Cheap good wine, $5 gets you a bottle of Rene Barbier at the Wine Shop in Albany

About a year ago, Bill and I gave up on babysitters and started buying wine instead. Somehow the fun of spending $50 just to walk out the door and get a cup of coffee (all we could afford after funding our escape), well, turns out not so fun. In fact, when you find yourself cussing out the ATM before every date night, maybe it is time for a better plan.

So about once a month we announce to the kids that everyone had to go to bed early on Saturday night. (Actually, we announce this about twice a month, but only succeed in accomplishing it about half the time.)

I go to The Wine Shop on New Scotland and find a bottle of red in our $9.99 range. We both like dry and deep over light and fruity, but we’re flexible.

Bill builds a fire. Sometimes we curl up and watch a movie, something that seems more special after you’ve had three kids and sitting alone on the couch together can take you back to middle school days. Sometimes we just hang out and talk. Sometimes we finish the bottle.

These dates are part of what has carried me through a rough couple of months. And lately, I’ve been leaning pretty hard on our once-a-month Saturday nights. (Anyone want to go to bed early on Thursday, kids?)

My desire to drink wine seems inversely related to my ability to pay for it. We’ve been riding the $9.99 line for a long time, but even that is starting feel like more than I should spend right now. Or, maybe it is just that at this particular stage of things, I want more wine than my once a month $9.99 indulgence.

My California brother lives walking distance from a Trader Joe’s that sells decent table wine for $4 a bottle. A big mid-week splurge for him might mean a $6 or $7 bottle. If I lived there, my children might have to go to bed at 4 pm every day.

So last week, I wandered into The Wine Shop, which I love for many reasons not the least of which is that I will never forget its name.

The little shop is tucked into a store front near the corner of Grove and New Scotland. It is cozy and selective as opposed to a vast selection of wines that may or may not taste like vinegar. They’ve got helpful little write ups on all the boxes. And there’s always something new and interesting as well as a bunch of $9.99-and-under staples that go beyond Columbia Crest and Yellow Tails. But, until recently, I never thought I’d find anything to wave in front of my brother’s face while sticking my thumb in my ear and wiggling my fingers.

Then I walked in last week, and while I was shuffling between the aisles trying not to knock anyone with my purse, the owner came over and recommended a wine. I looked at the price $11.99. Sorry, I said, I’m strictly a $10-and-under kinda girl.

He scanned the bottles that I had stacked in my arms. And then, as if he could see right in to my tear-filled nights, the fireside romance that I was clinging to, my shaky confidence, my bold love of flavor, and my sickly checkbook, he handed me a bottle of Rene Barbier Mediterranean Red.

If you’re looking for a bargain, he said, this is a great find.

Somehow I trusted him. Partly because it was the Wine Shop, and in 10 years of shopping there, I’ve never been steered wrong. And partly because he managed to hand me a $5 bottle of wine without any sense of smirky, holier-than-thou superiority. (Here I’m picturing the women guarding the entrance of a fancy dress shop at Crossgates, who, without letting me set a foot in the store, recommended that I check out skirts at Sears.)

The woman behind me in line had two bottles of the stuff. She said it made a great basic table wine, and she always kept some in the house just in case company stopped by. Sold.

We opened a bottle this past Monday night. I shared a glass with the pot roast I was cooking, and then we had a few more glasses with dinner. It was better than the $10 bottle we’d had on our last date night. Bill didn’t love it but thought it was fine. I liked it more than he did. Especially after it had had a little air.

So take that California bro. I’ve got a decent $5 bottle of wine. I could be dangerous.