Not a wine club - but rather from the 10+ year Wine Column that ran in the WSJ - written by Dorothy Gaiter and John Brecher. As mentioned, it should probably be adjusted to $120 or so, as this is from 2006:

http://guides.wsj.com/wine/learning-a ... w-to-wine-how-do-i-start/

Quick, funny story - my brother attended college in France in the late '70's. Mom had never boarded a plane before but was determined to visit him. An office colleague of hers was the sister of Frank J. Prial, the wine columnist for The New York Times and and she/mom would be visiting with Frank and his wife for dinner during their stay.

Was mom nervous about boarding a transatlantic flight, recovering from jet lag, dealing with a foreign language, etc? No! All that she could focus on was her lack of knowledge regarding wine and how she would possibly get through dinner with this highly esteemed critic.

She arrives safely in Paris, visits with my brother and on about the third night travels to Frank's tiny Parisian apartment where he offers her a glass of red or white wine. Mom makes her preference of white known and Frank reaches to the floor and hoists up a JUG of his family's favorite house white wine. Yes, the guy who reviews mega expensive bottles for a living drinks jug wine at home.

No pomp or circumstance - just new friends enjoying a glass of inexepenive vino and sharing a good conversation. I've never forgotten that that's what it's all supposed to be about.

what is the "$100/wine case challenge from the Wall Street Journal" bit that was in your post? is it part of the journal's wine club?

Jersey Wines has a great selection and always something new to sample.

Thanks for the tip. $112 for a case of good wines is a deal.

Just wanted to give a shout out to Jersey Wine & Spirits for their service this past weekend. We were throwing a party and called them on Friday with the $100/wine case challenge from the Wall Street Journal.

I specified grape varieties that I liked / disliked and requested that they split the case with half red / half white - 2 bottles of each brand.

Lauren discounted some of her favorite wines, just to back into the price point and tallied the case at $116 - which I gladly agreed to as the WSJ challenge is 10+ years old and should probably be bumped up to $120 for inflation. I also wanted a nice selection of Vermont brews and specified a delivery time (free).

A guest at our party was a wine distributer and complimented us on the awesome selection served that day. Wow - and we hadn't done anything more than give a bit of guidance and pay an affordable liquor bill.

So happy to have a shop like this in our area - they're smart and enthusiastic and I always feel better educated after conversations with them. They make wine purchasing affordable and approachable for everyone.

Bottoms up!