"house wine" news and stories

Confession time: what's the wine you buy on autopilot, the wine you know inside and out like a wife of many years, the one that's reliable, trustworthy, and has stood by you through thick and thin?

A recent Nielsen survey commissioned by Constellation Brands divides wine consumers into six broad categories. Fourteen percent are Satisfied Sippers, who tend to always buy the same brand, and twenty-three percent (the largest category) are Overwhelmed, staring down the endless wine aisles and not knowing what to get. It's easy to draw the next conclusion--these buyers end up getting the tried and true as well.

I don't advocate tossing the wife, but this month what about banning the house wine? (If you drink beer or cocktails or even soda, read on--you can do this, too.)

At restaurants, house wine tastes somewhere between boring and wretched. At home, house wine is good for many things--you already know you like it and can serve a bottle to unexpected guests, or just when you yourself are tired and don't have the energy to try anything new.

But January is the time for new beginnings. Instead of buying the same-old wine, fill a case with 12 wines you've never seen in your life (you'll get a 10-20 percent discount on a case, so there's even more incentive). There may be some duds in the dozen, but life is short, and wine is fun, when you're willing to branch out a bit.