The Rhone Report: About Rhone and Rhone-Style Wines and Winemakers is part of an ongoing series. Marsanne, Roussanne and Viognier are the best known of the white Rhone varietals. But there are two less recognized grapes that really add a “je ne sais quoi” to the overall quality of a white Rhone blend and each produces a zippy single-varietal wine as well. These are Grenache Blanc and Picpoul. Both are newcomers to the United States and are slowly starting to gain popularity.

The fourth most widely planted grape in Italy is Barbera. In the Piemonte, it is the most widely planted grape and accounts for over 50% of the annual DOC red wine production and 35% of the vineyard area. Thought to be native to the Piemonte, Barbera has been grown there for centuries. It is most likely the grape written about by Paul the Deacon in his description of the Battle of Refrancore in 663 when the Longobard troops of Grimaldo defeated the Franks after getting them drunk on wine. He confirmed that the Longobards filled amphorae with wine and scattered them around the surrounding fields. The Franks found these jugs and drank voraciously from them making them unfit for battle.

Pizza may very well be the most popular dish in America. It comes in myriad varieties - deep dish, thin crust, cheap, expensive, and with an endless selection of toppings, sauces, and cheeses. So picking a wine to match with pizza is a daunting task. Nevertheless IntoWine.com posed the question to our panel of wine experts: What wine do you suggest for pizza? I’ve become a real convert to the classic Neopolitan-style pizzas , simple combinations of tomato sauce, basil and mozzarella, or tomato, garlic and oregano, with light, delicate crusts. The kinds of wines that go best with this style of pizza are light, fruity, well made Italian wines, particularly from producers like Occhipinti and Paolo Bea. Both of these producers minimize the sulfites in their wines, which helps preserve the fruity flavors in their Frappatos and Nero d’Avolas, in the case of Ochipinti, and Sagrantino and Sangiovese in the case of Paolo Bea, giving the wines a real sense of freshness on the nose. The ideal bottlings by these producers with this style of pizza would be Occhipinti’s Il Frappato or SP68 Nero d’Avola Frappato, or Paolo Bea’s San Valentino or Rosso de Véo. Richard Jennings, IntoWine.com Featured Contributor and the Founder RJonWine.com.

Robert Mondavi constantly reminded the world that wine was part of a “civilized life.” For him, the apex of human experience, the trifecta, was wine, food and art. Mondavi began the physical realization of this idea with the advent of Copia, an 80,000 square foot center for the arts, food and wine, sitting on 12 acres in downtown Napa, which opened in 2001. The second concrete iteration of Mondavi's philosophy came in the form of a yearly conference called Taste3. Inspired by the 40th anniversary of the Robert Mondavi Winery, which helped to forever change the way American’s viewed wine, the Taste3 conference, has grown to become, in a few short years, a forum for fresh ideas, new thought patterns and unique perspectives on wine, food, art and how we as human beings fit into the scheme of things.

I’m not sure what happened. One day we were enduring another 90º heat wave, and then the weather Gods made an abrupt shift to fall with cool, cloudy 65º days and even cooler, damp nights. Last week I was grilling figs and prosciutto, this week I want comfort food.

Most wine drinkers have never heard of Saale-Unstrut, unless they happen to live in Germany. That's understandable, since nearly all the wine produced in this small German wine region is consumed locally. Wine production varies here, because Saale-Unstrut lies so far north. In particularly harsh years, crops are lost and production declines accordingly. Still, Saale-Unstrut has a proud winemaking history, dating back over a thousand years.

Generally, flooring for wine cellars can come from many sources and complements the overall décor and ambiance of the space. What is hardly ever used is carpet because of the cool, humid environment needed for aging and storing wines. These conditions could contribute to mold or mustiness in the fibers of the carpet.

Super Tuscan wines can be expensive and, let's face it, with the Euro kicking the Dollar's butt, finding a Super Tuscan that doesn't break the bank can be a challenge. IntoWine.com asked our panel of wine experts to recommend the best Super Tuscan "Value" wines: A Sangiovese-less Super Tuscan!?!? Specifically I suggest the 2003 Rocca di Montegrossi "Geremia". I know, I know. There’s no Sangiovese in this Super Tuscan! It’s 60/40 Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, respectively. And truly, it is a brutish wine, filled with tannin and body and yet there is a substantial amount of finesse. The 2003 vintage was a beauty for Northern Italy, unlike 2002.

For those wine connoisseurs who want to designate a specific area for sampling, adding a wine service area is a good option. Here a table or two with chairs can allow you to offer your guests a special wine tasting in your cellar. Some of the choices for wine cellar tables range from elegant pieces of furniture that you would put into a dining room to small hand-made pieces of art. Some even incorporate function into their beauty.

One of the most dramatic touches you can add to your wine cellar design is architectural embellishment. The addition of a carved corbel or a pedestal base or just a wood turning along your racks can transform your cellar from a dark place to keep your wine to an elegant space. But with the vision of a creative designer and the infinite possibilities available from carved architectural manufacturers, your wine cellar can take on character and presence, becoming almost palatial.