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We've posted exclusively about beer so far with this blog. From fancy brews to lawn mower beer.

And we'll come back to that again. For now, lets turn to box wine. Esquire's drinks guy David Wondrich posted this today on some box wine that you can feel classy about drinking:

Recently, though, things have started to get interesting. There are box wines that have actual character, from French country wines to California and Aussie varietals usually seen only in cork-stopped bottles. Some of them are even good. Take, for instance, the VRAC 2007 Côtes du Rhône ($30), a red real enough to be odd, even funky, a thing heretofore confined to glass. And the 2005 Cuvée de Peña ($30), an unfiltered red from the French Pyrenees that smells faintly and pleasantly of dried apricots. Then there's the "From the Tank" Côtes du Rhône ($35), a dark and earthy red with hints of raspberry jam that comes in an utterly plain brown cardboard container. Put it into a decanter and no one will know the difference. And when the decanter's empty, you can refill it another three or four times.

Too bad this didn't come in time to read before Valentine's Day. But the weekend is a'comin', and it's fun to have a glass or two with a good ol' mafia movie. I'd suggest Goodfellas.

Also, last night I had Breckenridge Brewery's Avalanche Ale at Mellow Mushroom (which also has some taphandles that I haven't seen elsewhere around town).

Breckenridge describes it as "Caramel maltiness with slight hop character" on their Web site. I just think it's tasty. Didn't really get much in the way of hops, so it must be super slight. Nice color though. And a rich head.

The Mellow Mushroom has a good bar area for beer drinking that's a little more spacious than their closest location in Winston-Salem. The footrest is a right height, the stools are comfy and large and the bar corner is rounded for easy leanin'. Bartenders there keep pint glasses in a freezer, which will be especially nice once it gets warmer outside.

If you're into the chilled glasses, that is. Personally, I prefer a room temperature glass unless I'm having something that's cheap/cold/domestic. And then I just grab a coozie for the can.