Photograph: estrelas

Welcome to Wine, Spilled, a weekly column in which EMD's Justine Sterling shares the myths, legends, tall tales, and short stories of the wine world, and recommends a couple bottles that won't break the bank. Today's wine: Cava

Everyone has a cause: some people fight for animal rights, others are trying to save the icecaps. Me? I try to get people to drink sparkling wine on a daily basis. It may not be as noble as other causes, but believe me, it’s worthwhile. How is sparkling wine different than other carbonated beverages? We drink beer or soda or mineral water daily and we don’t bat an eye; no one asks someone who pops open a bottle of Pellegrino what they're celebrating, and so it should be with sparkling wine. But, you say, I’m not made of money. I can’t afford Champagne every day of the week. Well, my friend, I didn’t say Champagne. I said sparkling wine, and there are many tasty, affordable bottles of it available.

On this quest to make the world a more sparkling place, let’s start in Spain, which means Cava.

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Photograph: Gagen Indra

Welcome to Wine, Spilled, a weekly column in which EMD's Justine Sterling shares the myths, legends, tall tales, and short stories of the wine world, and recommends a couple bottles that won't break the bank. Today's wine: Pinotage

For the most part, grapes are old things. Sure, there have been innovations in cultivation and processing, but on the whole most varietals have been around for a long time; long enough to have ancestors who were consumed by Roman emperors or Vikings. But that’s not to say all grapes are old. There’s one notable newbie: the baby of the bunch at only 85 years old, Pinotage.

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Photograph: Xipe Totec39

Welcome to Wine, Spilled, a weekly column in which EMD's Justine Sterling shares the myths, legends, tall tales, and short stories of the wine world, and recommends a couple bottles that won't break the bank. Today's wine: Côtes de Gascogne

It's hard to be cool; you have to be a unique individual, but you can't try to hard. You have to be accessible. You have to be easy going. You have to find your vintage, ironic Hall & Oates t-shirt at a garage sale you just happened to stumble upon. Not be pretentiously odd, but not submit to mass produced trends. Well, this week's wine fits that bill; this week's wine is cool. It's not the easiest to find (though it is attainable), but it's made with the second most widely planted grape in the world. This week's wine is Côtes de Gascogne Vin de Pays.

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Photograph: Anya Quinn

Welcome to Wine, Spilled, a weekly column in which EMD's Justine Sterling shares the myths, legends, tall tales, and short stories of the wine world, and recommends a couple bottles that won't break the bank. Today's wine: Vinho Verde.

As the sun begins to beat down harder every day and we spend more time soaking up heat in the great outdoors (or in my case, in the cramped, fenced-in park near my tiny Brooklyn apartment), we reach not for a hearty glass of red or a snifter of whiskey but for something that is going to refresh us, while leaving us with a slight, pleasant buzz as we slip into a hazy nap. We want something crisp and fizzy that will pair perfectly with spicy tacos or ceviche. In a word: beer. Light beer with a lime.

You might find, however, that after five weekends in a row spent with of buckets of Corona, you start to feel a little pull in your heart. That’s wine calling. Come back to me, it says. Wander to the wine store, ask for a recommendation, and you'll find yourself standing in front of a light, greenish bottle. It's vinho verde, and you have found your compromise.

Think there’s nothing like a cold beer on a hot summer day? Think again.

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Photograph: spinnerin

Welcome to Wine, Spilled, a weekly column in which EMD's Justine Sterling shares the myths, legends, tall tales, and short stories of the wine world, and recommends a couple bottles that won't break the bank. Today's wine: Rosé.

Spring has sprung, young love is blossoming like the pollen allergies that afflict so many of us and rosé, a wine callously tossed aside during the colder months, has been unearthed from cellars across the country. Like a fuzzy pink bear emerging from its winter slumber, rosés are cropping up hungry and plentiful. But how does this affect you? You don't drink rosé. That stuff is sweet. It's low quality. It's pink, for gosh sakes. Right? Wrong.

Let's say you're on your way to a barbecue and you decide to drop by your local wine store because you know that, while your friends like you and appreciate your presence, they’ll appreciate it if you have booze in hand. You enter the store and are struck by the glowing wall of pink bottles that looms before you like a rosy monolith.

Pink, you think, I can’t buy that. My friends will think less of me, think I’m a sissy. Well, you’re wrong. To quote a recent marketing campaign from a rosé producer, “Yes, you can drink rosé and still be a bad ass.” But misconceptions abound, and when you bring your blushing bottle of dry, berry-tinged wine to the cookout you can explain to them all why: blame it on the Trincheros and their White Zinfandel.

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Photograph: Ben Seidelman

Welcome to Wine, Spilled, a weekly column in which EMD's Justine Sterling shares the myths, legends, tall tales, and short stories of the wine world, and recommends a couple bottles that won't break the bank. Today's wine: Grüner Veltliner.

The wine industry has a reputation for consisting of stuffy, boring, bow-tie wearing men discussing the benefits of old vines, telling the hilarious tale of that one corked bottle at the Duke's Spring gala or bragging about a bottle of Chateau Something-Or-Other they just purchased at an auction and have no intention of drinking. But sometimes events happen that shake up the wine world and are worthy of a story, like the Diethylene Glycol Scandal of 1985. (Cue thunderclap and dramatic organ music). Let’s set the scene.

It’s a sunny Spring day and you’re heading to an outdoor get-together. This could be a barbecue, it could be a garden party, it could just be that your friends have recently found some folding chairs in the basement and have decided to make use of them in their weed-ridden yard. Whatever it may be, we all know that the newly arrived sunshine is best enjoyed with a glass of crisp, refreshing white. Wait! I see you reaching for that Pinot Grigio. No, take your hands off that satisfactory yet uninteresting Sauvignon Blanc. Let me guide you towards a dry, minerally, elongated bottle of Austrian white wine - namely, a Grüner Veltliner. Yes, the bottle does resemble that of a typical Riesling bottle. That's actually the perfect segue, because when you show up, cold, green bottle in hand, you’re going to have a tale of intrigue and danger on the tip of your tongue that happens to involve our dear friend Riesling and why you're drinking a dry Grüner rather than its sweet cousin. You’re going to tell the tale of the Austrian wine scandal of 1985.

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Photograph: 2create

Welcome to Wine, Spilled, a new weekly column in which EMD's Justine Sterling shares the myths, legends, tall tales, and short stories of the wine world, and recommends a couple bottles that won't break the bank. Today's wine: Carménère.

Say you’ve been invited to a dinner party. Being the polite, caring person that you are you asked, “What can I bring?” “Oh, nothing,” replies your host. “Just your sparkling personality.” While you do indeed have a sparkling and engaging personality, you know that’s not going to be enough. You need to bring a bottle of wine. But you’re not about to bring over a Chateau-Neuf-du-Pape or some cult California Pinot Noir (we'll get to those later). You’re going to bring something reasonable but also tasty. Suggestion? Why, thank you for asking. May I recommend a Carménère?

Medium-bodied and round with dark berry fruit and a tiny kick of spice on the end, Carménère is a great value wine. It’s not hard to find a quality bottle for under $15, but that’s not what you want to tell your hosts when you plonk down the bottle. If you can’t impress them with a label or a year, then impress them with a story.

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