Consider this a wine club of sorts (as opposed to whine club we've got going on in the NHL between owners and player's union alike) to discuss and review wines you've tried recently, or long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away. I'm going to allow for free form environment for review here, as I believe the attitude toward wine has already reached its apex in pretension in the last decade or so. Once upon a time, people just drank it.

This isn't to say that wine making cannot be art. It can be complicated and nuanced, which leads to collections, vast wine cellars and copious reviews (more professional than these). But I think wine suffers in that it is all together taken too seriously, unlike beer (which suffers from the opposite problem). You really don't have to know that much about it to enjoy it, but knowing more makes it even more enjoyable. So consider this a reason to grow your knowledge of the glory that is the fermented grape*.

For the purposes of review, I think we should be sure to include the following details in each review: 1) vintage, 2) producer/winery, 3) name 4) grape varietal, 5) country of origin and region if known 6) price and finally, 7) drinkability.** Drinkability can include anything from notes, character, complexity, intensity, length, finish, acidity, alcohol content, aroma, oak (don't get me started on this), attack, astringency, age or even suggested food pairings, if any. You can go as in depth as you prefer in accordance with your comfort level. I, for one, can't always taste the fricken pear notes or smell that hint of chocolate in the bouquet, but am all to happy to continue to search for them.

So with fall in full swing and the temps rapidly descending into our eventual winter of no hockey, pop that synthetic cork (or twist off those caps, which are perfectly acceptable and even better than cork), and drink up for the greater good!

*white zinfandel not included
**If you have a photo of the label, that's helpful, too