I was in my locoal wine store last afternoon when I spied the bottle of Chateau Moulin De Mallet on the "bargain wines" table. At $9 I figured why not? But I decided to ask the owner of the shop, a good friend who is in to HO gauge, what he thought - would it go well with running my trains? He said that it was okay, but he'd recommend a Hudson Valley wine instead. I said, I don't like Hudsons - locomotives or wines, and I doubted I would like a wine from the Mohawk or Niagara valleys either. Okay, he thought, but it should be an American wine - there had to be something made between Atlantic and Pacific that would do - perhaps something from the Berkshire or Allegheny or another Mountain area? Maybe even something from near Yellowstone? Perhaps, I said, definately not a wine from Texas or other flatlands for sure, something grand and rich that would make me feel like a Mogul when I drank it. Finally, I told him I was a Big Boy and would make up my own mind. He was not surprised when I said I wanted a wine from Northern California, but I also left with a pinot noir from Challenger Ridge.
By the way, I did also buy the Chateau Moulin de Mallet - it was truly terrible.
And I have learned of a new wine that is best laid down and avoided. 
