A Convenience Wine

A friend (and neighbor) of mine asked me to pick him up  on my way home one evening recently, explaining he had to drop off his car overnight and needed a lift home.  Along the way he asked  if I could stop at the store s9 he could pick up a bttle of "convenience wine."  Not knowing  the term, I assumed he wanted me to stop off at a 7-Eleven, or some other gas station/convenience store along the way.  ~When I started to turn in and asked if this one would be OK, he said "no, oh no, you don't know what I meant.  Head for a grocery store, I think."

"So, what's a 'convenience wine'?" I asked.  "A convenience wine bas three (sometimes 4) characteristics," he explained.  "It is usually a screw-top, a white--more often than a red, it is reasonably priced and it is sold cold."  "Tell me why I can't just turn around and go to the convenience store," I said in reply.

"What makes you say that?" he asked.  "It's the screw top, isn't it?  Screw-tops have been used for fine wines bottled in Australia and New Zealand for years.  There is nothing inferior about them.  It's just more convenient to be able to unscrew the bottle than hunt for an opener and even use the opener."

"If you're worried about the quality, don't.  A screw cap seals the bottle and does not allow any oxygen into the bottle, thus keeping it crisp and well-preserved.  Lots of reds require a little oxygen to age well in the bottle, most whites do not.  Corks allow a bit of oxygen into the bottle."

"OK," I tell him, "but why must it be sold cold?"  "That is a a convenience issue, most whites are consumed chilled, so who wants to waste the time waiting for the wine to chill?"

"And 'reasonably-priced' is just common sense.  If they won't let me open it and I have to leave it behind, I don't want to break the bank (or my heart), because I dropped a bunch of money on it."

So there you have it--'convenience wine.'