[scp2]

Box wine is a very good reco. Red wine if opened for more than two days gets real funky tasting and if she doesn't really like to start with by third or forth day she is going to hate it.

[johzel]

Robin,

Why not try one of the boxed wines. Black Box usually gets good reviews, and you can find a lighter red in the offerings.

Around here they go for $15 - $20 for a 3L box (= 4 bottles). And they usually have mail-in rebates on offer, to bring the cost down for your neighbor.

Easy to use, unless she is a thumb challenged drinker!

And much better than the jugs of Rossi, though I can't say I've tried one of those since college.

-david.

I can attest to Black Box wine being a good choice.  My wife and I always have a box going in our butler pantry for the daily glass with dinner.  Supposedly stays fresh for 4 weeks after opening but we’ve never had a box last that long. It's no Jordan Cab . . . but for the money and not having to worry about storing an open bottle it’s a good alternative.

[Rob Babcock]

Definitely Black Box is a really good one for the money.  Pepperwood makes some decent boxed Old Vine Zin, too.

[satfrat]

The "Franzia" line of boxed wine has a 1/4 turn valve with a 3/4" round knob.  You could make an adapter for the knob (think piece of wood with a set screw) to make it easy to open.  Prior to the first glass, one must punch through the perforated box and retrieve the valve, this may pose a problem.  How is she pouring those gallon jugs of Carlo Rossi!!!

Like I said earlier, she doesn't,,,, I do. It's part of my daily chores along with tending her wood stove. She has 3 wine caraffes that she can handle if i only fill them half way. They sit on the stove cuz she can't get them out of her fridge anymore. I have five 2 pint plastic measuring pitchers, 4 of which are filled half way with ice. The other container I keep 1/2 full of read wine as she only drinks 1 glass a day before getting serious with her beloved Rhine wine. I get 1 bottle (1/2 gallon?) a week and it takes her just a week to polish it off.
 
I joke with Ellie all the time, I tell her I might to as far as to feed her but I draw the line at wiping her a$$.    The poor girl as a deteriorating muscle disease that affects every muscle, even her throat muscles. She can hardly swallow and she freezes about 3 cool whip containers full of half eaten food that I take to the dump each week. And then there's the half a trashbag of Depends so it's coming out both ends with her. Yet she has it in her living will that she will not be connected to any tubes whatsoever. Yet with all this disability, she has her wine, cigarettes and about 3-4 Bloody Marys each sunday morning, just so she knows it's sunday. Ellie is a testement to perserverance.    And I've been doing all that I can to keep it that way since 1989 when her husband passed away. I've rented a house right from them right across the road since 1976 so she's pretty much all the family I've got. Me and her husband (a Russian prince who's father took his family to Sweden when Lenin invaded all the Russian states to form Russia) use to get into some pretty heated fights over my blasting rock back when I was young and stupid(er than I now am ) but they put up with a lot of crap from me when i was wild. So today I give back,,, it's only right. 
 
Plus I can crank my music with no issues. 
 
Cheers,
Robin

[rpf]

Impressive caregiving Robin. I know: I was the primary caregiver for a parent with Alzheimer's for eight years.

You get a lot of points. (I'm just not sure where they come from  ).
 
      

Rob

[satfrat]

Impressive caregiving Robin. I know: I was the primary caregiver for a parent with Alzheimer's for eight years.

You get a lot of points. (I'm just not sure where they come from  ).
 
       

Rob

OR what they're good for, unless you can take them points with ya when it's your time.    Fact is I've been doing this since 1989, 1st just the lawn & snow & garbage,,, handiman stuff, But for the last 10 years or so since she gave up driving, I've done all the shopping and it's progressed where I'm now doing the laundry & her bed, all the wood and some housecleaning to boot. The fact that I lost my job 3 years ago was the best thing that could have happened for her, it sucked chunks for me. 
 
But the rents ultracheap, same as it was in 1976 so there's some one hand washes the other going on here also. And then there's my unlimited music scenario, which when it's an all night/every night blastfest in the middle of the summer with all the windows open, it becomes pretty much priceless lifestyle for me. 
 
I gotta feeling after trying a few bottles of whatever I can find at Hannafords that comes from what's been mentioned in this thread, I might be able to get her to drop this healthy red wine advise from her doctor that she absolutely hates and she can just be happy with her Carlo Rossi Rhine wine as she has been drinking for as long as I've known her. I say why change with what makes you happy? But it doesn't matter what I say, it's her dime and I'll spend it anyways she wants me to. I love spending her money while I nickel&dime mine. 
 
Cheers,
Robin

[S Clark]

Here's a 2006 picture of Ellie when she could still stand fairly good. She couldn't go outside now w/o a wheelchair even then but she can still get around her home with a walker,,, barely.
 

 
Cheers,
Robin

I'd say to tell her doctor to go to hell and let her drink all the Carlo Rossi that she wants. 

[satfrat]

I'd say to tell her doctor to go to hell and let her drink all the Carlo Rossi that she wants.

I couldn't agree more but this is one stubborn woman and you really can't tell her anything. I gave up a long time ago and just go with the flow, be it red or white. 
 
Cheers,
Robin

[johzel]

Impressive caregiving Robin. I know: I was the primary caregiver for a parent with Alzheimer's for eight years.

You get a lot of points. (I'm just not sure where they come from  ).
 
Rob

My father has late stage Alzheimer’s and was moved to hospice this past weekend.  Could be weeks or a couple of months.  He is a WWII veteran (Omaha Beach, Battle of the Bulge, one of the first US troops to reach Berlin) and receives his care from our local VA.  By the way, for the record, he has received excellent care – the VA has been a godsend to our family.  To those of you caretaking for people with this insidious disease may God bless you – I don’t think I could do it.  And to the point of this thread, if she likes Carlo Rossi then by golly give her Carlo Rossi . . . Robin, whatever makes her happy is all that is important .  Best wishes and Merry Xmas to you.

[Tyson]

One of the more interesting theories I've read recently from the medical community is that heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer's, diabetes, and osteoporosis all share a similar pathology, but express differently from person to person based on genetic differences among different people.

[satfrat]

Ellie has severe polymyositis, was diagnosed 20 years ago and has deteriorated all her muscles from her throat muscles to her feet. She's had it for so long and at her age, it's severe enough to the point that each day is a miracle that she's not bedridden & in a nursing home. Yet today, she's was over there hacking like she had pneumonia yet she had her walking chair table laid out with cigarettes next to her chair and she was banging them 1 after another, nonstop. Except for a sip of wine that is. She's a real piece of work.
 
Cheers,
Robin

[Tyson]

Yeah, sorry for taking the thread off topic.  Just as someone with heart disease, I am also at seriously increased risk for diabetes, stroke, and Alzheimer's.  I say that she's made it this far doing what she's doing, might as well keep doing it! 

[satfrat]

It's all good Tyson. It's just a rambling thread anywho and I've got some good ideas for my red table wine hunt. 
 
Cheers,
Robin

[rpf]

Oh, I forgot to mention. Castle Rock Pinot Noir. Widely available. $10/bottle.

[lonewolfny42]

So....how did this turn out ? Did you find a good one ?

[satfrat]

I couldn't find any of the recommended wines at Hannafords so I picked up a 2008 Charley Head Pinot Noir, there was only 1 bottle so I took that as a good sign.    Ellie hasn't gotten back to me yet, today was her 1st glass day.
 
Black Box wasn't an appropriate choice, 3 bottles of wine in 1 bottle and it takes her 1 week to drink 1 bottle that goes bad after it's been opened in 3-4 days. 
 
Cheers,
Robin

[lonewolfny42]

I'm reading the flyer....12/26/10 thru 01/01/11

http://www.hannaford.com/catalog/weekly_flyer.cmd

Page 4 has some wine buys...

http://www.cupcakevineyard.com/index.cfm?method=storeproducts.showList&productcategoryid=29bc4112-1cc4-fbb6-2373-a69c8fa03ac4

http://www.dancingbullwine.com/index.html

[ctviggen]

You can buy wine in supermarkets?   After living in a number of different locations, I still don't understand the types of laws in PA, UT, and CT (among others).  Why can't you buy wine in supermarkets?  Maybe people think you're somehow restricted in where you can buy wine, but there are a bazillion liquor stores in CT.   So, you just have to drive 1/4 mile or walk across the parking lot.  Most of the liquor laws are ludicrous.