I don't know any of the bottles of wine at the grocery store anymore. Granted, I also haven't lived in the States for the last five years. So I go to buy wine and stand in the aisle and think: what about this one? or this one? maybe this one? I buy a bottle or two, try it and think yep that was good or nope, didn't love it.

Over the holidays, my sister ended up buying two cases of wine from Three Rivers Winery--one white and one red which we then split. This wine is good and we got it for a great price. Needless to say this mixed case of wine while delightful hasn't helped me identify three or four go-to grocery store bottles of red wine.

So my hunt for the best $8-15 bottles continues.

<a title="Wine wisdom and NPR" href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/02/07/272515201/wine-wisdom-with-a-wink-a-slackers-guide-to-selecting-vino" target="_blank">This piece from NPR is cute and a little irreverent</a>. The recommendations boil down to this: look for any French bottle from Cotes du Rhone, cabernet sauvignon is a sure bet for good cheap wine as the grapes are easy to grow, don't buy pinot noir cheap as this is a finicky grape and as such a good bottle costs more.

If your'e into Top 10 lists, like I am, you'll get sucked into this wine blog--<a title="Reverse wine snob" href="http://www.reversewinesnob.com" target="_blank">the Reverse Wine Snob</a>. All of the wines found on these lists are under $20. The site is a litte frantic in terms of the layout and the endless references to wine sponsors but the reviews make it worth your time.  I'm loving this list: <a title="10 Red Wines under $20" href="http://www.reversewinesnob.com/2014/01/top-10-red-wines-under-20-dollars.html" target="_blank">10 Red Wines under $20--2014 Edition </a>as I know that I've seen many of these wines at my local grocery store. The <a href="http://www.reversewinesnob.com/2013/10/gundlach-bundschu-mountain-cuvee.html" data-ls-seen="1">Gundlach Bundschu Mountain Cuvée 2010</a> and the <a title="Punto y Coma Garnacha 2009 - The Calatayud Strikes Again!" href="http://www.reversewinesnob.com/2013/06/punto-y-coma-garnacha-2009.html" data-ls-seen="1">Punto y Coma Garnacha 2009</a> are both high on my to-find and to-drink list!

<a title="Daily Picks from the Wine Spectator " href="http://www.winespectator.com/dailypicks" target="_blank">The Wine Spectator </a>has a fun daily list feature and I was pleasently surprised to see recomendations for local-ish wineries Columbia Crest Cabernet Sauvignon Columbia Valley Grand Estates 2011 and Chateau Ste Michelle-Dr. Loosen Riesling Saint M 2012

There's this visually beautiful piece from the Pour at the NYT for <a title="The Pour and 20 Winter Wines for $20" href="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/01/08/dining/20140106-POUR.html" target="_blank">20 Winter Wines for $20</a>.

Oh and in case you missed this, there's a new wine guide out: <a title="Scratch and Sniff Wine Guide" href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/0544005031/?tag=mh0b-20&amp;hvadid=3525517277&amp;ref=pd_sl_7nah8wn3jh_ee" target="_blank">The Essential Scratch and Sniff Guide to Becoming a Wine Expert: Take a Wiff of That</a>. The title is kind of a mouthful but the idea is pretty clever.

It turns out that there are a lot of things to re-learn now that I am State-side again.