, for the reasons that you mention, plus Dbl-magnum corks. Along with these, I generally have a free, monogramed foil cutter, which gets replaced about every 5 winery visits, a Vac-u-vin with a handful of stoppers. I had not...

of “Trader Joe's Wine Values,” plus some easy and interesting nibbles from TJ’s to go with the wines. But are there any great wine values from TJ’s that would please experienced wine drinkers? We’re...

Total Wine is going to have more of a selection but the prices between them and Harris Teeter are about the same. Your best bet is to go to Costco or Sam’s Club for on the cheap. The selection is lacking but the value is...

on the entire trip (besides the Michelin-starred extravaganza at Restaurant Edouard Loubet in Bonnieux...) was a lunch at La Fourchette in Avignon. Beautiful Daube Provençal, and a grilled whole fish served with neon-green olive...

. Also, if you think about getting more than one and you ever serve magnums... the traditional decanter won’t fit the whole bottle. I’ve found some nice ones at a modest price (below $40) at Crate and Barrel.

Our family will be spending some time in this area for the Summer. We don’t know anything about the local places. Any recs would be greatly appreciated. We will have 3 kids in tow, so family friendly is a plus. TIA

I see Red and Blue label Chimay at a lot of bars these days. Who’s got the Grande Reserve chilled and waiting for me? Hollywood-area or Westwood-area would be a huge plus. I know 3rd Stop carries Chimay White (Cinq Cent)...

and our favorite night of the whole trip was at this funky family-owned hotel resort called Hotel Ferdinand near Sant 'Angelo. I can’t suggest one amazing restaurant but all the food we had on the island was really fresh...

La Vielle Ferme, red cote-du-Rhone, it is an excellent value wine - Cost Plus World Market carries a MAGNUM for less then $20, per bottle price is around $8. It tastes quite a bit more expensive than it is. We have often had this...

I take it as pre-salt before cooking. The ideal to me is grind, loosely form the patty, a bit (pinch) of NaCl and also a twist of the wrist with my Magnum Plus Pepper Mill (not too much) and cook on really hot cast iron. In a...

will, but will be good in its own way. The 1975 Swan Estate PN is lovely these days with no signs of going over the hill. This bottle was not as fine as the two recent samplings in the last year-plus, one at a chow dinner at Bay...

fresh mozzarella. That’s some good eatin'! Plus, they have live music on Friday nights (well, they did, you might want to confirm that).

perhaps Trio might, though I do not know, they might be interested in cooking something to go with your wine. We brought a magnum to a restaurant in San Francisco once, and since it was far too much wine for us, we gave the host,...

the oak trees with friends is a pretty perfect break from a day of winetasting. Plus, I’m a sucker for their Texas burger and the sweet potato fries. After lunch, we made our way to Schramsberg and I read the description of...

The times I’ve been have been just okay as well. Too bad because I would love to have a great restaurant so close by, but I just haven’t had good experiences. Plus, it gets insanely loud in there.