End of the year comments

As all of you (zero readers) noticed, I've decided to keep my wine notes in an OpenOffice spreadsheet so that I can sort them by score or winery or price or whatever I damn well choose. I upload my spreadsheet to a Google Spreadsheet periodically, say once every 3-4 weeks.
I had hoped you, the reader, could then sort by whatever column you wanted but alas, read-only mode appears to be a fixed static page in which you can do nothing. So much for the best intentions....

From a wine perspective, what happened in 2006? Well....

1. I visited the Cote du Rhone region in France and learned to really like this style of minerality and red/black fruit.
2. I wavered and then re-affirmed my desire to find great wine bargains at under $20. I probably have the means to spend more, but do you? And after all the hunt for great bargains is half the fun. And if I want to be able to taste a wine and toss it, if it is no good, it is soooo much more enjoyable (aka less guilt ridden) if it costs less than $12.
   
3. I continued to taste wines of all ilks from all across the globe.
4. I have poured repeatedly at a winery open house of which they now know me. Pouring is a lot of fun the first and second time, but from then on the novelty has worn off.
5. I am trying to trim my wine collection due to my spouse's firm demand that I do so. But it is a real challenge with the proximity of Trader Joes, Costco, Bev Mo (did I mention they opened one 3 blocks away?), and of course the Wine Club. Life is rough.
6. I've tried to expand my palate and sadly (or perhaps happily) my palate hasn't changed too much. I'm still fond of neither Pinot Noir nor stony/acidic whites (Sauvignon Blanc being the exception).
7. I got on the Wine Club mailing list (http://thewineclub.com) and this was a very bad choice, as I've ordered many cases over email when I read about the latest great $15 wine.
8. I tried the pour the remaining part of a bottle into a 375mL bottle and corking it with minimal air and found that this still didn't work that well. Of course in the winter when the whole home was cooler, even an open full bottle keeps OK over night in many cases.
9. I've discovered the new double-jointed waiters corkscrew and won't go back to any other type of opener.
10. And of course, I started this blog. It's a lot easier to be a passive (reader) than a writer about wines. But writing about wines really forces one to taste the wine and distill ones thoughts.