"If nothing else, get three bottles of sparkling wine into your house or apartment now." [Flickr: bignoseduglyguy] It's that time of year again, when your life is about to get really hectic. Before you hit the panic button, do yourself a favor and go out this weekend and buy a mixed case of wine. With a mixed case of wine in your closet, you'll be prepared for the drop-by visitors, last-minute takeout decisions, and leftovers that can make the most organized person scramble. Most of us remember to buy wine for the family dinners and big celebrations of the months to come—it's the smaller stuff that makes you want to tear your hair out. I'd recommend buying three bottles of...
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On Fridays, Deb Harkness of Good Wine Under $20 drops by with Serious Grape. This week, the best of affordable Cabernets. Photograph from hahnfamilywines on Flickr California produces many different wines, but the state's iconic grape is arguably Cabernet Sauvignon. California Cabernet is a tricky thing to purchase, however—or at least I've found it tricky. Top-level wines from Napa can be very expensive, highly limited, or both. Widely-available wines can be bland and lack the distinctive varietal characteristics that make Cabernet so popular. The result can often be a wine with mushy flavors that makes you say "Hey, this wine tastes red!" If you want more from your Cabernet than "red," here are my recommendations for wines that stand out...
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On Fridays, Deb Harkness of Good Wine Under $20 drops by with Serious Grape. This week, red wines for the chilly weather. Photograph from TheBusyBrain on Flickr With much of the country in a deep freeze, it seemed like the perfect time to talk about red blends. Here in the United States, we are used to seeing wines with a single, particular grape listed proudly on the label, such as Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot. Some think these single-grape bottlings indicate higher quality, and feel that if you have to blend your juice, then there's something wrong with it. Not true. Red blends have been made for centuries all over the world, most notably in Bordeaux, France, where the famous red...
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Malbec Mouth. Tannin Teeth. It's the grown-up counterpart to the orange soda staining your tongue. Except, for some reason, the wine tattoo is so much less triumphant. But now red winos have a weapon in their arsenal: Wine Wipes. A pocket-sized compact with mirror (for discreet wipage) and 20 orange blossom-flavored wipes that promise not to interrupt with wine tasting. Order one for $6.95 on the Borracha website. Now you can make your dentist happy, while this guy in the hat hits on you!...
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Every other week, Deb Harkness of Good Wine Under $20 joins us to talk some Serious Grape. Here's the latest. Photograph from Zed.Cat on Flickr Is it just me or is everyone suffering from the early fall crazies? The Labor Day holiday is looming ahead of us. Kids need back-to-school supplies and rides to and from soccer, ballet, and piano lessons (circle as appropriate). Then there's your boss, who returned from vacation full of new plans for office efficiency and greater productivity. It's enough to make the lazy days of summer seem all but a distant memory. Here's my wine survival tip for late summer and early fall: buy a mixed case of wine now, because things will only get...
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