Strolling through the narrow curving and criss-crossing streets, past ancient crumbling buildings, chapels and fountains, the moment you emerge from the labyrinth-like old city and set your eyes on the sea shore with the sunset’s rays dancing in the lapping waves, you realize this city is made for lovers.

In about 1820, a San Antonio winery was built in what is now Goleta, just north of the City of Santa Barbara. The wine was made predominately for the missions as sacramental wine, but the padres undoubtedly made a little extra on the side. The lonely adobe winery is still standing and nearly 200 years later, the wine industry in Santa Barbara County is thriving, in spite of the fluctuations of the economy, transitional markets, fickle consumers and inconsistent harvests.

All the way down at the southern end of Italy, in the arch of the boot, is the region of Basilicata. It is sparsely populated with sturdy peoples of very old traditions. The people who reside there often call their region by the ancient Roman name of Lucanta. The wine making and drinking traditions there predate Rome. One of the oldest and best wines made there is from the Aglianico grape. It is called Aglianico del Vulture. In fact, it is one of the great-undiscovered wines of Italy. This is most likely due to the isolated position of Basilicata and lack of tourism.

The weather warms. You dust off your gas grill. It’s time to start thinking about wines for summer. Albariño wines from Rías Baixas are a perfect choice. Wine writer Hugh Johnson calls Rías Baixas Galicia’s best DO. Recently, the DO launched a U.S. marketing campaign. Chances are you’ll see some Rías Baixas wines at your local wine shop, with notes about their refreshing taste and good value.

Ever since Westye F. Bakke built the first freestanding freezer in the basement of his home in Madison, Wisconsin, over sixty years ago, the company has set a standard for refrigeration innovation. Last year, it was named one of the top ten Green Brands in the US and the UK. It is no wonder then that wine connoisseurs would expect SubZero to create the definitive wine storage unit.

The Rhone Report: About Rhone and Rhone-Style Wines and Winemakers is part of an ongoing series. Last month we discussed the white Rhone style wines offered at the 2008 Rhone Rangers tasting event at Fort Mason in San Francisco on March 18. This month we turn to the reds, of which we tasted 50. Among those we tasted were some old favorites and some wineries or bottlings with which we were not yet familiar. We don’t pretend that we tasted a representative group of wines, because our sample was skewed to wines we have loved in the past and others about which we have heard positive comments.

As the weather starts to warm up, I find myself looking to shed those heavy red wines and foods of winter. In particular, white wines that are both refreshing and interesting are on my mind. Italy has many great white wines, some of which have been discussed here before . Vermentino is made around the Mediterranean from Spain to Italy. It is even made in California. But for me, the top Vermentinos in the world come from Sardinia. Off the Western coast of Italy, in the Mediterranean, lays the island of Sardegna (what we call Sardinia). The island has an ancient history, being controlled by the Phoenicians, the Carthaginians, the Romans, Byzantines, Arabs and Catalans.

I begin this article with a disclaimer: Baden is one of my favorite wine regions in all of Germany – not that I’ve ever visited a German wine region I didn’t like. I’m heartily biased toward Baden, however, not least because I’ve spent so much time there. Our good friends – the ones who arranged last fall’s winery tour – have taken us all over Baden, ensuring that this warm and inviting part of Germany will always have a special place in my heart.

The old adage that ‘ everything is bigger in Texas ’ should be amended to include the state’s will to grow grapes and make premium wines – no matter what. In no other major wine producing American state does the tantalizing exploration of wine’s possibilities continue to embolden and elude the producers of the area.

Heidi Peterson Barrett As arguably the most celebrated, respected, envied, and in-demand winemaker in America today, Heidi Peterson Barrett is one of only a handful of winemakers who can legitimately lay claim to "superstar" status. Her wines at both Dalle Valle and Screaming Eagle resulted in multiple 100 point scores from Robert Parker (Parker himself dubbed her the "First Lady of Wine") and helped redefine both the meaning and value of "cult" wines. She rocked the wine world at the 2000 Napa Valley Wine Auction as a 6-liter bottle of her 1992 Screaming Eagle sold for $500,000, in the process setting a world record for the highest price ever paid for a single bottle of wine (a vertical offering went for $650,000 at the 2001 Napa Valley Wine Auction). Heidi Peterson Barrett is currently winemaker for Amuse Bouche, Paradigm, Revana, Barbour, Lamborn, Fantesca, as well as her own label La Sirena . I recently had the pleasure of catching up with Heidi to talk about winemaking, her own La Sirena label, and the legacy of Screaming Eagle.