Well, if nothing else, this topic has proven the saying, "In vino, veritas!" (In wine, there is truth.)
Colin /Cyrano mentioned a Texas-grown Chenin blanc. A good one can be a nice place to begin learning wine, although I haven't seen that varietal much here in recent years. It used to be more popular.
Don't underestimate a good domestic Sauvignon blanc, like Kendall-Jackson's or a domestic Riesling from Washington or northern California.
Some of the Chilean producers also do pretty well with white wines like those mentioned, although they're better known for Cabernet sauvignon and Merlot.
Actually, I don't think I've had a Merlot, as such. But I've drunk wines from Pomerol and St Emilion in Bordeaux, and Merlot is the dominant red grape there, although usually blended with Cab. sauv., Petit verdot, etc. to get the house formula.
Some here remind me of the police chief in, "Jaws." I'm mainly referring to the book, although I think the scene was also in the film. He married above himself socially and his wife was acquainted with the family of the ichthyologist, who was, I think, very poorly cast in the movie. So was the wife, too old and not refined enough... There are reasons why I think Dreyfuss was chosen for the role, but I can't address that here. Anyway, the wife had dated this guy's older brother and she liked him and wanted to impress him, make him aware that hers wasn't just a blue collar home.
So, she made a nice dinner and had the chief open the wines. I forgot the red, but the white was from a very famous and expensive Burgundy estate, Le Montrachet. (Pronounced as Lay Mon- ro-SHAY.) The chief struggled with the name and came up with Mt. Ratchet.
Does anyone else who read the book recall the red wine? My copy is buried in a box under some other stuff that'd be a nuisance to move to get to it, although I do want to read it again.
Thos. Jefferson thought that a nation that drank wine was more temperate than one that drank hard liquor. He was personally very wine knowledgeable, and some of the wines that he preferred are still made. (No, I don't think he got Sally Hemmings drunk...)
I've probably been legally drunk twice in my life. One case involved too many drinks one cold night in Newfoundland which left me pretty happy. Thankfully, I didn't have to work that night. The other case was a tasting where I met Jean Hugel and enjoyed his company after the tasting. Too much of his Riesling Reserve Exceptionelle and his Gewurtztraminer, and too little of the little crackers. But my wife was picking me up and driving. She commented that I must have really enjoyed that Alsatian wine...
I don't drink to get hammered. If alone, I save half the bottle of wine (storing it correctly in the 'frig. ) for the next night. Or, some estates offer wine in smaller bottles, called half bottles. I like to get a deli roasted chicken and make a meal around that and save half the chicken and half the wine for the next meal.
Cajun, I hear you, but I think that more is said here than is tongue-in-cheek. Some have revealed aspects of their character that I find disturbing. Other posts are in fact funny, but what will they make some student or prospective new gun owner from a refined background think of us? That was my point. I'm not trying to rain on anyone's parade, but gee whiz...
Seriously, I hope that some of you will approach fine wines with an open mind and without class resentment. Adding wine to meals can be a very nice enhancement to one's life.
