1.5 Liter Wine Bottles

Soda has been banned from my house with rare exceptions.  Seltzer, plain or flavored, offers substitute fizz with fewer noxious additives.  So does beer, which I now usually keep on hand.  It is consumed one can or bottle at a time, rarely more than two in any week.  I keep canisters of lemonade and iced tea mix.  The manufacturers need to prod their food scientists to improve the speed at which the sugar dissolves.  It is possible, as Turkey Hill cold beverages in one or two-liter plastic containers never have sugar sludge on the bottom.  Fizzy soda on Passover, when the yellow top to the 2-Liter PET bottle designates cane sugar.  And when I go on a road trip, and rarely on an especially hot day, the WaWa or Turkey Hill dispenser with its endless customization tempts me to a liter of iced soda I would not otherwise drink.  While intended for health, measured as weight control, my weekly weigh-ins have not ticked downward.

Wine remains a special occasion beverage, purchased by the glass at a restaurant or bottle for when toiling in my kitchen created an elaborate dinner.  Guests, birthdays, Mother's Day.  They get a 750 ml bottle of wine.  As a beverage for an ordinary supper, as a late evening sip, or as a pre-supper wind down, wine is too expensive.  Its shelf life expires before I can finish a bottle's contents.  Beer, seltzer, lemonade, and iced tea serve the food wash-down function better.  Swigs of high volume do this better than sips designed to distribute smaller amounts on the oral surfaces for flavor appreciation.

At one time I bought mass-produced wine as a beverge.  It came in 1.5 liter bottles.  Popular brands.  Mondavi, Gallo, Taylor from NY State.  My default when I could not decide was Almaden with its lightly tinted green bottle, flattened front and back surfaces, and replaceable cork caps.  It's been decades since I even looked for these.  At the time, screw tops meant cheap wine, but also wine that could be stored for later.  Home devices to rid the bottle of noxious oxygen had recently come to market, but for this, a replaceable cork or screw top would do.  Sometimes they announced the grape.   Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, Merlot though I hardly ever opted for red.  More commonly it had a generic identification.  Chablis, White Blend, Rose, Red.  Use whatever grapes could not be otherwise purposed to minimize a winery's version of Shrink.

I would drink two stemmed glasses of my selection with dinner on consecutive days, or rarely have one glass as a nightcap.  I worked long hours in that era, raised a family who drank soda nightly without fail, and could use an excuse to not drive anywhere after supper.  It generally changed to a much less pleasant taste for the final third of the bottle, though never vinegar.  Sometimes I suffered through to the end with nightcaps, sometimes found a cooking purpose, rarely spilled the remainder in the sink.

Now older, retired empty nester, introduced to bourbon on a road trip through Kentucky to Mammoth Cave a few years ago, and soda avoider.  Maybe get another big bottle of wine to replace the brown distillery liquid that I sometimes pour myself at 4PM or offer an alternative to lemonade from a 4C Mix at supper.  My preferred liquor outlet is a mega-mart.  My state and the one adjacent to it restrict alcohol sales to places dedicated to that purpose.  They had an entire aisle devoted to large bottles of 1.5 and 3L as well as boxes.  And I knew from many dinner purchases previously that technology of bottling has improved.  A screw top no longer doomed the liquid contents.

I roamed the aisle.  Almaden with its unique bottle gone.  Taylor nor more.  Gallo no longer a default.  All bottles were now cylindrical.  Some had screwtops.  Many had non-replacable corks, with the expanded size likely intended for parties where guests would consume that amount in one session.  There were wineries I never heard of from places I am unlikely to ever visit.  They replaced the mass producers from California.  Some specified a grape, some went generic.  Nearly all cost $12-15.  A bargain adjusted for inflation that has occurred since the era when I sought out Mondavi and Almaden. 

I wonder why the American mass producers withdrew from that market.  In the end, my half-case of the Moosehead and Squirrel that prompted my trip already secure in the bottom of my cart, I added an Australian Chardonnay, Martin's Pick-Up brand with what must be an outback vehicle as their logo, to the cart.  Roughly the same price as those twelve beer bottles.

I opened the bottle with supper the next day.  Not bad.  Two stem glasses.  Food pairing, Gorton's Crunchy Fish Fillets heated in the oven and peas.  Intended to be a beverage more than a fine stimulation of taste sensors.  And that's what it was.

Beverages

Been resupplying my liquids of late.  Having divested myself of the evil soda some months ago, now limited to occasional 7-Eleven style indulgences but never from the supermarket in 2 liter PET bottles, I still need hydration.  A few staples have replaced this, water not directly among them though all are really water dominated.

Coffee has its ration, mostly two cups a day, sometimes three in a morning.  Bulk K-cups have and advantage over 12 pod packages in price.  Christmas Tree Shop offers best compromise between selection and price, though Costco offerings are better quality, now that I am a member again.  I keep one can of standard ground coffee around.  Last sale was Maxwell House, mostly phooey, though endeared as a brand for their Haggadah sponsorship.  Lavazza went on sale.  Too finely ground for French Press but ideal for Melita cone drip.  And I still have bean coffee in the pantry.  I took my burr grinder to the basement for Pesach, never returned it, though I do not see any advantages to self-grinding at this point.  I particularly like Sprouts beans which I grind in the store for drip/French press interface, though only when on sale.  Good but too pricey.

Carbonation comes from variants of club soda in one liter bottles.  Often on sale at Shop-Rite but mostly Trader Joe's offers stable price.  These are calorie free, mostly with just the right subtlety of flavor.  I thought I would mix it more with other things, particularly plain club soda with alcohol spiking, but I have not.  I really want mostly the fizz but without the sweetness and chemical adulteration of mass market soda.

Alcohol gets its own category.  To some extent this has been a soda replacement, though limited to one serving either at 4PM while I work on something else in My Space or with supper.  I have been keeping on hand 1500 ml bottles of port and sherry, the large company commercial varieties, generally apportioned in a wine glass.  Some beer is usually at hand.  For some reason the price of beer has accelerated to where craft beer now exceeds my willingness to spend that much for it at Total Whine.  I've given up the growlers altogether.  There are good mid-sized breweries that keep within budget, particularly Moosehead & Squirrel and some of the European or Mexican brews.  Big mass American options are more for getting buzzed than enjoying their beverage merits, so other than occasional Yuengling I've not bought any.  Never been one for spirits.  When tonic water goes on sale I will get a bottle and mix it with two quarter cup measures fizz and one of gin.  Did vodka once, again more notable for buzz than taste.  Colored spirits are a rarity, though I have some on my shelf.  Usually as hot toddies, one quarter cup spirits, two of boiling water with a shake of sugar.  For cold days and typically after supper.  But never more than one serving in any day.

Interestingly, wine is not a regular beverage but needed for Kiddush and a beverage for special dinners, never a thirst quencher or something to keep on hand.  Unlike port and sherry, it has a more limited drinkable longevity so it's not really kept on hand but targeted for specific occasions.

I also accumulated a large collection of Celestial Teas herbal varieties.  For a while I would have these after my coffee ration or later in the day when too late for caffeinated liquids.  Not since the warm weather, though.  

So the all artificial everything can give way to liquids of better value and better sensory experience.  Doubt I will ever resume soda beyond Passover certified Coca-Cola.