Not that there's anything new or even alternative about this concept. No doubt, a sizable percentage of today's 20-and early 30-somethings were conceived as a direct result of sex, wine and rock 'n' roll. I'm sure the early Greeks and Romans rocked and certainly ruled in their own ways as well. They invented Bacchus, Instruments with strings, and the Mediterranean diet, after all. In fact, we know that they didn't even need music to go forth and multiply (air lyres?). They were X many generations over.

The interesting thing about Wine X, however, is that it is the only publication treating the subject of wine as an appendage, if you will, rather than an integral part of life. Sure, it's full of words like "suck" and "bite," pierced body imagery and rhetoric that aspires to the attitude of the milk industry's campaign, often ending up sounding more like "Got whine?" than "Got wine?" But to its credit, Wine X does not elevate wine to the amazingly smug, staid and ultimately shallow values of overtly boomer-oriented magazines, such as Food & Wine and Wine Spectator. There are no titles, like M.S. and M.W., attached to the name of the editors and writers of Wine X, just e-mail addresses.

The ultimate goal, as Wine X's latest issue puts it, is to empower wine drinkers; sans the secret language and rituals of the swirling, gurgling, nosing wine-drinking elite. What I like about this approach is that it is firmly entrenched in a sense of wonderment and the will to discover, which happen to be the only things that have ever kept me interested in wine. But then again, having arrived at the tail end of the boomer generation, my knee-jerk reaction to wine institutions is instinctively opposite and equal. Although I would never describe a pinot noir as "way cool," I have been known to use expressions such as "sheer and sensuous, like silk stockings on Madonna."

That's what you will also find in abundance in Wine X, which uses wine ratings based upon XXX (Exceptionally Cool), XX (Killer Kine), and X (Gets It Done). For Instance, the 1996 Orlando Jacobs Creek Shiraz-Cabernet ($8-$9) rates a XX. According to my own recent notes, this blend of two red grape varietals from Australia gives a black-peppery spiced, sweet blackberryish aroma, and slightly rough but medium full flavors, more than fair for the price.

The Important thing is that in every issue, Wine X delivers a ton of fresh insight on top of reviews of hundreds of wines, especially suitable to the financially challenged of every age and persuasion. I may find the 1997 Rosemount Shiraz Cabernet ($8.50-$9.50) to be round and full of fresh berry and sweet, smoky, tobacco-like nuances; but for Wine X it is a Patrick Ewing slam-dunk - big, bold and in your face! Emphatically XX.

Of course, one may not always agree. I've generally been unimpressed with Australian merlot, for instance, finding the 1996 Orlando Jacobs Creek Merlot ($8-$9) to be sweet-fruit-toned but tough, dry and, well, not very merlotish. Wine X, however, likens it to a koala bear eating boysenberry Jell-O in a eucalyptus tree wearing a thong. In other words, a minty and sexy XX; which just makes me want to give it another shot.

Sometimes it is just a matter of words. I think the 1995 Morgan Monterey Reserve Pinot Noir ($28-$30) is a drop-dead gorgeous red wine, but in a compellingly refined, silken, spicy and perfumed way. Wine X goes further; rating it a XXX and describing it as the Jackie Chan of pinots, compact but kicks you-know-what.

The best part is that you can try this at home - that is to say, wines expressive enough to enjoy on their own, with some pre-trendy pot roast, or with a spin of some post-rock Marcy Playground, Neutral Milk Hotel, or for that matter, Elvis, Coltrane, Dead or Holiday.

Everything, when you think of it, is as cool as it ever was.