No matter how many wines from different grape varieties I taste, there is something about Chardonnay, especially from Burgundy, that reinforces why I love wine so much.

This delicious 2008 Mâcon Chaintré from Domaine Cheveau is certainly a case in point.

Last week I looked at wine 'color'. A second facet of a wine's appearance is its clarity. Most wine drinkers expect a wine to look clear and bright, not dull or hazy. However, a slight dullness or haze is not necessarily a sign of a major flaw in the wine or even a bad thing.

Budget Wine: 2009 Flavio Roddolo Dolcetto d'Alba
Region: Piedmont, Italy
Average Price: $19

This 2009 Dolcetto d'Alba from Flavio Raddolo is another delicious wine that I recently picked up at our local wine store...

The first thing we notice about a wine is its color. At its simplest, a wine is red, white or rosé. However, the different nuances of a wine's color can suggest lots of things about the wine's age, its grape variety and even how it was made.

Budget Wine: 2010 Domaine La Suffrene Bandol Rosé
Region: France
Average Price: $19

The picturesque Provençal wine region of Bandol has to be one of my favorite sources for rosé wines, and this week's find certainly supports my case.

Balance is a word you very often hear wine people talk about.

Do you ever wonder what it means in the context of a wine? What exactly is a balanced wine?

Budget Wine: 2009 Graf V. Schönborn Silvaner Kabinett Trocken
Region: Franken, Germany
Average Price: $16

This deliciously crisp and refreshing, dry (Trocken), unoaked white wine from Germany is made from the Silvaner grape, and it's juicy and packed with lots of lively fruit.

We hear the word 'oak' mentioned frequently regarding wine. But what does it mean when we say that a wine is oaked? Are there different types of oak? And how does oak influence the flavors and taste of a wine?

Read on for a basic explanation of what oak means in relation to wine!

There is something about Italian wine that takes you immediately to the table. Images of fun gatherings with family and friends or romantic dinners for two come easily to mind. With that thought, Faith and I decided to put together some easy ideas for an Italian wine inspired spring dinner. Here's a whole menu, beginning to end, of Italian food and wine. You just add the table and the friends, and it's a celebration waiting to happen.

Have you ever considered starting a wine collection but were unsure how to begin? Here are some useful tips for any readers considering having more than a few dozen bottles around at the one time.