I believe at 3CUPS everything we sell is going to be good.  I assure you.  I can say that because we've vetted each and every product before it shows up on our shelves.  You may pay a little more than you would elsewhere (or the same amount, we sell $9 wine, too) and I'm not espousing extravagance.  I'm saying simply that if a deal looks too good to be true, it probably is. I believe Carlo Petrini is right, food always costs the same. You can pay up front, or you can pay down the line in medical bills that accrue from consuming unhealthful, chemical-laden items with low food value, a choice that often burdens the environment with some of the tab as well.

Like-minded people often ask me (generally after a glass of wine or two) how much where you buy your wine really matters, and I understand the question. I mean, there's plenty of drinkable, seemingly innocuous homogeneous juice out there. Where's the harm in cheap wine? A gander at the Franzia/Bronco Wine article I mentioned last week (click here) answers this question well: there are social and environmental ethics tied into where you spend those dollars. It sounds preachy I know, but it's true dammit, and who's going to preach if I don't. I'll start pounding my copy of The New France on the counter in a minute...