Chardonnay is considered the most well-known premium white wine grape in the world. Almost every wine region has this vine growing in it with some degree of success. Its origins in France's Burgundy and Champagne regions are the benchmarks that many winemakers use to make their own wines.

The Chardonnay wines that most serious wine drinkers prize tend to have a good fruit and acid balance with a nice complexity of flavors. These can include apple, pineapple, tropical and sweet or tart citrus fruits with buttery, smoky, spicy, nutty and herbal suggestions layered with the fruit. Of course, not all Chardonnay wines will show all of these characteristics.

More than any other white wines, Chardonnay benefits from the aromas and flavors of oak-barrel fermentation and aging. Aside from French Chablis, most of the world's leading Chardonnay producers use oak barrels to add a toasty, creamy, sometimes spicy character to their wine.

Chardonnay is quite versatile with a wide variety of foods. With its wide range of styles, it is possible to match the wine with fish, shellfish, poultry, pork, sausages and a wide array of cheeses. How much fun it is to find new matches!

Sara Malone sees wine as an integral part of a meal

Sara Malone lives with her husband, Ron, at the Circle Oak Ranch in Sonoma County. Although she recently retired from two decades on Wall Street, Sara's academic background and longtime passion is gardening, which has naturally evolved to a love of food and wine. Her wine collection began simply to complement food, but she admits that it has taken on a life of its own!

While her husband's focus on the ranch is raising and showing cutting horses, Sara plants and tends an organic vegetable garden from which she harvests vegetables and herbs year-round. She shares one of her favorite preparations in the recipe below.

You can visit Sara's website at: circleoakranch.net

This chicken is redolent of thyme and is served with roasted radicchio. Round out the meal with mashed potatoes and green beans. Serve it with your favorite Chardonnay or light red wine.

• 4 rib-eye steaks, 12 oz ea, 1-inch thick
• 1 roasting chicken, about 4 pounds
• 2 lemons, quartered, divided
• 1 medium-small onion, peeled, quartered
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme
• 2 medium heads radicchio, halved lengthwise
• 2-1/2 Tbsp sweet butter, softened, divided
• 1/3 cup whipping cream (or half and half for lighter consistency)
• 2 Tbsp freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Place chicken on rack of roasting pan. Squeeze juice from 1/4 lemon; reserve. Place onion, 3 lemon quarters and thyme sprigs in the cavity. This may be done hours ahead; wrap chicken in plastic wrap and refrigerate. Meanwhile, blanch radicchio in boiling salted water for 1 minute; drain and press gently to remove excess water. Wrap in several layers of paper toweling. Melt 11/2 Tbsp of the butter over medium-low heat. Sauté radicchio about 4 minutes, turning to cook all sides. Season with salt and pepper. Arrange cut-side-down in buttered baking dish. Pour cream over evenly, sprinkle with grated cheese

Combine remaining softened butter with lemon juice. Rub over the skin; season with a little chopped thyme and ground pepper. Roast radicchio and the chicken in preheated 400°F oven 20 minutes. Radicchio is done when bubbling slightly; remove. Lower temperature to 375°F and continue roasting chicken another hour or slightly more. Chicken is done when meat thermometer inserted in thick part of thigh registers 185°F; Remove, let stand 10 minutes. Reheat radicchio in the oven for 10 minutes.

Garnish with lemon quarters. Serve with radicchio.

Before harvest, the canopy of leaves at the top of the vine is often cut away to increase exposure to the sun and speed ripening.

The average age of a French oak tree harvested for use in wine barrels is 170 years!

Dom Perignon (1638-1715), the Benedictine Abbey (at Hautvillers) cellar master who is generally credited with "inventing" the Champagne making process, was blind.

Thomas Jefferson helped stock the wine cellars of the first five U.S. presidents and was very partial to fine Bordeaux and Madeira.

To prevent a sparkling wine from foaming out of the glass, pour an ounce, which will settle quickly. Pouring the remainder of the serving into this starter will not foam as much.

Old wine almost never turns to vinegar. It spoils by oxidation.

In King Tut's Egypt (around 1300 BC), the commoners drank beer and the upper class drank wine.

Cork was developed as a bottle closure in the late 17th century.

It was only after this that bottles were lain down for aging, and the bottle shapes slowly changed from short and bulbous to tall and slender.

When Mount Vesuvius buried Pompeii in volcanic lava in A.D. 79, it also buried more than 200 wine bars.

Wine Events from Coast to Coast
Here are some exciting wine events that are happening around the U.S

November 2 - November 4
San Luis Obispo 17th Annual Vintners Harvest Celebration - Central Coast California
A celebration of the great wines of San Luis Obispo. Winemaker Dinner will be held Friday night. Saturday will have a Grand Tasting & Auction at Avila Beach Golf Resort from 1-5 PM. Open houses will be held at individual wineries on Sunday. Great Food! Wine! and Fun Times! $70 for Grand Tasting.

For more information and to make a reservation go to www.slowine.com

November 18
Jonathon Alsop's BOSTON WINE SCHOOL
1354 Commonwealth Avenue Boston, MA 02134 Spend the Sunday from 4-7 p.m. before Thanksgiving getting your holiday wine life in order. You'll learn tips and hints on how to throw a great holiday wine tasting party this season your friends and family will talk about all year long. Also, you'll strategize what to buy for the wine lover on your holiday gift list. Bread, olives, cheese served with class. Wine pairing supper included (Boneless stuffed Turkey).

For more information and to make a reservation phone: 617-784-7150 www.bostonwineschool.com

October 19-21
24th Annual Beaujolais Wine and Food Festival
Hyatt Regency Houston 1200 Louisiana Street Houston, TX 77002
The Beaujolais wine and food Festival is a much anticipated event that celebrates the release of the French Beaujolais Nouveau Wine every third Thursday of November. It began more than 20 years ago with a couple hundred guests and never stopped growing since then. Last year more than 1,000 guests attended. This year again, the event will include Beaujolais Nouveau Wine, and also Beaujolais Villages and Crus. More than twenty upscale restaurants and caterers will offer their gorgeous buffets of exquisite entrées and desserts.

For more information, phone: 713-960-0575 or visit www.facchouston.com

Autumn reinstates hearty dishes; it invites dinner parties, weekend brunches and offers us holiday celebrations. It's a wonderful time of year to enjoy wine. It's warm enough to allow you to appreciate a chilled glass of your favorite white, and the evenings are nippy enough to settle in front of a fire and uncork a deep, rich red. Whichever you choose, there's a great wine waiting for you that will accompany any autumn activity.

Beaujolais Nouveau wines are the first wines from the new vintage, released only on the 3rd Thursday of November after harvest. Beaujolais is a wine for hearty fare-slowly braised meats like short ribs, hanger steak, prime rib and rack of lamb.

For a slightly lighter taste, Shiraz is also a perfect match with roasted meats and chili.

Chardonnay is usually big enough to stand up to tomato sauces, creamy cheeses and smoked salmon. It's also great for that colorful autumn afternoon picnic.

Perfect wines for tailgating parties are merlot and sauvignon blanc. Both are light and fresh and go well with finger foods. While Merlot's profile is similar to Cabernet Sauvignon, it tends to be less distinctive and slightly more herbaceous in both aroma and taste.

One of the great appeals of Sauvigon Blanc is that it is such a food-friendly wine. In the fall, a Sauvignon Blanc with a little light oak aging is a great pair with cream based soups (like potato leak or New England clam chowder).

Pinot Grigio is another great wine that pairs well with so many foods and also has a great crispness that is perfect for just sipping. Try a glass while you're grilling some Greek chicken or cooking up a lovely Sunday evening pasta dinner.

Don't forget about Gewurztraminer and Rieslings. They can be a little sweet but when you pair them with the right food, you'll be amazed. Both are a great match with your Thanksgiving dinner. They are also equally great with a turkey sandwich the next day.

Source: The Wines of Fall - Tim Protzman