This will only make people mad, but it's bar month, I've had a shorty of Pabst, so I'm just gonna say it.

I love wine, but most Milwaukee wine lists encourage me to drink beer. I'm talking now about the wines by the glass list, because the fact is, a middle income fella like me can hardly afford an entire bottle of wine at a restaurant anymore. Any anyway, if there's just two of us, we're not going to drink an entire bottle of wine and then drive home.

Maybe it's down to the distributors, maybe it's down to laziness of sommeliers (or the lack of sommeliers), maybe it's the fault of unadventurous customers when it comes to wine, but it seems like everyone's list of wines available by the glass is, if not the same, very similar.

After perusing the two merlots, the two cabs and the syrah (ooh, look, something from Australia, how chic!) on offer, I invariably order a beer. The fact is, even though I prefer a glass of red wine, I enjoy a good beer more than a mediocre wine.

Why can't someone put a damned barbera or a dolcetto or even an Argentinian bonarda -- bless you Nessun Dorma! -- on the list? And after "Sideways" was such a sensation, I thought for sure there would be more pinots. But still the merlot cabernet cartel maintains its stranglehold on Brew City.

Maybe it's a plot that's been in force since the days of the Beer Barons. Maybe they knew that when faced with an unimaginative selection of six or eight red wines most of us would opt instead for a cold, frothy mug of lager.

Cheers!