Wine Glasses
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You may not be able to get the yacht of your dreams, but you can have more of a posh life than you may think.
From white truffles to Broadway to crystal wine glasses to a Euro-light vacation, you can jump feet-first into a life of luxury, one $5o bill at a time.
We here at Glass Knee spent far too much time “researching” this article. Hope you enjoy it as much as we had writing it!
1. White Truffle Oil
The secret of many professional chefs across the world. White truffles are the most rare and expensive of foods. It imparts an intensely earthy flavor to any food it is added to.
Truffles themselves can go for hundred of dollars an ounce, but a truffle oils are much less expensive and impart the same flavors. Drizzle a tablespoon of white truffle oil on your next cheese pizza or bowl of pasta. A single bottle will last months. Cost: $15-$30 per bottle.
2. Wagyu Flat Iron Steak
Most people know Wagyu by the Japanese port it was originally exported from: Kobe. Named after the breed of cows it comes from, Wagyu is the most flavorful and tender of all beef. It is also incredibly expensive, costing upwards of $250 for a single fillet mignon in restaurants.
However, purchasing a Flat Iron cut will cost less than a better-known cut and is much more flavorful! One suggestion: marinate it overnight before grilling it up. You can either pick it up at a local butcher or online. Total cost: $45-$50 for two people.
3. Broadway Theater Tickets
No matter what major city you are in, theater tickets are going to be exorbitant. Per ticket prices of $100 are common. However, if you don’t mind a last minute run-and-wrestle you can get into critically-acclaimed shows not in New York, but any major city in Europe or the Americas.
The day of a show, theaters offer any remaining unsold tickets as “Rush Tickets”. These tickets are first-come-first-served and are often discounted by 50%. A quick search online should give you the scoop for the metropolis of your choice. Total cost: $48-50
4. A World-Famous Luxury Wine
While many wine enthusiasts will spend hundreds of dollars for a single bottle of wine, you can have a very similar experience for under $50.
Since vintages and types of wine that are available will change depending on where you live, we are going to give you a sommelier-level guide. Purchase a bottle of Shiraz from the Heathcote region of Victoria, Australia. No matter what, do not spend less than $30, and you will have an ultimate bottle of wine.
Why Heathcote? This wine region is one of the smallest, most well-respected wine regions in the world. Nearly everything produced in the $30-$50 price point is considered to be some of very best in the world. Total cost: $30-50
5. Lead Crystal Wine Glasses
If you are going to have a glass of wine, then you are going to need the best wine glasses available. The famous wine glass producers –such as Riedel– charge upwards of $90 per glass for their best glasses.
However, we know an Italian glass designer who is creating a custom line of wine glasses for a small wine school in the United States. These are not just as good as Riedel (the designer used to work for Riedel) but they also use a better quality of crystal and are dishwasher safe!
The school charges $50 for a gift set of these wine glasses. Check them out!
6. Signed Artworks from Well-Known Artists
I have a few pieces of art, one of which I bought online for $30 and is now worth upwards of $1K. I know nothing about art, I promise you.
One of the hottest areas of art right now is Pop Surrealist Art (aka “Lowbrow Art”), and one of the most accessible to a non-art-school-graduate. Many of the well know artists in this movement –including Frank Kozik and Tara McPherson– issue limited run signed & numbered art prints. These prints are often very inexpensive to purchase, but in a few years appreciate wildly.
Do a google search for “juxtapoz” to get a few idea of artists you should be looking out for.
7. A Classically Styled Watch
A watch may sound pedestrian, but coupled with #8 below and you have a total package that reeks of luxury and class. Sure, you are wearing a drab pair of slacks and a ratty t-shirt, but everyone is going to remember the incredible watch and shoes you are wearing.
Watch makers such as Dufante, Lucien Piccard, and Croton all produce elegant watches that can be had for under $50 for both men and women. Take a look at the online discounters for good deals. Often, you can get a watch that retails for $300-$400 for less than $50.
8. The Perfect Pair of Shoes
Picture yourself eating a truffle-laced appetizer while holding a perfect wine glass filled with some of the finest wines made in the world. Keep going, and imagine you are wearing a posh watch and wearing beautiful shoes. That is not a bad image, eh?
For guys, look for modern casual shoes produced by Steven Madden, Stacy Adams, or Nunn Bush can be had for under $50. For the girls, you can get a very cute pair of booties or a sexy pair of sling pumps.
9. A Euro-style Vacation
Not the whole vacation, but at least you can stay in the historic center of a wonderful North America metropolis for under $50 a night.
We are talking about Montreal, Quebec, which is about as French as you can get without going to Europe. Much to our surprise, hotel rooms can be had for $50, as long as you don’t mind a clean-but-small-and-dowdy room, which is pretty much what you would get if you were actually vacationing on the continent.
10. Find it if you can!
Two words: Chingale Proscuitto. Good hunting!
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A Guide to Fairmount
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The Top Wine Spots
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A Wine Story. Impress friends with your wine savvy.
Able Grape. A wine information search engine.
AlaWine.com. It’s how you find the very best wine.
An Obsession with Food & Wine. A blog about food and wine with leanings toward the artisanal.
Another Wine Blog. Blogging about wine so you don’t have to.
Anything Wine. Down to earth wine writing and observations from Richmond, VA.
Appellation Beer. In search of the soul of beer.
At First Glass. “There are certain things about that other girl – that Miss Pommery ’26 – I rather like”. A wonderful blog from Nancy Yos.
Back Roads Wine Blog. Livermore wine country podcast explorers.
Barry’s Homebrew Outlet. Pennsylvania’s lowest prices on beer-making kits and wine-making accessories.
Barry’s Wine Notes & Memories. Barry loves his wine and his soul.
Basic Juice. A fun, unique approach to wine that does away with wine snobbery. After all, wine is basically just fermented juice.
Becoming a Chef. James Beard award-winning authors Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg.
Beer Pong Tables. Beer Pong Table manufacturer offering affordable portable beer pong tables.
Benchland Blog. News and views from high above Dry Creek Valley.
Benito’s Wine Reviews. Wine. Food. Cocktails. Cigars. Updated M-W-F.
Besotted Ramblings and Other Drivel. Pertaining largely to Champagne.
Best Drink Ever. Drinking wine and writing about it.
Bevlog. Distilling a million label approvals down to the ones that affect you.
Beyond the Bottle. A consumer’s perspective on Oregon and Washington wine.
Bigger Than Your Head. Eating and drinking: the good, the bad, and the rest of it.
Blind Muscat’s Cellarbook. One wine lover’s modest contribution to an era of too much information.
Bloviatrix. Newbie wine enthusiast musings and occasional film reviews.
Box Wines Blog. A wine blog with news and reviews of affordable wines.
Brim to the Dregs. A conversation about wine, food and other related pleasures from a Southern perspective.
BrixChicks. So many wines…so little time. Read about these lovely ladies’ wine adventures.
Brooklyn Guy Loves Wine. Drinking, eating, enjoying in Brooklyn.
Californian Wine. The Wine Cache is your online wine store which will help you to find the wines for your personal enjoyment as well as gifts for the family, friends, and associates.
Caveman Wines. Driving the evolution of wine marketing and pr.
CellarBlog. Bonum Vinum Laetificat cor hominus.
The Cellarist. Savoring the world, one glass at a time.
Chateau Petrogasm. The wine blog of tasting notes through image.
Cheap Wine Ratings. Good value makes wine taste better.
Chef2Chef. A culinary portal and practical guide to practically everything.
Chez Loulou. A Taste of life in the south of France.
Chief Wino. Information on food and wine, wine country travel, restaurants and wine bars, written by a wine/food writer and sommelier.
Combined French Language & Wine Course in Bordeaux. A great combination of French Language with wine vocabulary. Courses in BLS Bordeaux.
Confessions of a Wino. Deliciously hedonistic.
The Corkdork. Wine and food musing.
Crushpad. The state-of-the-art winery where you are the wine maker.
Daddy Winebucks. Where whine and parenting collide.
Decant3r. A website devoted to news about wine.
Digital Librarian. A librarian’s choice of the best of the web.
Dirty South Wine. Wine is meant to be crunk.
Do Bianchi. A leading resource for information on Italian food and wine.
Dr. Vino. Wine talk that goes down easy.
Doktor Weingolb. You put your wine in it.
Domaine547. More wine, less attitude.
Dragon Phoenix Wine Blog. China-focused blog with featured tastings, interviews and extensive tasting notes produced by Bejing-based consultants and educators Edward Ragg and Fongyee Walker. Â
Drink Eat Love. It’s all you need.
Drinkhacker. The essential blog for the discriminating drinker.
Drinking Hole. A place to pair food and cheese with wine and beer…and more.
Drinks Are On Me. Life is too short for German wine labels.
eBacchus.com. The premier wine information community.
The 89 Project. Inviting wine writers, reviewers, critics and bloggers to cross-post anything they write about any wine getting an 89 rating.
El Bloggo Torcido. “The Twisted Blog” – more or less.
Elevage. The education of wine. Home of Vincent Cellars in Portland.
End of the Vine. The joy of wine, beer, and spirits.
Eve’s Wine 101. The wine blog that is never over one’s head.
Family, Love, Wine Blog.   An intersection of the passions of the life of a lucky wine publicist.
Fermentation. On my RSS feed. One of the top wine bloggers out there.
Fermented Thoughts. Random thoughts on wine and life. Exposed.
Food & Beverage. Food, wine, beer, and more.
Food on the Food. Food. Foolishness. Life.
Food and Wine Blog. Restaurants, hotels, and bars in Baltimore.
Gang of Pour. Nunquam Spuemus – Never Spit! (psst: be sure and check out Rednecks and Red Rhones!)
Gastropoda. A large and varied class of which the writerly genus chooses to travel on its stomach.
GenevelynSteeleSwallows. Fun and intelligent insight on wine.
Golly’s Wine Drops. No scores, just sips.
Gonzo Gastronomy. The angels and demons of food and wine.
Good Grape. A wine blog and web site for wine enthusiasts, poets, artists, romantics, lovers, liberals and rock stars.
Good Wine Under $20. Dr. Deb’s blog dedicated to finding, drinking, and evaluating wines that are a good value, interesting, and pair well with food.
Grape Nutz. Wine Review and Journal
Grape Thinking. Grape Thinking is a lifestyle that enhances enjoyment and pleasure while connecting people to their environment.
Hip Tastes.  Your ticket to stylish wine events for adventurous enthusiasts looking to broaden their knowledge of the good stuff.
Hosemaster of Wine. Your occasional dose of stupid opinion.
International Wine Review. Independent, insightful, in-depth.
Interwined.com. A wine blog and wine lovers’ web site.
Joe’s Wine. His only regret is that he has but one liver to give to his blog.
LennDevours. Independent news and perspective on the wines of New York State.
Living the Life in Saint-Aignan. Day by Day in France’s Loire Valley.
LusciousLushes’s Blog. A conversation born out of a love of all things wine.
Lyke2Drink. Read about beer, wine and spirits; travels to breweries, distilleries and wineries; festivals and events; alcohol issues; beverage marketing; and have fun along the way. Cheers!
McDuff’s Food and Wine Trail. Taking a bite out of wine, food and related cultural phenomena.
Mi Vino Tu Vino. Wine adventures of an Angolan-Portuguese-American in a place better known for its cranberry bogs than its vineyards.
Mondosapore. Vino Italiano and Adventures in New York.
Must Love Wine. A social network for wine lovers to chat and share knowledge about their favorite wines.
Mutineer Magazine. Fine beverage…redefined.
My Daily Wine. Taking the junk out of your juice.
My Wine Education. Good wine writing and insight from a couple out in the midwest.
Nat Decants. Natalie is a good blogger and the author of Red, White and Drunk All Over: A Wine Soaked Journey from Grape to Glass.
90 Plus Wines. Passionate wine lovers who go for those wines rated 90 or above. A great wine resource.
O Mano a Vino. Food, wine and travel reviews for you.
Off The Presses.  A running account of my late-blooming life as a wine and cocktail lover and wine and cocktail writer.
On the Wine Trail in Italy. Following the trail of the vine as it winds through Italy and beyond.
One Wine Per Week. One inexpensive wine review per week – that’s it!
Passionate Foodie. Share Richard’s passion for good food, wine and spirits – satisfy your hunger and thirst.
Pencil & Spoon. A lad who has drunk too much beer and eaten too much food.
Petite Terroir. Laurie T’s musings on wine.
Pinotblogger. The Capozzi Winery Blog.
Pour More. Wine, spirits, and potent potables.
Professor Bainbridge on Wine. Wine tasting notes, recipes, and commentary.
Random Ramblings on Wine and Food. A wine lover shares his experiences as a complete wine, food, and travel geek.
Rational Denial. A laboratory devoted to wine experimentation, palate education & junk science.
The Red Wine Haiku Review. Wine reviews as poetry in haiku form by Lane Steinberg.
Reign of Terroir. From the vineyard to the glass, winemaking in the age of high tech.
REThink Wine Blog. Powering the wine revolution.
Rim Rock Now. Rim Rock Ranch Vineyard Estates – The quiet side of the wine country.
Rockss and Fruit. Thoughts on wine and otherhoo.
Rosa d’Oro Vineyards Blog. The Buttita family has been producing premium Old-World style Italian wines since 1953.
Samantha Sans Dosage. Confessions of a wine slinger.
Seen Through a Glass. Tasting notes, quick rants and raves, Philly area (and beyond) beer news, whiskey news, and all dat.
Sharon’s Wine Blog. An American writer in her daily Paris life discovers different wines – on a shoestring.
Slaked. A wine lover’s journal.
Smells Like Grape. Great wine writing from Taster A and Taster B!
Someone Left the Cake Out in the Rain. Great comfort food recipes from the blonde bomber! (Be sure and check out Ladies… as well.)
Sourgrapes. No posh and flowery language – just a big emphasis on good yet affordable wine in Ireland.
Spittoon. We spit so you can swallow.
Spume. 1. a mass of bubbles, often through fermentation. 2. a blog by wolfgang m. weber.
SteveO’s California Wine Touring Guides. Providing invaluable winery info since 1994.
Strumerika.com. You gonna finish that?
Thirst for Rioja. Drinking, eating and experiencing rioja.
365corks.com. The daily search for a great bottle of wine. Or at least an affordable one.
Through the Walla Walla Grape Vine. Wine wisdom, wit and words from a wild Walla Walla wine woman.
Tokyo Through the Drinking Glass. Life, wine, and the pursuit of sake.
Tuscan Wine School. Wine classes in Siena, Tuscany.
Tuscany Cooking Class. Good tastes of Tuscany – offers beginning to advanced level cooking classes in Tuscany.
2 Days Per Bottle. Following wine from the moment its opened through a second night.
Under the Grape Tree. Wine talk from the self-professed Dr. Strangelove of wine.
Vin Collections. Cellar management, tasting events, wine advice.
Vine Stress. A blog about growing wine.
Vine Views. Views from the organic (and soon to be biodynamic) educational micro-vineyard by Jared Skolnick.
VinoFictions. 25-year wine industry veteran Thomas Pellechia sets the record straight.
Vinography. One of our favorite wine blogs!
VinoWire. A “wine service” feed of current news and events from the world of Italian wine.
Vintage Texas. The Texas wine archive and blog from Russ Kane, wine aficionado, writer and naturalized Texan.
Vintwined. Get your swirl on.
Wannabe Wino. In the words of L. Pasteur – “A day without wine is like a day without sunshine.”
Westwood: Notes from the Winemaker. Postings on running a small ultra-premium winery in Sonoma Valley.
Wilma’s Wine World. An insider’s look at the “wine country” life.
Wine Alchemy. Tasting, talking, and writing about wine.
Wine Camp. Craig Camp’s point free approach to wine.
Wine Canine. Wine. Food. Reviews. Recipes. Lap it up.
Wine Centric. Wine reviews for the everyday wine drinker.
The Wine Classroom. On wines, winemakers and wineries, primarily of southcentral and eastern Pennsylvania and northern Maryland.
The Wine Collector. The blog of Steve Bachmann, the CEO of Vinfolio.
The Wine Commonsewer. In vino veritas (if you’re a red wine, that is….)
The Wine Conversation. Thoughts on wine’s role in our culture.
Wine Country Tour Shuttle. Sightseeing wine country and winery tours.
The Wine Doctor. Independent opinion on wine.
The Wine Economist. How globalization is reshaping the world of wine.
Wine Expedition. Open it up.
Wine Life Today. Adventures and opinions on wine, technology, and marketing. (Formerly Vivi’s Wine Journal)
Wine 90. Italian Wine – Drunk, Reviewed and Recommended.
Wine-o-Rama. Robert and Marjorie’s wine adventures.
The Wine Offensive. Anecdotes for the gourmet proletariat.
Wine Scamp.  Wine wine wine and more wine.
Wine Sooth. Searching for truth in wine.
Wine Terroirs. Wine discovery, wine tasting and vineyards in France.
WineCast. A wine podcast and blog.
WineCountry. A great wine website and blog from Paarl.
WineDiverGirl. California life: better than happy hour.
Winedown Cafe and Winebar. Experiment with your palate at this former Wine School student’s winebar.
wineenabler.com. Tastings, low impact wines, and Texas wines.
Winehiker Witiculture. It’s a wine blog. It’s a hiking blog. Yes! It’s a winehiking blog.
Winelimo. Always a good time – be sure and read about “the experiences of an old limo driver doing Napa Valley Tours!”
Wine for All. Pairing wine + fun since the 20th century.
Wine Post. One wine industry insider’s postings on wines tasted, people met, and events happening in the wine world.
Wines For Newbies. Wine knowledge for all.
Wines of Germany. Focused on creating greater awareness of German wine in the US. A great site!
Wino Sapien. A 30-something father, husband, doctor. Always resolving to buy less wine, but never quite managing to do so.
Zinquisition. Various ruminations and observations regarding the bizarre wine industry.
Wine Rack Station. Wine racks, storage, wine accessories.
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Our Top Wine Shopping Spots
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These days, as people all over the Philadelphia area become ever more attuned to quality wine, a gallon jug of Yellow Tail just wont cut it. This is a wonderful development, especially for those of us in the wine-education business except for one thing: Wine stores are confusing, often intimidating places.How are you supposed to know what to buy?
The tri-state area is chock-full of great wine stores. And even more importantly, many of these shops are staffed by people who are just as knowledgeable and enthusiastic about wine as many sommeliers. Here, then, in no particular order aside from geography, is our list of the 10 best places to buy wine in the area. Visit them with an open mind, a willingness to be helped, and a high-limit credit card. 
- Canal’s Bottle Stop (10 West Route 70, Marlton, NJ)
- The Wine Library (www.winelibrary.com)
- Moore Brothers Wine Company (7200 North Park Drive, Pennsauken, NJ)
- Moore Brothers Wine Company (1416 North DuPont Street, Wilmington, DE)
- Frank’s Union Wine Mart (1206 North Union Street, Wilmington, DE)
- Total Wine (1325 McKennans Church Road, Wilmington DE)
- Total Wine (691 Naamans Road, Claymont, DE)
- PA Wine and Spirits Premium Collection Store (1218 Chestnut Street)
- PA Wine and Spirits Premium Collection Store (1913 Chestnut Street)
- PA Wine and Spirits Premium Collection Store (789 East Lancaster Avenue, Villanova, PA
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