I was invited to dinner by my niece last night, and asked if we could stop and pick up a bottle of wine for our hosts en route.  I have always felt incompetent in this area and don’t have any system to follow, so I asked her how she goes about finding a wine to give to someone. What she replied amazed me.

“I look for the one that is not the cheapest, but maybe just a little above that. Then I look at the label to see which one is attractive to me…it could be its design, colors, or something on it that reminds me of the person (a frog, a rooster?). Then I decide whether white or red based on whatever I know about their taste or what they are serving.Voila!”

Having been around some fabulous connoisseurs over my lifetime, I have to say I was thrilled. This was my system too!!! Coming from a twenty-something, it certainly validated me and let me feel I hadn’t missed a whole lot by being out of the wine loop for years.

In the end we picked one with a rooster and a color on the label that matched the hostess’ kitchen…bright red! Now I wonder how that will affect all the people making those wines so worried about the aroma and all those other things that we are supposed to be looking for? It was terrific, and so was our meal….a perfect match …for the kitchen, the cook and our pocketbook!