Budget Wine Tasting
Since I moved to the Pacific Northwest almost a year ago, I've tried to blend in by embracing beer culture. I bought a couple of growlers and went out 2 or 3 times a week (I'm retired) to have a pint and fill one of my 32-ouncers, which gave me 2 more pints of beer for the next couple of days (I usually have one drink with dinner). For a while this was fun because I got to see my new hometown, visit every brewpub in Vancouver and always had fresh, delicious beer with dinner. And yes, growler beer does taste noticeably more fresh than bottled beer from the store. However, after I'd been to every brewpub 2 or 3 times, this routine started to become a chore - buying beer 2 pints at a time.
Turns out, the PNW also has wine culture. So I visited a local winery, tasted some reds (what I usually drink when I drink wine) and bought their enviro-box (equivalent to 4 bottles) for about $95. All of their wine was similarly priced - about $25 per bottle. I finished my enviro-box of wine and even though it was good, I thought I could do a lot better than $25 per bottle.
So, I decided to concentrate only on Columbia Valley rosé (because there are many good examples available, but not an unmanageable number to deal with), especially from Sangiovese grapes (just because I like Italian wine and Sangiovese seems to the the one Italian-sounding grape grown in the Columbia Valley and used to make rosé. And I decided to start out at no more than $10 per bottle, which would make it a better value than growler beer. I picked up 6 different bottles at Fred Meyer and/or BevMo, so far I've tasted four (all $7.99 to $9.99) and THREE of them (all but the least expensive) were wines that I enjoyed and would buy again.
Drinking problem solved!
= new reply since forum marked as read
You don't have to buy a dozen bottles at a time. It can be a pain, as an adult has to be home when the box is delivered. I guess they don't want to leave alcohol outside your door.
It's not as much fun as a tour through wine country (with the obligatory tastings 
.
Their basic offerings are well under $20.00 and not bad for everyday or frequent consumption. No rose' though... we enjoy their cabernet, merlot and riesling..
Interested in finding out more about the Sangiovese grapes...
We're hoping to do a winery tour soon... in checking their website, they have an impressive line up of artists during the summer season.
https://www.ste-michelle.com/visit-us/events-calendar
Elvis Costello, Moody Blues, John Legend and Santana just to name a few...
Thank you for your post...!!
