Some men like a nice cold glass of Chardonnay - and are man enough to admit it.

But are they the exception?

Judging by some marketing campaigns, you might think so. Take the Super Bowl ad that ran a couple of years back in which men invited to a wine and cheese party ducked into the kitchen to unpack beer hidden in a humongous wheel of cheese.

It was a stereotype played for laughs. And the designator for "average dude" in last year’s presidential campaign was Joe Six-pack, not Mark Merlot.

It’s hard to say for sure exactly who’s drinking what, but a Gallup Poll from last year found that among women who drink, 43 percent say wine is what they drink most often and 28 percent say beer. Among men, 58 percent say beer is what they drink most often and 17 percent say wine.

Wine companies would like to change that. Some have adopted guy-friendly marketing with tie-ins to such red-blooded pastimes as camping and racing. What’s next a Pinot Noir tailgate party?

The Winemakers', the PBS TV Series, announces season 2 casting call in New York City on August 10, 2009.

Doc City Productions, a leading creator of TV wine programming, announced an open call for contestants to participate in Season 2 of The Winemakers, the first reality format television series for PBS TV that will do for the wine world what Top Chef did for food and Project Runway did for fashion.

Contestants will fly to the Rhone Valley in France in September 2009 to compete for the grand prize of creating and launching their own wine brand nationwide.

"We are searching for the most audacious, most passionate, most imaginative, most diverse group of people we can find," said series producer Kevin Whelan. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for a dedicated wine enthusiast to become a winemaker, own their own wine label and have their wines distributed nationwide. The competition will be formidable, but the prize will truly be a wine lover's dream come true."

Season 1 starts this September.

All the info is here.

You all know the doggy bag - where diners take home food that they enjoyed, couldn’t finish and look forward to eating the next day.

A combination of the economy, changing state laws, and the popularity of wine have created an opportunity for an entrepreneurial company, Wine Doggy Bag to help all of us wine lovers to savor our last drop of wine. According to Wine Doggy Bag it is now legal in all 50 states to take home your unfinished wine from a restaurant with certain restrictions depending on the state.

Wine Doggy Bag has created bags just for this purpose. These one time use bags are made in both 750 mL and 1.5L sizes for the purpose of sealing wine up (in order to meet some state requirements).

According to their website, “The use of a Wine Doggy Bag is recommended in Pennsylvania. Act 59 of 2003 allows a patron, in conjunction with a meal, to remove the unfinished portion of the bottle of wine from a hotel or restaurant. The hotel or restaurant must reseal the bottle. Resealing is not defined.”

So, will you start doggy bagging your leftover wine? Maybe the better question is: what leftover wine?

Everyone has an opinion about pairing wine with briny bivalves. This week, we asked our wine panel (those same wine geeks who help us choose our wine-of-the-month selections) for their pick on what to drink.

Raw oysters all share a bright, salty character and rich, often creamy texture. The aftertaste can include greater or lesser amounts of mineral, melon and smokiness.

Although their specific recommendations vary, our professionals were unanimous in saying a dry, high-acid wine is needed to refresh the palate after a rich oyster. On a recent visit to Napa, people were raving about pairing sparkling wines with oysters.

Personally I like the classic partnering of oysters with Chablis. My favorite, although a little pricey, is the Verget Chablis Grand Cru “Bougros” from Dreadnought’s very own list.

We pride ourselves on having assembled the largest and quirkiest inventory of wine accessories in Pittsburgh. We’ve got the classics and the most recent trends. From Riedel stemware to the most technologically innovative gadgets.

To make it simple and easy for you, our entire collection is under one roof. No matter what you are looking for - we have it - or something even better.

Not only do we know accessories, but we are All Things Wine.

Thought this blog from Douglas Green should be shared in its entirety.

Rarely do two people agree completely over a glass of wine. What is the difference between a “good” wine and a “bad” wine? This is tougher than one might think.

Wine is a very subjective art in which we see people waxing eloquent over wines or those who spit the same wines out with a look of utter despair. This might be the strangest part of the wine business: Rarely do two people agree completely over a glass of wine! I know why this happens but it does not answer completely the difference between the good and the bad in vino.
Here are a few items to consider:
Frame of mind — This is a biggie when it comes to evaluating a glass of wine. We know that emotions play a big part in the physiological make up of people. A stressed-out wine drinker creates bitterness on the palate, as well as bitterness in the mind and soul.
A simple cold — Nasal congestion, clotted palate or coated tongue can be real killers as to deciding the good, bad or ugly of a bottle of wine. Hay fever, allergies and colds can greatly affect the sensations on the palate. What is needed is a strong sense of smell and taste and a clear mind and heart when judging a wine or simply deciding the good or bad of the bottle.
Food — One of the more overlooked aspects of deciding the worth of a bottle of wine is what preceded the wine on the palate. Greasy foods, foods with hot spice, foods with a lot of milk-based items can really put the nix on a pretty nice bottle of wine. This is why wine is rarely served in Mexican restaurants, Indian restaurants or Thai restaurants, where the cuisine might be really spicy or hot. Heat and spice can tear the heart or delicacy from the middle of a wine and make the experience less-than-great. This is why we have beer!
Ego — This is a big one. Some folks, if the wine is less costly than they think merits a nice wine, will dismiss the wine completely and never try it again. I have seen this happen more times than I wish to say. I have seen really nice wines under R40 get shunned from the table simply because of their low price point. I know it sounds nuts, but it’s true. Conversely, I have seen really expensive wine get all kinds of acclaim because of the reverse reaction.
Temperature — Nothing is worse than a warm bottle of Chardonnay! Equally bad is a cold bottle of Syrah. Wine must be in line with what accents its goodness as far as temperature is considered. I have also seen really over-chilled Champagne and white wines where the wines are so cold nothing hits the palate but ice cubes. This is not a good thing and tends to really knock an otherwise really nice bottle of wine on its butt.
Moderation is the ticket — Chill slightly, eat judiciously and try not to be anxious or upset when evaluating that glass of wine. Don’t let the price fool you either. Let it go and let the wine speak for itself and (try) don’t get in the way of what really might be out there.

With all the hype of the movie that opens August 8 with Amy Adams and Meryl Streep (who looks hysterical in the trailer) just thought I would mention this book for any of you foodies out there who might have missed it when it was originally published in 2005.

With the humor of Bridget Jones and the vitality of Augusten Burroughs, 30 year old Julie Powell recounts how she conquered Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Needing something to break the monotony of her life, Powell decided to cook all 524 recipes from Child‘s classic 1961 book - in the span of one year.

Hilariously original, Powell discovers incredible determination and hidden talents in cooking, writing and living. Julie and Julia is a joyful, humorous account of one woman's efforts to find meaning in her life. A great read for the final days of summer.

In addition to rating specific wines, wine publications such as the Wine Spectator and Wine Advocate provide ratings for entire vintages. The word vintage is descriptive of the year in which the grapes were harvested, not the year that the wine was bottled.

According to the Wine Spectator, 2007 should be a banner year for California Chardonnay with the publication rating the Carneros, Napa and Sonoma regions each 96 points. This is very good news for the consumer because when several regions receive such a high rating, there will be a large selection of very good wines available at a low cost.

The 2007 crop benefited from the lack of spring frosts, summer heat waves, and fall rains — all of which allow the grapes to ripen in an even and uniform manner. This weather pattern provided winemakers with concentrated fruit containing an intense variety of flavors.

In comparison, 2006 was a wet and cool year, with the Carneros, Napa and Sonoma regions each rated 90 points. So if you're looking for a crisp white, check California's 2007 Chards.

E. S. Brown on winegeeks wrote the following a few years back:

“Holy crap it’s hot out there. For much of the United States it seems that spring was just a weekend somewhere in May, come and gone as quickly as New Coke. Now that summer has officially parked its sweaty self over my home in the Midwest, it is time to break out the summer wines. For many of us who would normally say that “While we enjoy all wine, red is the color of my heart,” the desire to find a crisp and refreshing quaff for the patio has us scrambling to the cellar or the local shop. The thought of drinking a glass of heavy red wine right now feels just that- heavy. Syrah? Forget it. Super Tuscan? Super no. Cabernet Sauvignon? Are you kidding? So what are we left with?

Boy, am I glad that I asked in the second person. There are hundreds of great wines out there that are perfect foils for the dog days of summer. Although there are about as many styles as there are bottles, a few common denominators exist when selecting a vino for the patio. Start with crisp acidity, throw in a low alcohol content and then mix vigorously with lighter fruit flavors. The end result is a racy wine that will delight the senses and dance across the taste buds instead of plodding along like a palate attached to an anchor.”

So - what are you drinking this summer?

Her name is Natalie Oliveros, but she's better known as Savanna Samson to her followers.

Now she's winning over wine aficionados with her tasty vino. It's something she takes very seriously. Oliveros landed one of the top Italian winemakers, Roberto Cipresso, to help her with her project.

Their wine quickly garnered a rave review from fastidious wine guru Robert Parker, who gave her Italian red wine, Sogno Uno, a score of 90 to 91 out of 100.

Savanna hopes her wine will bring her mainstream success. She also hopes the success of her wine label will help rekindle relations with her parents, who disowned her for entering the porn business. "Even my parents feel they are proud of the wine and they can finally speak highly of me again," she said. "I am very proud of my wine."