Years ago, I had a relative who was running a restaurant, and she did a wine-tasting for the staff to educate them on wines and pairings, and I got to sit in on

Years ago, I had a relative who was running a restaurant, and she did a wine-tasting for the staff to educate them on wines and pairings, and I got to sit in on it. It wasn't a blind taste-test, but they opened a bunch of bottles of wine, port, and champagne (only ones that'd be served at a restaurant though, not some ultra-cheap supermarket stuff). Invariably, I found that I liked the cheapest varieties the best. The $100/bottle port tasted like crap to me ("Grandfathers"? I think that might have been the name), whereas the cheapest port was fantastic paired with chocolate, which was something I had never tried at the time. Same with wines and champagnes; the cheap Asti Spumanti tasted good to me, the expensive stuff was just nasty. I also think the roll-your-own is a great idea. Wine snobbery is annoying; I try to only buy bottles where they show right on the label what kind of wine it is (sweet vs. dry) instead of a bunch of stupid flowery language about notes and aromas. I also wish they'd cut it out with the stupid corks. Those make as much sense now as wooden spokes on car wheels, or 50-pin SCSI ports on computers. Screw-on caps are superior in every way.