After being the wine-bearer at a number of Calvinist dinner parties over the past month, I found myself last night looking at a nearly empty wine rack. There was only one bottle left: the 1997 Chateau La Cordonne Medoc I purchased months ago, my first foray into $20+ per bottle wine. I had been saving it for a special occasion but decided, like Miles in Sideways, that I probably won't be having any special occasions anytime soon. Besides, in a dry county you can't just nip down to the corner grocery store to pick up some table wine. So I poured a glass of the Medoc with some pasta and gingerly took a sip, bracing myself for gustatory ecstasy.

While it certainly tasted different than the mass-produced stuff I'm used to, I can't say I enjoyed it more. It was surprisingly watery and muted, though perhaps real connoisseurs would chalk that up to a palate corrupted by gin and cheap merlots. Can any wine snobs out there tell me anything about this vineyard? Anyway, it's probably just as well that someone on a librarian's salary not get enamored of pricey booze.