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The blog is mostly off the next two days, but will return on Monday with the 2010 $10 Wine Hall of Fame. For today, take a look at this — yet another argument for screwcaps (and much thanks to toneguru at You Tube):

As noted, Bruce Springsteen's "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" may be the best Christmas song ever. So what better way to celebrate the holiday than with this animated version, courtesy of bigwallypants at You Tube? Enjoy the holiday with people you care about and your favorite wine.

The Wine Curmudgeon will return on Monday with some New Year's Eve sparkling wine suggestions.

The blog is mostly off today and tomorrow for the holiday, but the Wine Curmudgeon will return on Monday with sparkling wine suggestions for New Year's Eve. Until then, how about this — a glass of wine that floats on air (courtesy of simerlab on You Tube?)

The news this week that the convenience store chain was launching a $4 wine brand called Yosemite Road sent chills of excitement through the Wine Curmudgeon. Finally, there was a Two Buck Chuck equivalent that I could buy at a store just three blocks from my house.

Not so fast, cheap wine breath.

Turns out 7-Eleven, through a wine producer called The Wine Group  (best known for not having a Web site and its Franzia and Big House labels), made hardly any Yosemite Road at all. There are just 3,500 cases in the U.S., split between cabernet sauvignon and chardonnay.  That's about what a small regional winery makes in a year. 7-Eleven's Kevin Elliott, senior vice president for marketing and logistics, said he expects most of the wine to be gone by the end of the month.

Or sooner, as the case may be. I stopped at four 7-Elevens yesterday (no sacrifice is too great in the pursuit of cheap wine), and none of them had the wine. If and when I get my hands on some, I'll review it. Or, if anyone else tries it, leave a comment or send me an email and I'll post it. Until then, a few thoughts about what it means that one of the world's largest retailers is getting into the very cheap wine business.

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The Wine Curmudgeon believes in openness and transparency. No one pays me to review their wine, though I do accept samples from wineries without any preconditions about what I write. However, I also buy wine for review. Each review notes whether the wine is a sample or purchased in the parenthetical statement where I quote the price — as in, ($10, sample) or ($14, purchased).

Wineries, distributors or importers that want to send samples should email me for information. The blog’s demographic information is available through Quantcast; the blog ranks in Quantcast’s top 15 percent worldwide.

In addition, the ads on the site come from third parties and aren’t related to what I write in any way. I subscribe to the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters code of ethics for online writers. Each year, I post these standards and how I adhere to them. Email me for advertising information and rates.

Seven tips for buying wine when you ?re in a strange store, you aren ?t sure about what you want, or you ?re just generally confused.

Buying wine is confusing to begin with, and it ?s even more confusing because the industry wants it be confusing. Case in point: How many times have you read the back label, looking for information about what ?s in the bottle, only to find something like: ?complemented by currant and wild berry. ?a hint of spice and anise. ? earth tones are indicative of the mountain soil. ? Yes, but what does the wine taste like?

But never fear. The Wine Curmudgeon, as always, is here to lend a hand. These seven guidelines will help you navigate most wine aisles and give you a good idea of whether you want to buy the wine or not. And, if you have a tip that I ?ve left out, send me an email or leave a comment.

1. Alcohol levels. Federal law requires labels to list the alcohol level, though it ?s sometimes in tiny type and difficult to see. The higher the level, the less sweet the wine. Generally, dry wines start at 12 percent alcohol. Higher alcohol wines, and especially higher alcohol whites, are less pleasant to drink and especially less pleasant if you aren ?t having them with food.

2. Different wine, same producer. Many producers have different tiers of wines, based on price. Kendall Jackson, for example, has Vintner ?s Reserve (about $12), Grand Reserve (about $18), Highland Estates ($25), and Stature ($50 and more). What that means is that if you like the $12 wine, you ?ll probably like the $18 wine even if you ?ve never tasted it.

3. Old World vs. New World. Old World wines, from Europe, are less fruity and less alcoholic, while New World wines, from the Southern Hemisphere and the U.S., taste cleaner and fresher. None of these are good or bad; they ?re just differences. If you want a fruity wine, you ?re better off buying a New World wine.

4. Oak. This is, next to alcohol, one of the most divisive issues in the wine business. Some people love oak and others think it ?s the worst thing to ever happen to wine (which is usually what the Wine Curmudgeon thinks). Generally, oak isn ?t as noticeable in red wine, but is very obvious in white wines. If you don ?t like oak, look for words like vanilla, caramel, buttery, and toast on the back label description. That usually means the wine has significant oak flavors.

5. Appellation. This is the region of the world that the wine is from. For most wines that we drink every day, appellation is mostly about price. Wine that says California on the label is gong to be less expensive than wine that says Central Coast, which is going to less expensive than wine that says Napa. Wine that says South Eastern Australia is going to be less expensive than wine that says Barossa Valley. There ?s also a quality difference, with the more specific appellations usually being better made wine.

6. Tannins. Red wines have them and white wines don ?t. If you don ?t want that bitter, astringent flavor that tannins produce in the back of your mouth, opt for white wine. Also, some red wines ?- pinot noir, tempranillo, grenache, and merlot ? are less tannic than other red wines ? cabernet, shiraz.

7. Shelf talkers. These are the little cards that hang on the shelf under certain wines. Sometimes, they ?ll quote scores or the Wine Magazines. The shelf talkers that are most helpful are those that feature store recommendations, usually by the employees. If you try one of these wines, and you like it, you ?ll be more comfortable trying another wine that the employee recommended.

The sound is a little spotty, but this is 3 1/2 minutes of regional wine thrills and excitement from last weekend. I have to admit, since I did the editing, there are probably one too many shots of me. But Dave tells the funniest joke. We ?ve added a drinklocalwine site on YouTube, as well.