Hello! It’s been a while! I let my posts lapse a bit (more than a year) so I could focus on some other things. No, no one know died of covid, thank God. No, I didn’t get fired from a job because of covid. But a lot of things have changed since I wrote here. One thing that hasn’t is drinking!

In almost two decades of drinking wine, I’ve learned to avoid certain brands in the grocery store. Of course, everyone’s palate is different, and what I dislike you may LOVE with your entire being. But this is an incomplete list of some of those I avoid. Maybe we can commiserate.

• Dreaming Tree (sorry, DMB; I still love your music!)
• Save Me San Francisco (Train’s brand)
• Josh
• Starborough
• Alamos
• Apothic
• 14 Hands (generally — I think there was one I liked one time?)
• Rex Goliath (though for a time I LOVED their cab)
• Yellow Tail
• Beringer (again, for a time I LOVED their white zinfandel. It’s what got me through the end of college.)

There are SO MANY OUT THERE that I haven’t tried. However, when I find something I like, I tend to stick with it, unless my palate changes. Here are those I’ve returned to repeatedly over the years:

• Barefoot – Their pinot grigio is awesome. I like mixing it with their riesling in white sangria; just add some OJ, crushed strawberries and/or blueberries, a little lime juice. Delicious! And when I’m not feeling fancy, either one is great on its own.
• Chateau Ste. Michelle – Love their riesling and chardonnay. I also gave a friend an Indian Wells cab of theirs one time, and she wanted to share it with me during our visit. I was blown away!
• Menage a Trois – I don’t know why I steered away from this brand for so long. Maybe it was the name? Maybe the label wasn’t interesting enough? (Note to self: Don’t judge wines by the label.) I’ve just been LOVING their reds! Right now, the Midnight Dark Red is my favorite.
• Toasted Head – The merlot and barrel-aged cab are perfect for making mulled wine or just drinking out the bottle.
• RayLen – When my husband refers to “a bottle of barrel,” he means RayLen’s barrel chardonnay. When we want to splurge (it’s not cheap, but mid-range), we’ll buy it.
• Shelton – I’ve liked several of theirs, including the cabernet franc and the Bin17 chardonnay.

What are some wines you like? What should I try? Let me know in the comments. I’ll try anything once — maybe more than once if I like it!