Wine Again?

For as long as I can remember we always had a half glass of red wine every evening. We still have a small wine rack in the dining room that houses a few bottles from a variety of places. We even started to order a case of our favorite wine every few months from Total Wine. It was cheaper than buying a bottle here and there at the grocery store. But half way through the pandemic we just decided to stop. I’m not really sure why - we just did. I haven’t really thought much about it - except every week when I’m dusting and brush off the bottles. For whatever reason this week we thought it might be a good idea to have a glass of wine before dinner - just like we used to. So I asked my husband to pull a bottle out. He reached to the bottom of the pile and found Los Vascos. It is from Chile from 2008. For no particular reason I asked him to look up the price to see if it’s changed in fifteen years. It was only eleven dollars - no difference at all. That just goes to show you that some things don’t change over time. So I uncorked the bottle and poured our usual half glass. Then we had a toast. This is the first time I actually could taste the difference from what is our usual flavor - and I can honestly say I didn’t care for it. But we will finish the bottle off over the next few days. There is something nice about sipping wine before dinner - even though I never really cared for the taste. Should we get any replacement bottles? I’m not so sure. 

Total Wine Coupons

We drink about a half glass of red wine every evening. When we go to a restaurant for dinner, my husband orders one glass of red wine and I order ginger ale. We split the drinks between the two of us. Lately we have been buying our new supply at the grocery store. There is always a promotion going on - typically buy six bottles of any variety and you get “x” per cent off. Before buying at the grocery store, we started going to the Total Wine store in McLean. It was okay, but I preferred getting everything at one time rather than having to stop at another place that looked to me like another grocery store - which isn’t a place I enjoy going to anyway! So now we receive coupons over email from Total Wine with deals going on all the time. My husband was interested in seeing how the stock changed and determine if there was a brand he would like to try, so we took a trip to Total Wine with two email coupons in hand. There are some restrictions, but we found what we needed. We hadn’t been there since before Christmas when we were looking for wine bottle Christmas decor for our friends. In the end we saved about $20 plus on twelve bottles of any Direct Wine only Malbec and Cabernet stock. Was it worth the trip? My husband thinks it’s a better deal because it’s just wine stock. I’m not so sure. To me, it all tastes the same. 

Cabernet or Chardonnay?

We have been drinking red wine for the longest time. I have to say I never really cared for it so much. I would get Zinfandel once in a while. But my husband preferred burgundy, then Cabernet, now Shiraz and merlot. And he doesn't like wine that is chilled. So our daily dose is a tiny bit of some kind of red - so much so that when we go out for dinner we order one wine glass between the two of us. But when we have guests for dinner, not everyone likes red wine. So we had a bottle of Chardonnay for my sister for Thanksgiving dinner because she says white wine doesn't bother her like red wine does. I also have a cousin who swears that red wine stirs up her allergies. I have to admit that I tend to sneeze after I have red wine. So now we have part of a bottle of white wine left to finish. My husband still wants his red wine and I am now finishing up the white. And I have to admit that I like the Chardonnay more. I am sure I will go back to the red wine once this bottle is consumed. It is hard to change a habit - even if it's a tiny one. 

Total Wine Store Aerator Cleaning Brush Has Other Uses?

Every couple of months the wine supply dwindles. That means a trip to The Total Wine store in McLean. Because we are usually in the neighborhood, it's only a couple blocks from our favorite Saturday morning brunch place McLean Family Restaurant. We usually get a dozen assortment of red wines. Six bottles are always the same, and the other six are various labels...but all are priced around $10.00 per bottle. We like just a bit of wine every evening - it hardly fills an eighth of the glass. We even have recyclable wine bags to carry the dozen bottles in with room enough to stuff in a cheese or two.Everything at the wine store is much cheaper than the grocery store and worth the trip. We also have a few insulated water glasses that require tricky cleaning where the junk collects in the filter/aerator parts. Lemonade clogs the vent holes more than water, but the glasses really need to be scrubbed out. Today we found a brush that might do the trick. It's for wine stuff, but it can also be used on similar type pieces. So we thought we would give it a try. A simple pipe cleaner would also work. On the way home, we thought of another use for the brush. It could be promoted as a nose cleaner... I didn't come up with that - my husband did - in jest. But maybe he is on to something big!