Any Vinophiles?

[TinCow]

If you are really serious about getting a lot of wine, I would suggest taking a trip to Sonoma/Napa. Spend a week going to various wineries, doing taste tests, and experiencing the huge range in variety and quality available. Many of the wines sold there are not easily acquired in the DC area, and nothing beats being able to taste before buying. Find some that you like, and bring/ship them back. At wineries that have something you really like, you can buy futures (think a pre-order for a upcoming year vintage) in wines that you will probably never see on the east coast.

I've not been to Napa, but my wife has and she enjoyed it. Two recent vacations were to Languedoc/Provence and Tuscany, respectively. Needless to say, there was plenty of wine touring involved. A trip to Bordeaux is also on the books eventually for the same reason.

For a less expensive trip, you could drive on out to Virginia, and try some of the local stuff. Some won't be very good, but there are a few that have surprisingly decent wines. The VA wineries are catching up, now that the vines are maturing and the vineyard owners are getting more experience.

I actually got married at the Williamsburg Winery. Beautiful place. Pretty awful wine; there was only one bottle I liked. I've been to a Virginia Wine tasting event before and was unimpressed. It's just too humid around here for great wines, I think. Williamsburg regularly hits 100% humidity in the summer! I do have friends who swear there are some decent wineries out around Charlottesville, but I haven't tried any of them. With prices so low on wines from Chile, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand, there's a lot of competition for local budget bottles.