Wine

State Store Pick of the Week Château Ste. Michelle Cabernet Sauvignon Columbia Valley, Wash. $16.99 PLCB Item No. 8408 The huge Columbia Valley occupies south-central Washington, fitting snugly in the rain shadow of the Cascade Mountains. Sun-drenched and sheltered, the region is ideal for wine-growing. The conditions work well for many grapes, but Cabernet Sauvignon benefits more than most. High elevation means cool nights and a long growing season. This gives thick-skinned Cabernet grapes a chance to ripen fully and evenly, yielding a soft mouthfeel and juicy blackberry flavors.

BUZZ: HEY, Marnie, I had guests over and they gave me a bottle of wine. After they left, I saw it was from the Columbia district in Washington. Should I dump it? How good can it be from that swamp in D.C.? Marnie: Drink it, Buzz, don't waste it. It's from Washington state's Columbia Valley, a region that makes some of the best wines in the country, not the capital's District of Columbia. Buzz: I thought the only good American wines were from California. Marnie: Well, it's true that over 90 percent of premium U.S. wines are made there, but Washington and Oregon make world-class wines too. I love recommending Washington wines in particular due to their fair prices.

The smartphone revolution has come to wine shopping, too, with the spread of QR code labels that, with a quick scan, launch a multimedia extravaganza about the bottle you're holding in the store aisle. Too often, though, those labels are just portals to another form of promotional advertising. When an old-school, hand-sell retailer like Moore Brothers takes hold of the technology, though, the results - drawn from 900 original entries built by the store over 16 years - can be downright educational.

BUZZ: HEY, Marnie. I was at the state store the other day and saw a whole stack of "naked" wines. Does that mean the winemakers are undressed when they stomp on the grapes? Marnie : No, silly. "Naked" is a tongue-in-cheek term vintners use to describe wines that taste only of pure grapes, with no oak in their flavor. You might also see similar wines called "unwooded" or "unoaked. " Buzz : Say what? Does that mean most wines are tree-flavored? Marnie : That depends on the kind of wine.

Buzz: Hey, Marnie. We were out to dinner last night and I saw the funniest thing — the guy at the table next to us asked for an ice bucket for their RED wine. What a rube! Marnie: Not exactly, Buzz. I do that myself. Red wines are often served too warm, especially at this time of year. They taste much better with a little chill — brighter and less harsh. I'll ask for an ice bucket in a heartbeat if the wine's too warm. Buzz: Wait, I thought red wines were supposed to be served warm, like whiskey.

I have two knives my father, Joseph Arsenio Gambardello, gave me when I was starting out on my own in the late 1970s. They are Regency Cutlery High Carbon knives made in Colombia. He had his own set and I often used them when I served as his sous chef on my visits home from college. Since he used them, he felt I should also have a pair. I do not know where he discovered them, but I have an idea. He was friendly with the owners of a Chinese restaurant, now long gone, and he picked up a few tricks from them that most Italian Americans did not use in their kitchens at that time.

"WHAT are you, a girl? Is this Girls' Night Out?" That's what a friend, an investment banker, said on a recent evening as the waiter delivered my glass of rosé wine to the table. I considered my manly friend, from his pink tailored shirt to the insipid Coors Light he was drinking. "At this stage of my life," I said, "I'm comfortable enough in my manhood to drink pink wine. " Yeah, that's right. I'm man enough to profess my fondness for rosé wines, especially on a steamy summer evening, before dinner as the sun begins to set. Maybe while poring over the sports page, too, if you need to. Fortunately, it's a good time to try rosé wines, with quality worldwide as high as it's ever been.

Espirito Lagoalva 2011 Tejo, Portugal $7.99 Easy drinking, fruity and aromatic; dark magenta in color. Blend of Syrah and Touriga Nacional from a small region near Lisbon. O ne of the most surprising values in any category I've found this summer.   Les Ligeriens Rosé d'Anjou 2011 Loire Valley, France $8.99 Another tremendous value from a classic rosé region. Pale, with a nose of berries and herbs, and a pleasant balance of acidity and just a kiss of sweet.

Buzz: I was down the Shore last weekend, lying on the beach. My brother opened his beer cooler and instead of a sixpack, he had a bunch of little juice boxes — of wine. What's the world coming to? Marnie: You have to get with the times, Buzz. There has been a revolution in wine packaging in the last 10 years. Buzz: Why abandon the old-fashioned bottle and cork? Marnie: Juices used to come in glass, too, but now it's all cartons and pouches. Wine is just grape juice, so why not put it a more convenient container?

As I drove down the winding country road in the Demone Valley of northeastern Sicily, passing through small towns and villages with old rustic farmhouses in the distance, there was a feeling of growing anticipation and excitement. Even though I had made this trip only once before almost 10 years earlier with my wife, everything looked very familiar. With Mount Etna, the active volcano known as a muntagna by the Sicilians, looming in the distance, Uncle Tony and I made our way along the last leg of our trip from Fiumafreddo to Linguaglossa.