Now That Rosé Season is Over What to Drink?

Remember these days?

Warm days of wearing shorts with a glass of chilled wine in your hand are now a distant memory for most. Rosé wines seemed to be the new darling of warm weather beverages, but what do we drink now that things are a little nippy out there?

Wine varieties are seasonal meaning that Rosé doesn't hit the spot so well when it's below freezing any more than a heavy Cabernet on a hot, humid afternoon in August.

So, yes, wine varieties are definitely seasonal. Beer makers put out seasonal beers--lighter, crisper ones in the summer, and heavier, darker beers in the winter. We can go the same route with wine.

The Setting and the Situation

The where, when, environment, and circumstances in which you have a glass of wine defines your enjoyment of that wine. The actual setting means everything, not the points or medals earned by the wine, the price of the wine, or where it's from.

Allergic to Sulfites in Wine?

Wine, along with many other foods, contains sulfur compounds. If you know you have a sulfur allergy what do you do? Sulfites occur naturally in many foods plus more can be added as a preservative. Besides wine, sulfites can be found in everything from salad bars to beer to guacamole to bakery items.

A very small percentage of the population has an adverse reaction to sulfur in their food (mainly asthmatics). BTW, there is no known relationship between headaches and sulfur though some people claim they get headaches from it. Who knows, everybody is different. If you can eat raisins or other dried fruit then you don't have a sulfur allergy as these foods are loaded with sulfur to preserve them.

If you do have a sensitivity to sulfites can you still drink wine?

Sonoma Valley in Autumn (photos)

Pictures of Sonoma Valley vineyards in mid-November 2015

Winter 2015-16 Events in Sonoma County

Major Wine-Related Events for December-March

This is the quiet time of year in the wine country and a great time to visit.

Sonoma County's Rural Rebellion

Business is booming in the wine county. The number of visitors is up. Along with that the traffic and the noise levels are up. Some people in the rural areas of Napa and Sonoma are saying "enough."

A few months ago Food Network star Gary Fieri's plans for a rural party palace, I mean winery, were shot down by the county.

Now it's taken a more generic turn with county-wide forums debating the issue. There is a push for more regulation of new wineries.

Preferences of the American Wine Drinker

A recent survey of wine drinkers across the country came up with some interesting results. And it's not always what the premium wine areas like Napa and Sonoma want to hear.

The survey sampled occasional and frequent wine drinkers with a fairly equal split across generations.

How Your Family Drives You to Drink More Wine

Following are some of the many reasons your relatives force you to drink wine even though you wanted to take the night off with a nice cup of tea. Really, it's not your fault.

So here it goes, the top ten reasons your family is driving you to drink wine. And I'll even tell you how much wine each irritation is worth!

What wine with your BK Whopper?

You maybe never gave much thought to drink options at Burger King past a Coke or a milkshake, but somebody at BK has. Why? Fast food joints (and Starbucks) are using alcohol to attract more adults to their businesses.

Top Wine-Producing Countries

Where does all that wine come from? You can figure out that Western Europe and the Americas will have countries in the top ten, but you might not have guessed China.

When you need a hug ... e bottle of wine

Cuz sometimes hugging an iddy biddy 750 ml bottle just won't do.
Wait, there's more! Prepare to groan.
 

Sutter Home Goes All Classy

Sutter Home Winery, the source of those millions of cases of that white zinfandel stuff, gets as much ribbing from me as anyone for their pink soda pop wine. They probably have their "laughing all the way to the bank" routine pretty well worked out.

This year Sutter Home is donating to send care packages to some of the nearly quarter million troops we have overseas. Every little bit helps when you're away from home during the holidays. Just text HOME to 89800 and they will donate $5 towards the cause for every text received.

Go to Sutter Home for the holidays for all the info

Saving Money on Premium California Wines

It's not so much about finding sales at Costco or great deals at Trader Joe's although this certainly does happen. This is more about what to look for on a label to find the bargains.