MUCH ADO ABOUT WINE: Those of you who know me (or read this blog religiously) are probably aware of my love for wine. For the past three or four years, grape juice has been one of my steady hobbies, a little sidelight that lets me combine things I enjoy: drinking, learning, and hanging out with other folks who enjoy drinking and learning.

This Wine Spectator article on home winemaking really got me excited. I hadn't really thought of making my own wine before, and chances are my wife will not give over our modest kitchen to the process. Still, I challenge you to read this and not have a little flight of fancy about making your own, naming it, and coming up with cool labels.

As a further enticement to those who think wine is for snobs, I offer this great quote from the article:

"The average bottle contains 750 milliliters of fermented grape juice. What's the big deal?"

It's true. Wine, like baseball, is much ado about nothing. But as I always say, you can live focused on the much ado, or on the nothing. I'll take the much ado every time. (Funny, though, as a Buddhist sympathizer, I'm pretty okay with the nothing, too.)