A quest for deals finds no throwaway wines-but few great values, either

Some vineyards reported rain early in season; weather service says storms headed east, where harvest is still under way

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A crew of a dozen men, all full-time employees at St. Helena's Spring Mountain Vineyards, began picking the winery's first sauvignon blanc grapes at 6:30 a.m. Friday morning

Winery-hopping is easy on the East End's North Fork

There are 40 wineries in Tennessee and about 100 grape growers, with others getting on board.

Wine makers don't get much support these days by making sitting-down wines. That's because at the higher prices, the wines that get the greatest attention are "walking-around" wines.

The Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance announced tickets are available at www.pasowine.com for CRAVE, slated for Friday, October 23, 2009 from 7:30 - 10 p.m. This distinctive event, now in its second year, blends wine tasting tradition with a stylish format geared toward millennial wine enthusiasts.

The Wine Guys represent Relish Magazine, available in The Buffalo News the first Thursday of the month

featuring the 2007 vintage of Châteuneuf du Pape

Earning 4.5 out of a possible 5 stars, the winner of The Press Democrat's recent 10-Year Cabernet Sauvignon Retrospective is the Joseph Phelps Insignia

Mechanical Grape Harvester a Quicker Picker

What's a Vintage Festival Parade without Bacchus, the god of the vine?

Anyone saving those extra-special bottles for Christmas and the New Year might want to consult a new biodynamic tasting calendar - and hold off on the corkscrew.

While often reinterpreted as "winegrower" in America, the French have a term for someone who is intimately hands-on in both tending vines and making wine: vigneron. Such self-reliance is rare on these shores. Hank Beckmeyer, 47, is one of a handful daring enough to try.

Dick Grace's office, in a meticulously restored 1881 Victorian just north of St. Helena, is a curious place to discuss the world's ills. On the wall is a Diane Arbus photo of two women, both with Down syndrome, beaming with wide smiles.