Notes From the Wine Cellar

In a conversation a while back on Face Book, my cousin, Lynn, was telling me about a wine called "Choco Vine". Yes, that's Dutch for "chocolate wine". The label clearly states..."The taste of dutch chocolate and fine red wine." Well...who could resist trying that?

Lynn said she gets it at her local grocery store. So I went on the hunt for Choco Vine. My local Kroger store has an extensive wine department, so I started there. Turns out they don't carry this particular treat. I was able to find it at another store, though, and I can tell you that it's very good. Tastes pretty much like Bailey's Irish Cream.

But while in Kroger's, I spent quite a bit of time really looking at all the wines they did have. I usually just run through and grab one of our favorites. Moscato is our current wine of choice. But I didn't know what Choco Vine looked like and Lynn said there were red and yellow tulips on the label. So I was looking at all the labels on the bottles. That's quite an adventure! There were a couple of labels that caught my attention, so I decided to buy these and try them based on that alone. One called Three Alarm Cellars had a really neat label. It simply said it was a "California red wine". They didn't say what food it would be good with, but I'm guessing maybe Five Alarm Chili? But when I read the label I saw that a portion of the proceeds from the sale of their wines goes to an organization dedicated to enhancing the lives of burn survivors and promoting burn prevention. In addition, the painting on the front of a 1945 Diamond T fire truck was painted by a fire captain and his paintings have earned thousands of dollars which have been donated to the Widows and Orphans fund of 9-11. So there were a couple of good reasons to try this wine. I wish we would have liked it better. It was a little robust for our taste. But we like sweeter wines, so don't let my opinion stop you from trying it. They also have a white -- so maybe I'll try that one.

Another one that caught my eye was one called "pink truck" (no capitol letters). And the description was simply, "California pink wine". Well, that was just a fun looking label. Apparently the wine makers in California don't give a lot of descriptions on their labels. We tried that one the other night and I can tell you it goes quite well with meat loaf.

I was telling the girls about my sophisticated new system for choosing wines and Jessica told me I should check out some that Target had called "Middle Sister Wines".

Since I AM a middle sister, how could I not? Some of you may be thinking Target is not a place where you would choose a fine wine, but here in "redneck country" that's what we do. Well....there were so many to choose from. Names like "Wicked White", "Drama Queen", "Rebel Red", "Mischief Maker", and "Forever Cool" beckoned me. But I chose one called "Smarty Pants". Not only did it fit, but it was a chardonnay and I thought we might like it. And we did!

So there you have it. A wine novice's tour of grocery/department store wine selections. Take up my challenge -- and let me know what off-the-wall wines you try and what you think of them. I toast your adventuresome spirit!