Sometime ago, I mentioned a steakhouse (called Alexander’s) that I ate a very expensive steak at. (The cost was $250, in case anyone goes back and reads it and wonders what the number was).

At this steakhouse, while we were waiting for our table, the kindly person whose job was to keep waiting customers happy asked if we wanted something to drink. Well, I don’t drink. I don’t have alcohol and never have. So I asked what might be available in a non-alcoholic fashion.

People usually offer juice, or chocolate. This guy asked me if I wanted some Pinot Noir grape juice.

Pinot Noir… grape juice?

Well, naturally I’d want to try that!

It turned out to be a beautiful exquisite taste, so unlike grape juice you might find in a store, with all those excellent things that people who drink wine probably mean when they talk about finish and full-bodied and all that stuff. It was just great.

I raved about it for days afterwards, then I’d mention it occasionally and then not again.

I went back to that restaurant recently, and had another glass. Actually, I’m lying. We ordered two bottles of it, and that’s when we found out the name of the place: Navarro Vineyards. They even ship, which is why I’m ordering a bunch of bottles for myself.

I get all that goofyness of wine-ordering, with the cork and the chilling and the special pouring, except there’s no actual alcohol involved. Works for me.

I could now launch into a whole considering of my non-drinking ways, but it will seem pedantic to someone who doesn’t drink and will seem weird to someone who does. Needless to say, if you don’t drink, your wine selection is severely limited and so this grape juice will do nicely.

P.S. Do not offer me a chance to learn how wonderful it is to drink alcohol.

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