Another year has rolled past, flying by even more quickly than all those that have gone before, it seems.

In a tradition going back to the ancient Roman god Janus - the God of Doors - with his double-faced head looking forward and back, the first of January is a time for thinking about the lessons we've learned from the past and our hopes, wishes and goals for the future.

For all of us who take wine seriously enough to think about it, talk about it and spend good money for it, it makes sense to include wine in our New Year's planning and resolution-making.

Last year at this time, I invited you to participate in a WineLovers Voting Booth poll about wine-buying strategies for the new year, as a way to focus attention on our wine-buying strategies and consider whether we would keep on keeping on or do things differently in 2005.

The ballot included a series of Janus-like options for wine-related New Year's resolutions: Buy more wine, or buy less. Stick with familiar wines, or try new ones. Buy more expensive wines, or go for value. Buy more online, buy more locally. Get on the high-end winery mailing lists, or pull back. Start following Parker and Wine Spectator, or cancel our subscriptions. The results, not surprisingly, were widely distributed, although I was delighted to see that the leading response was "Branch out and experiment," which collared 18 percent of more than 1,000 votes.

This week let's repeat that New Year's poll, inviting you to step into the anonymous comfort of the WineLovers' Voting Booth, think about your own wine-related plans for the New Year, and tell us about your wine buying strategy for 2006.
http://www.wineloverspage.com/votebooth/vb20051228.shtml

Once you have cast your ballot, the software will immediately add your entry to the list. You can use this link to check the current totals:
http://www.wineloverspage.com/votebooth/ans20051228.shtml