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The reasons people buy a BMW over a Toyota: some people distinguish a difference they care about, some think they can, and some want to look like they can or just want the label. The brand is always in tension as the proportion of these three changes; too many of the last and it looks poseurish; only the first and the vendor languishes in obscure excellence. The same goes for Canon vs Ricoh, or for people reading Joyce in public.

(All car analogies are wrong.)

Consistency. There’s a discount grocery store outlet chain (which we affectionately call “Groce Out”), which occasionally has some great deals on decent wine. When wine.com went out of business, Groce Out bought up their stock, and we found some good stuff. But when we’d find a particularly nice one, go back and get a few more bottles of the same label, same year, only some of them were good. With the slightly pricier wines from Sonoma, Santa Cruz County, Napa, you get more consistency. And every once in a while (if you save up for it), you get the chance to taste one that’s especially nice (e.g., Silver Oak Cabernet).

For the most entertaining labels and wine-oriented geek-speak, and access to some of the varietals you may not have tried, you might consider joining the wine club of Bonny Doon Vineyards. The letters that winemaker Randall Grahm writes and sends along with each shipment are often quite amusing. See http://www.bonnydoonvineyard.com/ . One of their popular labels is “Domaine des Blagueurs”, and I’m just waiting for them to decide to produce a “Domaine des Bloggueurs”. See http://tmp.i.am/2002/09/13.html

The wines from Portland, OR are almost as good as the micro-brews from the area. The reasons for the great grapes and hops of the Pacific Northwest are the fertile black volcanic soil from Mt. Hood and St. Helens and the long rainy seasons.

I’m not a wine snob, but I do enjoy a glass of wine, and I totally agree: I can’t tell why a good California wine is any better than a $7 bottle of Australian wine. Personally I have a bit of a thing for Yellow Tail, a mass-produced Australian brand that runs under $10.

But ultimately, it’s why people buy BMW over Lexus — they might be the same, but it’s an image thing. You want the image of being a California wine drinker.

Oh Trader Joes.

Unfortunately, many of them don’t sell wine because of arcane liquor laws in local areas.

While you’re in Chile, try “Anakena” wine (Rapel Valley). It’s very intense and tasteful. About $15 on almost any Chilean supermarket (or in a “botilleria” perhaps), and worth every peso