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The color of coffee, with a distinct smell of molasses and raisins. This thick, unctuous wine is dessert in a glass.

Produced throughout Spain's Andalucia, Pedro Ximenez, or PX as it is often called, is a raisin wine made from grapes of the same name.

After harvest, grapes are left on straw mats to shrivel, a process that concentrates the sugars before fermentation. This contributes to the wine's thick and delicious final state.

Of all the wine regions in the world, Bordeaux is the only one that is simultaneously accessible and out of reach; terrible and wonderful; haughty and pedestrian.

While upper level bottles cost hundreds, if not thousands of dollars apiece, the bottom tier is practically given away.

Personally, I find Bordeaux terrifying! By nature of career choice and not pocketbook, I've had the luck to try a few of those outrageously priced bottles and must admit: I understand what all the fuss is about. It is magic when an older bottle of wine leaves you in awe of its power, complexity and fruit. However, I believe that Bordeaux falls into two categories: ones I can afford and ones I cannot.

The mass popularization of sushi and other Japanese cuisine in America has led to a great rise in the popularity of saké as well. Saké is an alcoholic beverage from Japan and it can be found in pretty much every sushi bar - sometimes even mixed up in "saké-tinis."

This however, obscures the fact the term "saké" in Japanese technically means any alcoholic beverage, whereas "Nihonshu" is the proper name for the beverage we commonly think of as saké.

Like the rice wine from Laos that we talked about last week, saké is made from rice that is fermented in an amylolytic process.

Are you new to saké? A quick survey around the office revealed that we are too. Read on for definitions of the primary saké styles...

On a recent trip to Laos, I discovered these bootleg brewers in a small village along the Mekong River. This particular part of the Mekong was lined with sustenance farms as far as the eye could see; greens, corn, tomatoes, herbs and, of course, rice!

Wine generally refers to fermented grape juice; however, any agricultural product with both sugar and yeast can ferment to produce alcohol. With rice it is easy; natural enzymes and acids convert the starches into sugar simultaneously with fermentation, this is called the amylolytic process.

See below the jump for more pictures:

Yesterday was Repeal Day, the annual holiday celebrating the repeal of prohibition on December 5, 1933, 14 years after the vote to criminalize alcohol in 1919.

Pre-prohibition cocktails were simple drinks, mostly spirit with little else. Modern cocktails on the other hand, have become an art form of their own, with many high-end bars and restaurants employing Mixologists (cocktail sommeliers).

Like cooking, the cocktail is all about the balance of sugar, salt and acid. A mixologist's goal is to achieve this optimal balance in a creative way.

Read below the jump for some favorite modern cocktail recipes:

Mulled Wine simply means heated and spiced wine. A mulled drink (Glogg in Scandinavia) can be made from nearly anything, though traditional Christmas mulled wines tend to be red wines heated with clove, cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg and orange.

The tradition of drinking mulled wine throughout the winter dates back to the medieval era. Back then wine was safer to drink than water; so many a life was saved through the drinking of mulled wine!

Thanksgiving's almost here and as promised last week, here are some more thoughts about good wines for your meal.

Indeed, Beaujolais Nouveau, the simple and fruity red wine made from Gamay grapes (that was released yesterday) is a good solution to the multitude of flavors that grace the Thanksgiving table. Beaujolais also follows the simple guideline of being a wine that doesn't overpower the food.

At one past midnight, on the third Thursday of each November the anticipated Beajolais Nouveau arrives!

Today is just that day and throughout Manhattan retail stores and restaurants will be sampling this year's offerings.

Click below the jump for a list of local events:

Let's get one thing straight, there is not one perfect Thanksgiving Dinner wine. With so many flavors and personal interpretations of Thanksgiving, it would be impossible to narrow all taste buds and options down to one single bottle of wine.

With Thanksgiving, as with other meals, the most important thing is to drink what you like.

However, if you are looking for complementary wines to pair with your meal, read below the jump for a few suggestions:

Oh, Canada! A quick trip to Toronto has me in the land of ice wine; an unctuous dessert wine made from frozen grapes.

That's right; grapes destined for ice wine will be left on the vine well into the winter. In freezing temperatures, the sugars and other dissolved solids do not freeze; only the water does, so the result is a supreme concentration of flavor and sweetness. Though the wines are rich, they retain a high natural acidity and therefore are not cloying.

Name: Clos de La Roilette, Fleurie
Grape: Gamay & Pinot Noir
Region: Beaujolais, France
Price: $18.99 to $22.00

This is not Beaujolais Nouveau! Though that season is just around the corner, Beaujolais makes many wines that are far more serious than Beaujolais Nouveau.

A Vineyard With A Purpose and an exquisite art collection. Channing Daughters, located in Long Island's Bridgehampton, marries the worlds of art and wine with style.

Walter Channing, the father, is a sculptor, who finds forms and figures through the trunks of trees. The upside down tree that occasionally appears on their wine labels is a reference to Walter's art.

A visit to their winery is a visit to his gallery, and it's worth the trip.

Name: Les Hérétiques
Grape: Carignane, Syrah
Region: Languedoc Roussillion, France
Price: $7.99 to $9.99

Named after the Cathars, a dualistic religious sect that once lived in the Languedoc. Among other things, the Cathars believed in two gods: one good and one bad, as well as in reincarnation and vegetarianism.

The popularity and heresy of these beliefs was challenging to the Catholic Church, especially because the Cathars refused to pay the Catholic Church's tithe, so the church started a series of crusades that eventually exterminated the Cathars. All that is left of the Cathars are a few remnant buildings and a regional dialect (the langue d'oc).

Name: 2003 Craftsman Cabernet Franc
Grape: Cabernet Franc
Region: Szekszard, Hungary
Price: $7.99 to $9.99

The votes are in and Kitchen readers prefer Old World, Red Wines this time of year. With that in mind this week's choice is from Hungary, a land that has been making wine for over 2000 years.

Prior to Soviet domination and communist rule, Hungary was a very important wine-growing region. In fact, it produces more wine and has more planted acres that it's better-known neighbor, Austria.