"I don't know if I should mention this," the guy was saying. "But that wine, if I did such a thing, I could see myself sitting in the backyard enjoying a nice afternoon bottle."

The guy was leading us through eight bottles of different wines. I'm not sure if it was the look of my roommate and I, but he'd began his spiel over when we started tasting. So as we tried each bottle, we got the story behind the bottle or variety or something about eating fish with white wine.

"Is that wrong?" I asked. "You aren't supposed to just drink wine by itself?"

"Well, I don't want to encourage heavy drinking by anyone," the guy said with a bit of a laugh.

We'd stopped by for a case of wine at one of our neighborhood liquor stores that specializes in wine. If you buy a case, you get 12% off the price of the wine. This means you get it tax free, plus a little extra. Good incentive to buy locally instead of through the Internet. On Saturday, when we walked through the doors, a wine tasting was in progress.

Dressed in the Saturday afternoon style of rock t-shirts (Ween and locals Jason & the Argonauts) and shorts, we were not the typical wine buyers. We were, very possibly, fifteen years younger than everyone else there.

But we enjoy wine. Good wine. Occasionally, great wine. But usually we stick to the good stuff. Between $8 and $20 a bottle. Does the quality go up with the price--usually. The best bottle I've ever tasted cost me almost $50 (not in restaurant--where a $50 bottle is really a $20 bottle--but from an online wholesaler). Interestingly, you finish the bottle just as quickly, no matter what the cost.

Because of ordering, supply and customer service problems, I'd stopped ordering online in the last six months. After a bit of fretting, we began shopping at Jubilation for our wine. The discount, as well as the selection, was a good incentive.

I'd been wine tasting before, but this was the first time I'd gotten a guided tour. I enjoy wine just like I enjoy beer and scotch and gin and all the other facets of the alcohol rainbow: it's about the drinking more than the lingo and history. If it doesn't taste good to me, I don't like it as much. This is not to say I don't mind the bit of history you get from people, but I don't try to pass myself off as an expert on anything other than getting the drink to my lips and down my throat. Although, after a glass or so, I might begin to expound my personal prejudices about wine.

All apologies to the lead character in Sideways, but the first wine I began to drink and enjoy in earnest was Merlot. From there, I spread out to Cabernet Sauvignon and Chianti. Pinot Noir following soon after. White wines can be refreshing on a hot afternoon, but it's rarely my first choice. Champagne is good, but only if you spend an obscene amount for a bottle. And I can only do this occasionally. Otherwise, it's just sparkling wine and should be mixed with something (my Sunday afternoon mimosas are a mixture of crappy sparkling wine and good orange juice), if not avoided altogether.

Now, I tend to pick from all over the spectrum. European wine can be great. South American wine is nice and much cheaper than European wine. Australian wine can be harsh--I'm not sure what this says about Australians, but that Yellowtail crap is for the birds.

I've heard many people say they love these discount wines like Trader Joe's Two Buck Chuck. I think they love that they can buy a case for less than one good bottle costs. Three bottles of $2 wine is not better than a nice $15 Pinot. It's just more wine. I guess I do have hints of wine snobbery.

When we'd made it through all eight bottles selected for tasting (beginning with French Champagne and ending with sparkling red wine--I'd never had this "dark punch" before), I decided to get a mixed case of the lot. It was a nice journey of taste though many different countries. It took about a half an hour and amounted to, in total, about a glass of wine. For my troubles, they threw in a couple extra, different, bottles. One of them, our guide said, was the only wine he's found asparagus goes well with. And nothing goes with asparagus, he said, finding us in agreement if only for the comedy of the statement.

Since the wine store is also a full service liquor store, I had to carry my case to the front to purchase. I'd gotten used to talking about the wine a bit and tried to start up a conversation with one of the clerks. I got very little response to my comments about a Pinot Noir that had surprised me in the past, since it has a screw top instead of a cork.

Not everyone wants to talk about wine, I guess.

Matt Worley can be a bit of a wino from time to time.