I live in downtown DC and can practically throw a tennis ball onto the National Mall from my balcony. I've been slowly building a wine collection that is like a bond portfolio. Buy a little good stuff every year and drink a little good stuff every year. Now that I have decent cold storage, I can splurge a little from the High Falutin' List none of which I've tried. For typical weekend consumption, I put together the Value Drinx list which includes wines I personally drank and would buy again to go with that frozen pizza or take home rotisserie chicken or even the veggie tacos from Chipotle. The Value Drinx are usually available at a grocer like Safeway or a non-high end wine shop.