AND THE ACCOUTREMENTS: CAVIAR, CIGARS AND CHOCOLATES You have now entered the holiday zone. My condolences to you bah-humbugs out there, but look on the bright side! You can turn your attention to “hmm, what will I drink?” Maybe think about wines you don’t allow yourself most of the year. Indulge yourself. Now that you’ve gone that far in your thinking, why not taste a little caviar, light up a cigar and pop a truffle? Whether you’re throwing a party, attending a soirée or hosting your family’s get-together on the key days, following are guidelines for making selections of these luxury libations on varying budgets. SPARKLING WINES Within the sparkling group, try to provide different sweetness levels for differing palates: at least one brut or ultra brut, one sec (sweet) or demi sec (very sweet). Consider a bubbly rosé, as well. Suggestions from different price ranges: Schramsberg Sparkling Wine , $30-$100/bottle. Serve in the style to which presidents and royalty have become accustomed when you offer the Schramsberg line to your guests.

During my recent trip to Germany, I spent a lot of time exploring wine regions in the western part of the country. On one memorable day, I drove most of the Deutsche Weinstrasse (German Wine Route) in the Pfalz wine region with my family.

It was pitch black as we made our way down the cliffside path. I carried the flashlight and my friend carried the champagne flutes and a cold bottle of Roederer NV Brut. We found a bench halfway down the cliff and settled in to wait. Before long, we heard the cries from the hotel above: “Happy New Year!”

If you’re looking for a wild night, grab a few bottles of Loire Cabernet Franc, call a couple of friends, and swing by your local wine shop. I kid you not. My wife and I did this very thing yesterday evening, and it proved to be one crazy ride. For the normal among us – those who prefer to spend their evenings at the theater, clubs, house parties, or sporting events – a Cabernet Franc tasting may not sound terribly entertaining.

The Rhone Report: About Rhone and Rhone-Style Wines and Winemakers is part of an ongoing series. As lovers of Rhone blends, we eagerly traveled to Paso Robles in the spring of 2005 to attend a “blending seminar” at the Tablas Creek Vineyard. We love both the white and red blends from the southern Rhone Valley, among them the wines of Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Cotes du Rhone , Gigondas and others. At home in California, we love the wines of the Tablas Creek Vineyard. So we were excited to attend this event and to learn more about blending these wines.

All the grapes have been harvested. They have been crushed, de-stemmed, macerated, the musts have fermented. The once exhaustive aromas of carbon dioxide and alcohol have subsided. For those of us in the wine-production industry, it feels as though the leviathan wind that threw open the doors and windows and scattered our effects has finally left the building.

December, what do we do with you? So full of merriment, yet so manic. Emotions bubble to the surface like corks, dredging up memories of past joys, pains, laughter and tears just in time for you to tie a nice bow around them all and start anew in January. And what better tumultuous time of year to give yourself a kick in the pants and try something new, like ice wine? Contrary to what you might think, ice wine is not a Cabernet Sauvignon-flavored popsicle (although, that’s a great idea….)

Continuing our Italian Sparkling wine Journeys (just in time for the holidays), we will continue to head east thru northern Italy. You may recall we started in Piemonte with Asti Spumante and Moscato d’Asti. Then traveled east thru Lombardia and their sparkler, Franciacorta. Continuing on east of Lombardia is the Veneto, home to some world class red and white wines and perhaps the best sparkling wine value (along with Cava from Spain) available on store shelves. I am talking, of course, about Prosecco .

When veteran winemaker Steve MacRostie went looking for a new vineyard to plant his chardonnay, pinot noir and syrah he discovered Wildcat Mountain in the Carneros/Sonoma region. "I felt Wildcat would push the envelope, something untried. The cooler climates, the stressful site, the thinner soils; this is not a safe place to set up a farming operation. In a business sense it was probably rather stupid," he said plainly.

It’s a common Silicon Valley dream. The analytical person who catches the wine bug early in life and can’t wait for the day when they can focus their passion away from algorithms and code and towards winemaking. Rick Moshin is living that Silicon Valley dream. A former mathematician, Moshin entered the wine business gradually, working weekends at first, then learning the ropes working with some of the finest winemakers in Sonoma. He bought his first lot of vines in 1989 and in 2005 celebrated his first crush along with the launch of his 30 year old dream, Moshin Vineyards and Winery . IntoWine recently caught up with Rick to discuss his evolution from mathematician to winemaker and hear first hand what is an inspiring story of persistence and passion.