I love wine.... red, especially... and I love cooking.... it's even better when I can find the perfect wine to go with the meal....

I think my favorite recent dinner was the one I made for my boyfriend for Valentine's Day... When he came home from work, I had shrimp on ice with a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc open. We finished up that bottle while enjoying a salad of boston lettuce and avocado salad with lime vinegarette. With our main course -- filet mignon with roasted mushrooms and rosemary, all in a pinot noir sauce, steamed asparagus, and twice-baked potatoes, we savored a bottle of an Argentinian malbec, which had been breathing for almost four hours. Finally, with the molten lava cakes, we had a rich cabernet. It was an amazing dinner -- even if I had bed spins when we went fell into bed that night!

I spent about a year with The Traveling Vineyard -- love talking about the wines and getting people excited -- but don't care for the sales part...

More than anything, I would love to have recommendations from people on great wines -- especially those in the "affordable" range... I'd also love to hear suggestions for food pairings. That's what's fun for me...

Red blends
Zin
Cabernet
Syrah/Shiraz
Viognier