Wine

Buzz: Hey, Marnie. My brother claims there's a wine called white burgundy. How could something be white and burgundy? Marnie: We may think of burgundy as a color, Buzz, but it's really the name of a place. Burgundy is a region of northern France famous for its red wines. We have come to use the name for a deep, winelike red color. Buzz: Even though the wine is white? Marnie: Wines made in the Burgundy region are called burgundies, since the Europeans name their wines after places, and this applies to both the red and white wines made there.

IOWA CITY, Iowa - An Iowa City mother arrested after her 23-month-old son was found to be legally drunk has pleaded guilty to felony child endangerment and neglect or abandonment charges. Natasha Kriener was charged in February after doctors found the toddler had a blood-alcohol level of .09 percent, above the state's legal limit of .08 percent. Police said the toddler's father had taken him to the hospital because he was crying and had poor balance. Cedar Rapids television station KCRG-TV reports that Kriener, 27, pleaded guilty last week and had been set to go to trial in September, but failed to appear for a hearing and disappeared for nearly three months.

Buzz : When did they start making a special wine for little ladies? Marnie: I've never heard of such a thing, Buzz. What do you mean? Buzz: I saw a red wine at the state store called "Petite Sirah. " My mom always told my sister she should shop in the petites section because she was so short, but I thought that was just for clothes. Marnie: The answer is both yes and no, Buzz. Yes, we use the word "petite," which means small in French, to designate clothes made for ladies of smaller stature.

HARRISBURG - Another year, another disappointment for Pennsylvania's wine connoisseurs. The General Assembly's 2011-12 session is scheduled to come to a close without action on legislation that would allow wine lovers to get direct shipments to their homes from vineyards in California and other states. Two measures were introduced this session that also would have benefited Pennsylvania's 140 family owned wineries by allowing reciprocity agreements so they could ship their products directly to customers in other states.

* Restaurants and bars are getting on the Prohibition bandwagon with the new exhibit opening at the National Constitution Center Friday. City Food Tours' "Prohibition Cocktail Tour," every second and fourth Saturday, is a two-hour journey to three Philly watering holes. $55. Details at cityfoodtours.com. * We're applauding R2L (50 S. 16th St., 215-564-5337, r2lrestaurant.com) over this great fall theater and concert season deal - a $45, three-course pre-theater dinner (5-6:30 p.m.)

A million years passed, or so it seemed. "Never in a million years would Jack do that," Linda Bunyan, 56, of Harleysville, insisted as she watched her bare-footed friends stomp grapes at the Wine Room of Cherry Hill. It happened so quickly that Bunyan never saw her husband, Jack, 57, remove his shoes and socks and roll up his cuffs. He stepped into the 3-foot-wide, 18-inch-high vat and waited, his arms spread wide. His wife hopped in and the two embraced. They stomped and giggled like children.

FESTIVALS Celluloid by the sea Indie-film avatar Robert Downey Sr. and Terrence Winter, creator of HBO's "Boardwalk Empire," headline the Atlantic City Cinefest. Downey, director of cult faves like "Putney Swope" (a screening at Showboat Atlantic City Friday night kicks off the festival) and "Greaser's Palace," will do a Q-&-A after the movie. Winter's turn is Saturday at Dante Hall. 609-823-9159 or downbeachfilmfestival.org. DesignPhiladelphia returns The annual citywide festival runs through Oct. 14, with more than 120 public events, most free, that celebrate our town's significance as a center for creativity.

Buzz: Marnie, do they ever sell wine grapes for eating? I'd love to buy some of those green pinot grigio grapes. Marnie: Very few wine grapes make good eating; they have thick skins and big seeds. But you wouldn't find green pinot grigio anyway. It's a red-skinned grape. Buzz: That's impossible. Even I know pinot grigio is a white wine. Marnie: You're right about that, Buzz, but it's perfectly possible to make white wines from red grapes. Buzz: I think you're pulling my leg. What will you tell me next, that chardonnay grapes are red?

There's a sweet-wine revolution going on, and it's happening in restaurants, in people's homes, and in wine shops. More and more patrons are asking for riesling, moscato, ports, and sherries at local restaurants and bars, and sweet wine is being mixed in cocktails at sophisticated Center City spots like a. kitchen, as well as older establishments like William Penn Inn in Ambler. Demand for dessert wines, such as Madeiras and ports, jumped to 210,000 cases in the last year, a 10 percent increase over the previous year, according to Matthew Schwenk, director of product selection for Pennsylvania Wine and Spirit stores.

"REAL HOUSEWIVES of New York City" cast member Ramona Singer signs bottles of her new wine, Ramona Red, at Canal's Bottle Stop (10 W. Route 70) in Marlton from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday. Last year, Singer launched her own line of pinot grigio, which can be found in Pennsylvania Wine & Spirits stores, which will also carry Ramona Red, priced around $14.99. Of course, Pennsylvania residents would buy them only at state stores and wouldn't dream of traveling to New Jersey to buy alcohol.