In the beginning...

...well, maybe not The Beginning that we learn about in Sunday School.

But not long after that beginning there was another, in which tiny little artists called yeast cells devoured the sugars they found in fruit, and were themselves fruitful and multiplied many millions of times over. The legacy they left behind--the waste product which they effectively drowned in--was ethyl alcohol, which someone eventually discovered that, taken internally, makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. It can hardly have been long before some enterprising person figured out how to harness the power of yeast, and thus the first winemaker was born.

Down through the centuries and millennia, the art of crafting wine has changed and evolved into what we have today--a thriving industry fed by constant demand and the never-ending quest for that perfect glass of the fruit of the vine.

By some estimates, there are nearly 36 billion bottles (yes, that's "billion," with a B!!) produced annually worldwide. With all those choices, we certainly can't taste them all, though it is certainly worth a try...

...which brings us to the purpose of this weblog. This blog is intended as the layman's guide to the wines available on the mass market, a "wine guide for the rest of us," so to speak. What I hope to accomplish here is to cut through the pretentious nonsense that may keep regular folks like you and me from experiencing the joys of wine. This is wine-101 for the common man and woman, wherein I'll be sampling a new wine about once a week or so and telling you all about it, as well as posting recipes and articles. What you will find here are my own personal opinions of wines that I find on the shelves of the supermarket down the street or in my travels about the countryside and around the world. I also hope to educate, in common language, about the history and lore surrounding some of the types of wine that I sample. It is my sincerest hope that this blog will not be a one-sided conversation during which I talk and hope you listen. I hope to foster an environment of levity in which we can all learn to share a passion for wine. Above all, however, I want to help every man act with confidence when his wife calls to tell him to bring home a bottle of wine for dinner!

So pull up a chair and grad a glass--we have a lot of wine to drink!

Oh--I almost forgot...PLEASE enjoy wine responsibly!!