Sonoma County winemakers are searching out the perfect marriage of locale and climate to produce noble cool-climate syrah. “This is, honestly, one of the best places in the world to grow syrah,” said winemaker John Holdredge, who makes a cool-climate syrah from a Russian River Valley vineyard called Lovers Lane. “You can have a nice syrah from a warm climate but it’s just a different animal. I don’t think I’ve had one where I thought, wow, that’s pretty.”

I was four years old when I had my first clue that you could pair food and wine for anyone at any meal, and I was lucky enough to learn this from a master. It was many years ago, and we were the quintessential All American Family: Mom, Dad, and two tow headed kids piled into our car on a tour through France, discovering the joys of French food, wine and culture. Find bargains on Vintage Champagne One bright spring day in the Champagne region, we visited the Pol Roger Chateau in Épernay. As we entered the sunlit foyer, an impossibly elegant woman in Chanel greeted us. She spoke for a few moments on the phone: “The Americans are here”

Italian Wines 2007 came to San Francisco's Fort Mason on Thursday, March 21. Not every wine shined, but most of the people did. They had not only dressed in fantastic, glossy outfits of unparalleled poshness, but the greater portion seemed to be Italian and had evidently flown all the way here to sip these wines.

Recently, I joined a friend who was writing an article determining San Francisco’s best wine bar on a field trip and it started me thinking about what I like and don’t in a wine bar. Mind you, I don’t own a wine bar nor have I ever worked in one, but I have been to many. So perhaps it’s best to think of the following as a collection of thoughts from the peanut gallery—notes from Andy Rooney’s trip to a couple of wine bars.

It was my love of fine wine that led me to follow my muse by attending culinary school. As a result, my culinary mission statement has always read “a meal is never complete unless it is accompanied by great wine.” Hence, adding a well chosen, value oriented bottle can make a simple meal a great one. That brings me to the current and frequently misunderstood state of Syrah in the USA.

Apartheid. Nelson Mandela. Zulu Kings. Wildlife Safaris. When most people think of South Africa, a variety of things come to mind, but wine usually is not one of them. Yet that’s exactly what brought me to Stellenbosch, South Africa’s premier wine appellation, earlier this year. I was curious to see what the wine industry was like in a country with such a troubling, turbulent history, an industry that is still relatively elusive to the American consumer.

For me paring food and wine isn’t only a pleasure, it’s an exciting endeavor with innumerable outcomes. To plan a wonderful meal centered on a few great pairings is a good time indeed. I prepare for a weeknight or a dinner party the same way: I head to the farmer’s market and see where it takes me. Wine should be kept in mind the whole time while gathering your ingredients and assembling the meal in your imagination. Whether it be spring, winter or summer the produce will call out to you with notes of the season you wish to express in your meal.

Wine clubs are an increasingly popular way to receive premium and uncommon wines, with regularity, and often at a discount. Many clubs offer special events, occasions to join with congenial and like-minded fellow-members, to get out in the world for a good time with wine, food, music, and sometimes adventure.

During the recent Masters of Food & Wine event in Carmel, California, Matthew Lane of Australia’s illustrious Penfold’s winery was asked about his philosophy regarding the treatment of grapes at harvest. Lane leaned into his microphone, and twisting a cork between his fingers said, " It doesn’t matter what treatment we apply to the grapes in order for them to ferment and age appropriately. The quality of the fruit has already been established in the vineyard. There is nothing more we can add to what nature has already done ."

If you love wine, chances are pretty good that you have a thing for food as well. Be it French cuisine, Italian cuisine, fine cheeses, savory appetizers, or rich desserts, there is a gourmet in the heart of every wine enthusiast. While there are literally thousands of cookbooks collecting dust on book shelves the world over, the books noted below are gourmet food books with a twist. Each perhaps unique enough in style to merit a place on the bookshelf in the study rather than the drawer underneath the microwave. Paula Lambert, author of The Cheese Lover's Cookbook and Guide , is sort of the Robert Parker of cheese. Her book is a must have for cheese lovers. It contains descriptions of a hundred cheeses organized by taste, texture, country of origin, and type of milk used to make them. The book is an indispensable resource on buying, storing, cooking, and serving cheese. The Ultimate Ice Cream Book , by Bruce Weinstein, puts Ben & Jerry's to shame in terms of unique concoctions. Over 500 recipes and all about ice cream of all kinds and variations. What Einstein Told His Cook: Kitchen Science Explained , by Robert Wolke, takes a chemists approach to explain what really happens in the kitchen. Wolke debunks age old myths and provides enough interesting commentary to spark an entire evenings worth of light conversation.