Planning a group picnic in Sonoma? IntoWine.com has scoured Sonoma County to find the best wineries for group picnics. The list below is in no particular order. Viansa Winery Sonoma (City) - Viansa offers a gourmet Italian style deli to go with the tasting room and the common theme is for visitors to pair great wine with great food.

Each year at 12:01 AM on the third Thursday of November, millions of bottles of Beaujolais Nouveau begin a journey from a little French village to locales across the globe. Wine stores and cafes enthusiastically greet these shipments with signs and banners proclaiming "Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivé!" "The New Beaujolais has arrived!". With this begins the annual celebration of the arrival of the French wine Beaujolais Nouveau, a celebration steeped in tradition, frivolity, grandeur, legend, and of course, fabulous wine.

I enjoy talking wine with anyone and everyone, and as a result, have some interesting and provoking questions posed by casual wine drinkers. Beyond the varietals, regions, styles, labels and terminology is a very fundamental question asked over and over again. Why is some good wine cheap while the small lot stuff is so damn expensive? Isn't it all just fermented grapes? Is there really a perceivable qualitative difference tied to the price tag?

It’s hot. The Fourth of July witnessed blistering temperatures around California, and this time the Bay Area was no exception. In my last column , I bemoaned the cool temperatures that typically beset the San Francisco metropolitan area in June and July and used the unseasonable chill as an excuse to explore one of the heavier wine regions of France, the syrah-saturated Northern Rhône. But our recent string of 75-plus-and-sunny days shows my pessimism to be ill-advised.

Wine doesn't immediately pop to mind when you think of Halloween. IntoWine.com asked a panel of wine experts their thoughts on what wine is a good fit for what is one of the most celebrated holidays: "I can't think of a better Halloween wine than Poizin by Armida Winery . This wine is perfect to serve if you are throwing a Halloween party or to gift as a guest when attending one. The label is etched with a blood red skull and cross-bones while the bottle top is dipped in in a haunting blood-red candle wax. The bottle itself comes delivered in its own miniature bottle-sized wooden coffin (count on the coffin being quickly claimed by the closest youngster as it's ideal for any kid with even the slightest Halloween inspired imagination). The wine itself is a Reserve Zinfandel, at 15% alcohol it's not your everyday drinking wine but it's fruit forward and will surely be a hit with any Halloween party crowd. Downsides to this wine are that Armida only produces a few dozen cases so it may be hard to find and at $25 a bottle it may be pricey for the the average Halloween party budget. If you are going all out for your Halloween party though, this IS the wine to serve." - Brad Prescott , Founder, IntoWine.com

Month four, job two since I moved to Napa Valley and things have changed a lot. I've found a wonderful new job that I really enjoy and I'm learning tremendously much. I've recovered from Napa Valley Sticker Shock Syndrome and blithely shell out fifteen bucks for a burger. And though chances were iffy at first at best I can honestly say I'm now happy.

Each holiday brings with it different culinary choices which means different wine and food pairing options. What wine goes with Easter ham? How about Thanksgiving turkey? What is a good wine to give a wine enthusiast as a Christmas gift? IntoWine.com asked a panel of wine experts to share their...

What to give as a Christening gift can be a frustrating dilemna. How does one choose a gift that a new born child will one day both appreciate and enjoy but that will also have sentimental value? One thought is to give a vintage port as a christening gift with the idea being to open it and celebrate when the child comes of age two decades later. With that in mind, we asked a panel of wine experts their port suggestion for someone looking for that special bottle to open in 20 years:

What's a good christmas gift for someone who loves wine? Wine is a common gift during the Christmas holiday season. However nobody wants to give a random bottle, particularly if the recipient is a wine connoisseur. To offer some guidance for holiday shoppers looking for an appropriate and unique wine gift, IntoWine.com asked a panel of wine experts to share their best suggestion for a unique wine gift idea: " Chateau Musar vintage red . Chateau Musar is one of the most unusual gift items for Christmas. It is always a surprise to those that don't know that Lebanon makes wine. For those who do know, they know that it is highly regarded and it was a wine chosen with a bit more thought and attention than just a big brand name. It is a wine that ages for as long as you like, so it is for collectors, yet can be drunk immediately. It is also a wine which goes perfectly with almost any sort of food, so whether having turkey, ham, goose or salmon." - Bartholomew Broadbent, CEO, Broadbent Selections, San Francisco. New Years Eve Champagne Recommendations

Pumpkin pie is a staple of Thanksgiving dinner. Whereas most traditional desserts are derived from either chocolate or fruits, pumpkin pie is different in that it is a vegetable dessert (though botanically it is technically a fruit). As such, pairing a dessert wine with pumpkin pie is a unique challenge. IntoWine.com asked a panel of wine experts their thoughts on what dessert wine to pair with pumpkin pie: "Cream or Oloroso Sherry . My specific bottle recommendation is the Lustau East India Solera Sherry (approx price range $22).