Here are five reasons that joining a (good) wine club is worth it.

1. Wine clubs allow you to experience a much larger array of wines than your local store, or even wine shop, may have. If, like us, you live far from any large wine shops a wine club is a godsend. A trip to the local chain store is not going to afford you the chance to find many of the great wines available from around the world. Nor are you likely to get a professional’s take on a selection at the local store as you will when using a wine club.

2. Wine clubs “force” you to widen your wine horizons. We all have our prejudices when it comes to wines. Even if you think you like to be adventurous and try new wines, often you may avoid certain wines based on a prior experience. Having someone else making  your selections gives you the opportunity to try a wider range of wines than you would likely try on your own, or to give another chance to a type you normally avoid. For example if you asked Craig three months ago if he’d like a glass of Sauvignon Blanc he would hold his nose and back away slowly keeping the bottle in sight before making his escape. But through the wine club we got to try a lovely Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand that made him see SBs in a whole new light. Now he is eager to try more and we’ve found several he loves.

And Judy had had so many mediocre imports from the grocery store that she really had a low opinion of inexpensive French and Italian wines. Now we’ve had so many good, food friendly, imports we’re starting to go to the European wines first when ordering from a wine list.

3. Wine clubs offer great percs. Not only are you privy to bargains and special pricing, but their newsletters are a trove of information. What’s hot, what’s not, new releases, winemakers making news, etc.

4. Wine clubs save you money by removing bad choices. (And some just plain save you money by hunting down the best bargains.) How many people can say they’ve never bought a bad wine? We’ve glugged more than a few bad choices down the drain, and had some mediocre ones sit on the counter waiting to be applied to a pot of spaghetti sauce instead of our glasses. We can happily say we’ve never had to do that with a wine club offering. While not every wine we receive is our “style”, I can happily report that every bottle we’ve received has been of good quality, at least enjoyable and interesting, and a good representative of its type. Most have been just plain excellent. In addition, as we are in the “Best Buy Club”, the prices for the wines have been amazing. These are wines that generally taste like you paid twice or three times as much as you did for them.

5. Finally, and best of all, when that delivery van pulls up and the doorbell rings it’s just like Christmas… Every month of the year.

More info on our wine club…The Catz are members of the K&L wines Best Buy Club – and hope to add at least one more of the clubs one of these days (but how to choose?) K&L offers a Best Buy Club, Premium Club, Signature Red Club, Champagne Club, Club Italiano, and a personal Sommelier service. Check them out here. The Catz are NOT affiliates, and do not receive any free wine or perks for this recommendation. We just really like our wine club, and think you might too!

I know some wine lovers feel that a wine like Riesling’s ability to morph flavors from fruit and flowers to gasoline and floor wax is a positive thing, but don’t count me among them. I like my whites fresh and fruity, and hope that my palate never becomes jaded enough to go pleasure hunting in the garage for new experiences.

Nor would you think that touting the fact that the bottle of wine you bought tastes of oil refining byproducts is a good thing. Is it just me or does anyone else find it strange that advertising bad tastes and smells as good components of a fine wine is commonplace in the wine world.

Here are a few of our favorites

• Cat pee (why was Mom trying to wash it off the drapes if it smelled so good?)
• Road tar  (not the kind of hot summer day we like to be reminded of.)
• Petrol  (just try to sniff some of this tonight and see how you feel in the morning.)
• Green pepper (we don’t eat them unless force is used. Drinking them sounds even worse.)
• Barnyard (if you’ve been on a farm, or at the zoo, no explanation necessary.)

Some of these terms are in our Enolish to English translator, check ‘em out.

So I admit it. Even after all these years, my relationship with the wines I drink may be a bit shallow compared to people who hang out with the complex, well aged sophisticates of the wine world. I am the eonologic equivilent of a man going through a mid-life crises. I tend to look for something fresh and young that retains the flavors of it’s origins to snuggle up with.

What do you  think of the more challenging flavors in aged wines?

This is one of those special wines that are equally good with food as they are when accompanied by just you and a glass. This Syrah is a bold wine with rich fruit with smokey under tones. What we found exceptional about this vintage is the fully ripe fruit aromas and tastes that burst forth on the nose and palate, while not feeling overblown. Rich plum and currant flavors are spiced with molasses and licorice candy. A long graceful finish. A great accompaniment for a special meal (though Judy would just as soon take it into a corner and slurp it down neat).

At $24, a great bargain for a special wine. Sadly Judy just read it was sold out, but maybe a few are still lurking on wine store shelves out there. If you love Syrah, we recommend you get a jump on next year’s vintage before the WS list comes out!

Summer waned and our focus wandered to wintery reds. But we weren’t quite ready to stop drinking rosé. In fact, we rather disagree with the common thought that rosé is a summer wine. We think that rosé is a wine to bridge all seasons. Lovely for sipping and a match for so many foods – it is perhaps one of the best candidates to be a safe bet as a holiday hostess gift when you are invited to a dinner party.

And our wine today was the embodiment of all that is good about “real” rosé. Coppola’s Sofia Rosé (2010) is a blend Grenache and Syrah and it is a stunner. Beautifully packaged, gorgeously rose colored, for us it displayed a fine nose of watermelon, lime zest, and lavender with hints of cedar. In the mouth, charmingly redolent of red fruits, flowers, and a kiss of sweet herbs, it gives it flavors generously, backed by perfectly balanced acids that brought us back for another sip, then another. At the end, we were wowed by a long finish that smacks of wildflower honey and lemon.

This wine is packaged, and marketed in a very feminine style, with a gracefully shaped bottle. I asked Craig if he found that the least off-putting. And he said it was a bit, for a guy. It is not the kind of bottle a guy buys for himself. However, this is the exact bottle of wine anyone would want to give to a valentine, or a present as a classy hostess gift at a holiday dinner. Now, having tasted it, we need no excuse. Nothing would keep us away.

Retail $19 – we feel this is a good price for a special wine.

Sofia 2010 was rated 90 pts by the Wine enthusiast.