I want more egg-cress sandwiches.

Howver, you can be pretty sure that whatever Carmel imports is going to be pretty much undrinkable.

Isamu, yeah, importer is big. Probably single biggest thing that sells me a bottle, but I have a very limited selection usually. Joe Dressner, Terry Theise, Neal Rosenthal, Kermit Lynch, a few of my favorites worth looking up if you’re curious about the concept.

Ed, don’t mind me. Good to have you aboard.

I have to confess that I typically enjoy Cabs, although I hate to think there’s a link there to sugary, syrupy drinks. Either way, I’m glad to learn more about grape vs. region vs. importer. I had no idea the importer was such a factor, though it makes perfect sense.

Also, I suppose that you now have 5 readers.

I guess you just aren’t a snob. For most people, wine, like pretty much everything else IS a class marker. They drink it to impress their friends or to defer to the opinions of people by whom they are intimidated so they can fit in with the crowd, and to display their supposed sophistication to their betters (and to people they feel are lower on the social ladder than they are). As Bertie Wooster said, it is sometimes impossible to resist the fatal urge to swank.

I agree with you on the ridiculous trend on the part of winemakers in California to produce these “monster Cabs” or whatever they call them. Perhaps such wine has its place, but I prefer something a little less “LOOK AT ME!! POWERFUL ENOUGH FOR YA!??!? to go with my food. It just seems so typically American to go for the “big” thing.

I disagree on your pairing advice, though. I agree that this subject gives people much too much of an opportunity to display their inner pedant (or snob), but a Pinot Grigio goes much better with a sole meuniere than a Zinfandel does. I think that in general (depending on the preparation, of course) the “red wine with red meat and white wine with chicken and fish” holds up fairly well, as a general rule of thumb, or a point of departure. You just have the self-confidence to experiment and not follow such rules blindly just because someone said they’re the rules.