Robert Mondavi Corporation The News

UC Davis Robert Mondavi Institute Industry Relations Manager of the Viticulture and Enology Department Karen Block describes the innovative use of the TJ fermentor, donated by TJ Rodgers, to the six delegates visiting from sister city Huishan, China.

Farrah Felten-Jolley, left, holding Vinnie, her father Steve Felten; and her mother Lori Felten, holding Klinker, still cultivate the "Old Vine" zinfandel vineyards that their ancestors planted in the early 1900s.

It's always nice to have a variety of wines on hand that are very versatile for food pairings, especially for those hot summer afternoons when you don't want to cook something heavy.

Martina McBride sure throws around wine words like an accomplished oenophile. She told Wine Enthusiast magazine that she likes a nice Chardonnay in the spring and summer and that Newton Unfiltered is one of her favorites.

Napa Cabernet is typically our biggest and most pivotal tasting of the year. Our panel considered some 60 wines from the 2009 vintage in a range of prices.

After six years of trying to sell the revered Heronswood Gardens on the Kitsap Peninsula, George Ball has decided to auction it off.

Competing this past weekend in San Francisco alongside six other regional finalists in a rigorous, national sommelier competition, Mariya Kovacheva, head sommelier at Palm Beach's Cafe Boulud, won top honors, taking home the Robert Mondavi Trophy and the Guild of Sommeliers' 2012 Top/Somm title.

While South Florida was not able to bring home a Beard award this week, Cafe Boulud's sommelier Mariya Kovacheva took home the top prize in the Guild of Sommeliers' Top Somm competition .

While often considered a single "place" when it comes to wine, Napa is hardly a monolithic growing region.

Now hundreds of millions of tweets fly across the micro-messaging site daily, including an increasing number from wine, beer and liquor companies seeking market buzz.