Pinot?

Drinking Merlot is no longer in my repertoire. I had to dump Merlot after watching "Sideways." Not that Merlot was ever my favorite wine. In bars and restaurants I go with Pinot, usually.

I have a great method of picking out wine at our local store. First of all, you have to consider the season. Not the year or season of the wine, but the season we're in right now. White wine goes with summer, and red wine goes with fall and winter.

The other most important thing to watch for is simply - what do other people buy? If I look at all the racks in the store and I see that one type of wine is almost out then, hey, that's gotta be a good one. I always go with that one. Maybe not so original, but safe. You really should never play around with drinks or food.

Price of course, cannot be ignored. I stick to the $10-dollar range, although an $8-dollar bottle makes me nervous (can't taste good) and a $13-dollar bottle pisses me off, especially after they add taxes and suddenly the bottle is $14.75. An $11-dollar bottle of wine is perfect, with a cool label, of course. It's got to have a nice label.