Care to avoid be ridiculed by your Thanksgiving hosts following your departure after din din? Good. Then pay attention. (For those of you who have T-Day hosts who regularly gulp Chuck Shaw or Yellowtail, ew, feel free to ignore this post. You're screwed anyway.) Here's what NOT to bring to Thanksgiving dinner: Cabernet Sauvignon (for the love of God, don't bring Cab) Merlot Petite Sirah Chardonnay (unless there is a crab dish) The varietals above......

It's here, it's here! Pinot on the River. The Russian River, that is. Starting today and running through Sunday, Pinot Noir will be the focus in the Russian River Valley this weekend. Russian River Vineyards in Forestville plays host to this year's fest featuring top Pinot producers from the area. Enjoy wine-tasting, seminars, tours, and delicious culinary treats. The events kick off with dinner tonight. Online tickets are unfortunately no longer available. (You snooze,......

Okay, guess that should read "Wine Connoisseurs," or "Oenophiles" as the Supremes did not rule that food stamps could now be used to purchase Thunderbird, Cisco or Night Train. Instead, they ruled that states like New York, Massachusetts and Michigan could not prohibit direct sales of wines from other states if they allowed such sales for local wineries. You can read coverage in the Chron, the Times, the Globe or the Freep. Before the......

Honey honey, how you thrill me, ah-hah, honey honey - ABBA Gourmets often say that cheese is the food world's analogy to wine, but we think honey is a better candidate. Our food writing idol Edward Behr wrote that "honey, in its extreme variety, is one of the most vivid reflectors of terroir"—the idea that food or wine has a "sense of place." Helene Marshall, "the bee keeper's keeper" at Marshall's Farm Honey agrees.......