What I like to do is hit the sales, buy a big cab or zinfandel, with a higher alcohol content. I lay it on its side on the shelf in the closet, above my shirts, spin the bottle 180* every month for a couple years. You can get a fine bottle of wine for under $10. My local grocery store will have pretty good sales, particularly if you buy six bottles. I bet I have two dozen bottles of red wine in the closet in the guest bedroom right now.

Dad bought my wife some good red wine when he was taking us out to dinner the day before we got married. Prior to that, she was a beer drinker, Bud in a bottle. She will still drink beer on occasion, but first choice is wine now. She used to be a much cheaper date

I have a bit of a secret weapon on wine. My best friend Brett grew up in Napa and worked at Silverado CC there, and at more than one fine dining establishment in Northern California, as manager and wait staff. That boy knows wine; met him when we were both waiting tables at The Firehouse. Every Thursday they had a different wine vendor giving us samples. I learned a lot about wine in a short period of time, and he did the waiter bit a lot more than I ever did. We just drank an excellent V Sattui cab a few days ago that his sister had given him. Ate chocolate and drank red wine that had hints of rasberry and cherry, very not bad.