Wines for all occasions

In our house the price and quality of wines are key. In my last column I named brands and prices you could rely on. Those brands and others fall into four distinct levels. They are either Monday wines, Friday wines, Sunday wines or splurge wines. Monday wines or daily wines should be a solid but moderately priced wine, one you can revisit throughout the week ($). Friday wines (yes!) should be a favorite party-like wine ($) and Sunday wines are the perfect wine for that special celebration dinner ($$). Finally, splurge wines are for those really special occasions like anniversaries, weddings or birthday presents to wine columnists ($$). Our four-tiered system is quite flexible. For example, if you had a really terrible Tuesday, go ahead and open that Friday wine. Or if you find out you are having leftovers for Sunday dinner you might want to retreat to that solid but moderately priced Monday wine. Yes, there have been times we discovered that all the Friday and Sunday wines were gone. Thank goodness for those magnificent splurge wines!

My Favorite Holiday

I just remembered, I forgot to write the “Wines for Thanksgiving” column. Here are a few lame excuses; Why is it so early this year? “Wine Line” appears only on the second and fourth Wednesday of each month and the last column was sent in really early because we spent a week in San Luis Obispo (SLO) Wine Country, doing research. I guess I got a bit confused, or maybe did too much research. Anyway, here is a summary of that un-written column … Avoid big tannic wines with high alcohol (14.5-plus). Pace yourself, it’s a very long day and you don’t want your head resting in the mashed potatoes and miss the pumpkin pie. Trust your palate, drink what you like and enjoy the day.

Artisan Winemakers Celebrate

We had a great time at the eighth annual Garagiste Festival in Paso Robles. The Grand Tasting featured 70 wineries, each making about 1,500 cases or less, pouring more than 200 wines. Profits from the event went to the Cal Poly Wine and Viticulture program. Make sure you put it on your “to do” list next year.

What’s on our Table this week is the 2015 Domaine LaFage Bastide Miraflors from Cotes du Roussillon. It is 70 percent Syrah and 30 percent Grenache with flavors of blueberries, blackberries, chocolate and spice. The Wine Advocate liked it (94) and I loved the price, $12.99. Red Blends from Southern France are a steal. I found it at Costco and wished I’d bought more. Check out your favorite wine shop or find it online. Cheers!

This story was originally published November 27, 2018 at 10:37 AM.