I’m Mary-Bailey and I love to drink wine. I also to love to read about wine, talk about wine, and look at wine. I like to drink wine in vineyards and restaurants, on a lovely deck or a fluffy couch…sometimes in my comfy bed (I work night-shifts…).

Currently, I’m on my deck in West Philadelphia drinking an Elbling that I just picked from our local beer store, which just this year was allowed to start selling wine! This wine is from Mosel (see my post about Rieslings), but the grape taste is much closer to a Sauvignon Blanc–tart and lean perfect for deck sitting.

Three years ago I moved to Philly from Charlottesville, Virginia. I’ve always loved wine, and had always lived a stones throw from a small mom and pop wine shop where I could drop by, tell the person who was working that day what I was looking for (an oaky California red under $20 please!), and walk out with something delicious.

Then, I moved to Philadelphia. I don’t totally understand the laws (apparently there is actually someone called a wine tzar–I’m trying to figure out how to be him…), but in Pennsylvania until this last January you could only buy wine at state run wine stores (even now, the selection at non-state run stores is slim and generally over-priced). I found myself walking into one of these stores, not really knowing what I was doing and $70.00 later drinking something mediocre, and in a bad mood. I MISSED GOOD WINE.

That’s when I realized a little googling, and maybe a little driving (not all state run stores are equal), could go a long way towards finding a palate-pleaser. I started to research different wine regions, and what years were best. Large -name vineyard’s and their off-shoots. I started to be able to eye a sure-bet wine and a wine that was a little riskier but might be worth it (also, what to stay away from…Apothic Red, step away from the Apothic Red ladies).

The first time I realized my research was paying off was when I had to help my boyfriend pick out wine to take to a friend’s passover. He picked out an Italian red and also wanted a white. I steered him toward the Trimbach Pinot Blanc which I’d been reading about (and is actually one of the only decent wines to get at my local state-run joint). That night when we opened the Trimbach everyones eyes lit up. This wine was REALLY good. We all agreed we could drink 4 glasses of THIS wine (it’s also lower in alcohol so is actually a really good passover wine choice).

Since then, I’ve found myself taking wine to lots of events, and after a few glasses talking about how I found it, and how I decided on it. Usually, I also talk about what a pain it is to buy wine in Pennsylvania. But, I’ve realized this may have been a blessing in disguise because I know more about wine now than I ever intended, and I love it!

To me, the difference between a good and a mediocre wine is all about feeling. How it makes my mouth feel, how it makes me feel, how it makes the people I’m drinking it with feel when that first sip hits their tongue. When a wine is really good it brightens the day. That complex interplay between taste, feeling, and finish–it’s something beautiful that we can taste. There’s a reason spirits are called spirits, they can bring out the spirit in us. The right wine makes my spirit dance at the first taste. And, I love that.

Our generation–in particular the basic broads of our generation–drinks a lot of wine. My hope is that we will drink more of the good, and less of the mediocre.  Because, lets be honest, the mediocre actually kind of sucks.