If you are like me, no camping trip is complete without the perfect wine. And by perfect, I mean the wine I like. Because, wine is a very personal choice. What is the perfect wine for one, may not be for another.

I’m partial to old world wines, but I don’t say no to US wines either. I really love to try anything, at least once. Actually make a point to buy one or two new wines everytime I visit my local wine shop.

When we travel, just like at home, we favor the Portuguese, Italian, Spanish and French wines. We drink a fair amount of wine, so unless we are celebrating a special occasion or have company, we try to keep our wines under $15 per bottle. I’m a firm believer that good wines don’t necessarily have to cost of fortune to be good.

Back to wine and camping… For the afternoon happy hour I normally go with vinho verde (portuguese), which I love because of how light and crip it is, or a french rose. My two favorites that I always have on hand are Casal Garcia (verde) and Chateau Puech-Haut (rose). Either one goes wonderful with our afternoon smorgasbord.

For the evening, red is our choice. Too many to name, but we normally travel with a bordeaux, a portuguese red (Alentejo are my favorite, but I don’t say no to Douro wines) and then alternate between the italian sangiovese and the spanish tempranillo.

What are you drinking?

List of some of our favorite vineyards:

• Portugal – Quinta Nova and Bomfim (Douro), Esporão  and Rocim (Alentejo), Cabriz (Dao) and Quinta Tor (Algarve)
• France – Château Laplagnotte-Bellevue (Bordeaux), Bouchard Aine & Fils (Pinot), Nicolas Feuillatte (Champagne), Louis Jadot (Beaujolais)
• Spain – Marques de Caceres, Los i Terrasses Laurel, Vivanco, Bilbao
• Italy– Carletto, Pio Cesare Dolcetto d’Alba, Santa Margherita, Bocelli
• USA – Cline, Belle Glos Clark, Meiomi, Turley, Rodney Strong, Schramsberg (recent love)