Wow, Petlover, Franzia vs. Charles "2 Buck Chuck" Shaw...would beat Falcon Crest in terms of soaps any day! Peter loves the 2 buck chuck or Safeway's response, 2 buck Searidge Merlot.

For company 'table wine' though, I prefer to serve Mouton Cadet. Not bad for $9.00 (even better when it's on sale at S'way for $7.00. If we are doing something special, then I go all out with the Silver Oak Cab (Napa Valley preferably...that goes for about $100 direct from the winery, $100+++ anywhere else). A friend of ours also introduced us to Tiganello from Tuscany, it is very nice and here in California retails for about $80. I also love good Pinot Noirs, I find those from Oregon generally better than California, preferably from the late 90's.

In terms of whites (when we do have them), on the less than $10 side I like Hess Select Chardonnay. If I want to go up into the high teens/low twenties, I like Clos Pegase "Mitsuko's Vineyard" Chardonnay. Peter loves Santa Margarita Pinot Grigio (low 20's), so I always keep a bottle around...goes great when we have Mediterranean Chicken dishes. For the splurge side, nothing like a Far Neinte Chardonnay, that starts around $60 here in the store.

Finally, for summer evenings, we like Lillet, served on ice with a slice of orange...very refreshing!


Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends ~~M. Angelou~~