While shopping for wine way back in my early, overly enthusiastic days, I would commonly hear knowledgeable shopkeepers say lines akin to, “Oh, it’s relatively young now. So if you can’t wait, decant it for a couple of hours and it should be great.” Once I heard this, I took note and committed it to memory.

There are few people who have thought harder or more comprehensively about where the French wine industry has been and where it is heading than author Andrew Jefford. In his book, The New France , Jefford delves deep into seemingly every angle of importance regarding French wine. The reviews have been uniformly exceptional.

While no match for the fickle flip of fashion rags like Vogue, nevertheless, wine publications have a tendency to declare a new “wine darling” seemingly every year. From Gruner Veltliner to the rebirth of Riesling, or the rise of Spain to the fall of Australia, wine fashions ebb and flow with the tide of sommelier fancy and corporate marketing. For the last few months, I’ve been noting that more and more publications have been talking about Greece. So, when the “All About Greek Wines” tour (sponsored by thirty-one producers to promote Greek wines in North America) came to San Francisco in April, the time seemed ripe to check out what the latest media starlet had to offer.

I've been living in Napa Valley for two full months now and many things have changed in my life since I first arrived. For example, the first thing that now pops into my head when I see the letters "NV" is no longer "Non-Vintage."

“Tell us what we should be tasting,” asked a group of four on vacation from Ohio. (The Russian River Valley, it turns out, seems to be a popular vacation destination for Ohio residents. We get handfuls of ‘em every week.) “Well…let me ask you this: What do YOU taste?” While I am genuinely interested and curious, I also wonder - who am I to tell them what they taste? I don’t have any clue what kinds of flavors their taste buds register. For the next 10 minutes – this group of Ohioans engaged in a somewhat spirited debate about the wine.

One of the great varietals in the world is undoubtedly Sauvignon Blanc. With a history dating back centuries, wines made from this very special grape have played major roles in establishing some of the world’s finest wine regions. When fermented dry, Sauvignon makes some of the easiest-to-appreciate, crisp, expressions of green apple, wild grasses, and citrus. Sweet wines made from the grape are typically profound expressions of honey and spice. However, making memorable Sauvignon is not a process lacking in challenges.

As a young girl, I had always dreamed about being a princess inside a castle full of beautiful surroundings and lovely wines. Well, okay….maybe not the wines so much, but you get the point. At Castle Vineyards in Sonoma, California, their small, quaint tasting room gives meaning to the word “royalty”. Why, you ask? It’s simple: The folks at Castle really know what they are making and selling and it shows. From the employees to the tasting room and of course, the wine itself, Castle knows how to make one feel like royalty.

Variety is the spice of life, they say. So to prove “them” correct, my friends and I embarked on a mysterious and giddy wine flight tasting experience at top-rated San Francisco gem, Incanto . Wine flights are a foolproof way to sample many different types of wine, compare, contrast and discover new favorites that you never would have tried on your own. And what better place to sample delectable delights than Incanto,

Living here in Seattle, I admit I’m among the many that are proud of our famous wine regions and wines. Since I love to vacation on the Oregon coast, I find myself in the upper Willamette/Yamhill AVA a couple of times a year. This area is conveniently located along Route 18, the road leading from Portland to the coast, and it’s easy to hop on and off the freeway to visit a variety of wineries.

Spring always poses an interesting problem; how do you make room in a full cellar for new wines? After stocking up on refreshing whites to sip in the backyard, and receiving spring allotments from your favorite wine mailing lists, this presents quite the conundrum. Well, to paraphrase Otter from Animal House “Wine Dinner!” Sharing wine, food and good companionship is one of life’s most basic pleasures, and having all these bottles that need to be drunk to make room in your cellar is the perfect excuse to do it.