At this point, who has tried more unoaked Chardonnays than Tom and I? Probably no one. Does that make us experts? Jeesh. Maybe. But still and probably always, we're only experts about what we like and what we don't. It's still personal. It's that simple.

What follows are several words about how we found ourselves here, and what inspired our passion. Enjoy!

99,000 Bottles Of Beer

On The Wall...

There we were, an ordinary couple who loved our family, friends, pets and home; down-to- earth and upwardly mobile folks who enjoyed sitting on the porch of a pleasant evening, appreciating our time together, appreciating the lives we'd built and sharing the calming ritual of discussing our day over a social beverage.

And by "social beverage" I mean beer. We were beer drinkers.

Monday Night Football. Beer

Chopping onions for the meatloaf. Beer.

Got a raise? Beer.

Bad news in that branch of the family. Beer.

Boating? Beach? Barbecue? Beer. Beer. Beer.

There wasn't a moment that we couldn't find a way to weasel beer into the occasion. The only restriction was that we couldn't crack a sixer until after five. Except when we could.

Wine? It's Nothing Like Beer

Wine hadn't evolved as our social beverage of choice because it was red, which gives me a migraine, or white, in a creamy, velvety, sickening way, or it lifted from a punch bowl with rafts of fruit which created a recipe for a hangover like no other recipe I knew.

So that embodied everything I knew about wine -- it was red or white or fruity. And also that there was some vague battle between France and California over who made the best wine. Who cared? Not me.

Tom enjoyed an occasional glass of wine, or champagne when there was a celebration. But I did the shopping, so when it came to social beveraging, we were beer enthusiasts, loyal to the beverage of our youth! Old reliable. Often refreshing, if a little bloating. Affordable. And available! From fine restaurants to filthy convenience stores, beer was at the ready.

Then one day a label piqued my interest.