’s.

Another way to keep up with bargain wines is to join Good Cheap Vino. This is a social Website that we began in order to search for the ultimate wine bargains. When a member finds a great deal, they post it on Good Cheap Vino for the other members to know about.

One last thing, a disclosure about Snooth. On the right column you will notice a Snooth Widget. Every time one uses the widget to search for wine, I get a couple of pennies put into my account.

In the last post, the Vintage Wine Club listed their favorite white wine bargains for the holidays so this post is all about our favorite bargain reds. As we described previously, the Vintage Wine Club members are daily wine drinkers and constantly span the wine departments and wine stores for bargain wines. We know our prices and our wines. When we find a great bargain we share it with others and post it on Good Cheap Vino. Read the rest of this entry »

Last Sunday’s S.F. Chronicle had an article devoted to good wines under $15. The buyers at Cost Plus, BevMo, and Spencer & Daniel’s touted their favorite bargain wines. That gave me the idea to post some of the favorite bargain wines of the Vintage Wine Club. This is a club of seven members who have been meeting regularly for years to discover the ultimate in wine bargains. Each of us is a daily wine drinker and we constantly scan the shelves for bargain wines. When we find something good we share it with each others. Here is our list of top white wines. Next post, the reds. Read the rest of this entry »

There are over 200 wineries in Paso Robles and they come in many sizes and shapes but one winery that is uniquely different is Poalillo Vineyards. Charlie Poalillo is the owner, the winemaker, and the storyteller. Charlie first came to Paso Robles in 1969 as an amateur winemaker to buy grapes and bring them back to his Southern California home. He and his wife Joyce fell in love with Paso Robles and made the move in 1978 and purchased vineyards and their home. Read the rest of this entry »

This trip to Paso Robles marks our tenth year in a row of traveling to this wine country. Much has changed since 1999, some good and some bad. The earthquake of December 2003 and the onslaught of many new wineries have brought about many changes to this old California farming town. In many ways it still is a town in transition. There is still a lot of the old; cowboys strolling the streets, McClintock’s Saloon, Corrigan’s barber shop and others. But for sure, Paso Robles is trying to go upscale. Each year we visit, there are always a few more tasting rooms in town and new wineries to visit. Last year two new fancy hotels opened catering to the wine crowd and the affluent. This year, on Highway 46 West just before Vineyard Drive, a huge winery is under construction. It looks quite out of place in the Paso landscape of rolling hills, oak trees, and beautiful vineyards. Read the rest of this entry »