How have I made it through almost 44 years of life without encountering the term "plonk?"
According to the Wikipedia, plonk is an Australian term for an inexpensive wine. It usually is used in a pejorative fashion, but it doesn't always have to be that way. Cheap doesn't necessarily mean bad.
I have heard for a while that Colonial Discount Wine and Liquors at 2401 Franklin Pike is an excellent place to find a good cheap bottle or a cheap good bottle of wine. Whether you're planning to cook with it or enjoy a bottle with a bowl of chili, it's good to have a few nice $5 bottles in the fridge ready and at your disposal.
With that in mind I stopped in at Colonial on a recent Friday afternoon after work. The parking lot was packed, and the store was bustling with a diverse crowd of shoppers. Some were dressed in the uniform of the downtowner on that particularly blustery day, wearing cashmere overcoats and silk scarves. I have heard some folks say that they don't like to shop there after dark, but hey, it's just a block or so from Melrose Pub. Exercise your normal urban caution and you should be fine. The gentry seemed just as at home as some of the scruffier types like me, so it was nice to see that this neighborhood store welcomes all sorts of customers.
Except, apparently, people with saggy pants as the no-nonsense sign on the front door asserted. The whole store is no-nonsense, with a decent selection of liquors displayed on one side of the store and metal racks of wine dominating the left side. Don't expect to see shelves carved out of oak barrels or shelf talkers giving you Robert Parker's opinion of every wine, but Colonial is by no means a Quarts n' Pints kind of store.
