Orange County Register

Here’s a collection of worthwhile places and bargains from the Booze on a Budget files:

- Wine pick of the week: a well-priced red that the Wine Spectator includes on its new Top 100 list
- This week’s hot Happy Hour recommendation
- A Seal Beach wine bar that also boasts a great menu

Wine pick of the week: 2007 Juan Gil Jumilla. It made this year’s just-announced (to members only) Wine Spectator Top 100 list (#83) yet it’s only $15.99 at the Wine Lab in Newport Beach, cheaper online. According to the Wine Lab, “This polished red shows black cherry, licorice, mineral and tobacco notes, harmonious and deep, supported by firm tannins. Medium-bodied, well-integrated and stylish. Drink now through 2012. 5,000 cases made.” This rebounding Spanish wine region (it was devastated by phylloxera in the late 1980s) offers good value right now.

- This week’s Happy Hour pick is McCormick & Schmick’s Pilsner Room in Irvine. This friendly chain has boasted a world-class Happy Hour for years. Right now the four-price-tier H.H. menu includes these faves: Spicy Irish Egg Rolls (they sound strange but are irresistibly good) at $1.95; a half-pound cheeseburger with fries ($2.95); steamed black mussels ($3.95); and Spicy Tuna Roll ($4.95). Fridays feature Sangria: $5 for either the red or white.

The Irvine location has plenty of covered parking right next to the restaurant (look for a clandestine door near the entrance of the parking garage — that’s the door to the Pilsner Room), and it’s convenient to the 405. It’s been one of our preferred after-work spots for years.

My readers like this place too. “We fed a family of four for under $20,” Justine B. told me in a recent e-mail.

Happy hours: 4-6:30 p.m. and 9-11 p.m. Mondays-Fridays. 2000 Main St., Irvine. 949-756-0505.

- One of my favorite O.C. wine bars is the Main Street Wine Cellar in Seal Beach. What makes it so good? In addition to the owners’ talents for sniffing out excellent wines and unusual varietals and labels for decent prices ($8 a glass for most vino), the place has a terrific food menu. Every time we go we’re impressed with what’s coming out of the kitchen.

Check out that menu on the Web site, which co-owner Chris Partlow warns is “a little out of date.” Here’s what’s new and popular: swordfish tacos ($12), a warm homemade crabcake ($15), white truffle butter popcorn ($5). “It’s a fairly large bowl, too,” Partlow told me. Something I will definitely order the next time I’m in: a warm crab po’boy sandwich ($15).

Main Street has been open since September of 2008, but Partlow says they’re making some adjustments because of the economic climate. “Our prices have come down and we have a lot more inexpensive things on the menu.” He mentioned homemade pickles ($5) and hummus ($8).

Partlow also let me in on the latest: a new Happy Hour will be launched next week from 4-6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. “All of our $8-per-glass wine will come down to $5,” Partlow said.

Another thing I like about this place: If you buy a glass you can take a bottle of that wine home for $16. “It’s a unique way to drive our retail business,” Partlow said. “When you go to BevMo or Costco you’re picking something blind. But at our place, the cost of the glass of wine is deducted from the bottle price. You can get a glass and a bottle for $24.” You can also try that wine with decent food, which tells you how it will pair up.

Despite the tough times, Partlow is bullish about the wine world. “Right now is a great time to be a wine drinker or buyer. We can get great deals on lot of wines that were meant to be expensive but aren’t selling.”

I’ll drink to that.

Main Street Wine Cellar, 302 Main Street, Seal Beach. 562-430-3200. www.mainstwine.com

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