Wine

In an age of long commutes, late sports practices, endless workdays and 24/7 television programming, the image of Mom hanging up her dish towel at 7 p.m. and declaring "the kitchen is closed" seems a quaint relic of an earlier era. It also harks back to a thinner America. And that may be no coincidence. A new study, conducted on mice, hints at an unexpected contributor to the nation's epidemic of obesity - and, if later human studies bear it out, a possible way to have our cake and eat it too, with less risk of weight gain and the diseases that come with it. Just eat your cake - or better yet, an apple - earlier.

Actor Kelsey Grammer is back at it — trying to sell his home in the Beverly Crest area — this time for $17.999 million. Priced in 2008 at $19.9 million, the mansion is described in the listing as modern Traditional in style. The two-story house, built in 1980, features a central hall, media room, a library, a wine cellar and a service entrance. There are seven bedrooms, nine bathrooms and 10,567 square feet of living space. Lawn, a swimming pool, a six-car motor court and a four-car garage complete the grounds of more than three-quarters of an acre.

Thomas Keller, Jacques Pepin, Roy Choi and more than 70 other chefs will share cooking techniques, schmooze and even play golf at the fifth Pebble Beach Food & Wine festival in Pebble Beach, Calif. Tickets are expected to sell out for the four-day April event, which has an impressive roster of meals, cooking sessions, wine-tastings and after-hour parties. Organizers offer these tips on navigating what's one of the more exclusive food-and-wine festivals in the state. First-timers might want to watch chef Todd English at an hourlong cooking demonstration to pick up some new techniques and/or enjoy a wine-and-cheese pairing event with cheese expert Laura Werlin ($100 each, unless you buy a pass)

The sleepy Central Coast town of Arroyo Grande, population 17,000, is the ideal place to shut out the mayhem of city life for a few days. There's not much to do except relax, drink wine, read your book and take sunset strolls. The bed. House of Another Tyme Bed & Breakfast (227 Le Point St.; (805) 489-6313; http://www.anothertymebnb.net ; rooms for two, $120) is a remodeled Victorian home that dates to 1916 and contains three guest rooms. The B&B is run by husband-and-wife Jack Tiedemann and Judy Zwarg.

A small wooden cabinet went up for auction on EBay. Inside were two locks of hair, one granite slab, one dried rosebud, one goblet, two wheat pennies, one candlestick and, allegedly, one "dibbuk," a kind of spirit popular in Yiddish folklore. The seller, a Missouri college student named Iosif Nietzke, described the container as a "haunted Jewish wine cabinet box" that had plagued several owners with rotten luck and a spate of bizarre paranormal stunts.

Take too much fun from the fun bank at Thanksgiving? With more holiday revelry coming up, we have three little words: alcohol-free wine. The notion of tinkering with perfectly good vino makes true wine lovers blanch, but alcohol-free wine has some advantages over its boozy cousin, including far fewer calories: about 15 to 25 calories for a 4-ounce glass, compared with about 90 for a glass of Chardonnay or Cabernet Sauvignon.

Los Angeles has a reputation for fantastic weather and epic sprawl, but rarely do you get to experience the two unadulterated while nursing a cocktail. At the Yamashiro Farmers Market, however, held every Thursday atop a windblown peak in the Hollywood Hills, visitors can take in the bluster of Los Angeles on a hot night with sweeping views of the sparkling grid, along with a few other California specialties: fresh produce and artisanal prepared foods, plus our greatest export alongside Hollywood — wine.

Brooke WILLIAMSON had worked her way up through the kitchens at Michael's and Boxer and she'd won considerable acclaim as the chef at Zax, and now -- at 25 -- she was a partner in her own restaurant, Amuse Cafe in Venice. Business was booming, the critics were raving, and every night the room had both the loud buzz of the hip "in" place and the reassuring warmth of the neighborhood hangout. Then, without warning, came The Call.

Here's a Cotes du Rhone from the northern reaches of the appellation that's about as good as it gets. Eric Texier's 2007 "Brézème" is 100% Syrah. You can taste it right away. Intense and spicy with plenty of depth and concentration, it calls up smoke and black figs, plums and the wild herbs of the sun-scorched garrigue . Uncork a bottle to drink with some grilled ribs seasoned with thyme and black pepper, a hefty pork chop or a marinated skirt steak. Pair it with stews and daubes and zesty vegetarian casseroles too -- anything with big bold flavors.

ALBARIÑO and Grüner Veltliner from the Central Coast? Edna Valley vintner John Niven believes that these white wines -- most commonly associated with Spain and Austria, respectively -- are the new frontier for California wine. And like a true frontiersman, he's out way ahead of the pack.

This is an elegant expression of Nebbiolo (here called Chiavennasca) from one ofItaly'ssmallest appellations in the mountains near the Swiss border. Valtellina has several sub-zones, the best known of which is the wonderfully named "Inferno. " Giuseppe Rainoldi's 2007 Valtellina Superiore "Inferno" Riserva is definitely a keeper. Though these wines age well, this one is drinking beautifully right now, so why wait? The bouquet of flowers, cherries and leaves seduces right away, but it's the flavor and texture that stand out most - silky, with finely honed tannins and the pure taste of Nebbiolo grown high up near the Alps.

The price first-time homeowner Justin Bieber paid for his new digs in Calabasas has wended its way into the public record: $6.5 million. Set on 1.3 acres in a gated community, the 10,000-square-foot main house is described as "transitional French" in style. Features include a high-ceiling foyer, library, a movie theater with stadium seating, a wet bar and a wine cellar. Just what every 18-year-old pop singer needs. Including a guesthouse, there are seven bedrooms and eight bathrooms.

Ask a Venturan and he or she will tell you that the city is both the end of Southern California and the beginning of the central part of the state. With a gorgeous coastline, an affinity for agriculture, a happening night life and a healthy enthusiasm for all things vino, this duality isn't just a clever marketing campaign - it's the real deal. The bed. The 76 rooms at Best Western Plus Inn of Ventura (708 E. Thompson Blvd.; [805] 648-3101, http://www.best western.com, doubles from $85.49 in spring)

Calera is best known for its compelling Pinot Noirs, but the limestone soils of the Gavilan Mountains east of Monterey Bay work their magic on Viognier too. That's the genius of the site founder Josh Jensen chose for Calera Wine. This Viognier comes from the Mt. Harlan vineyard, first planted with the grape in 1983 and farmed organically. The bouquet of jasmine and ripe stone fruit draws you in right away. Then comes that lush texture and the tastes of honey, pear and tropical fruit.

The Red & White Wine Bar is across the street from beautiful Lake Como, with forever views, in Tremezzo, Italy. The chef and his wife are charming, friendly and speak English. The food is outstanding: It was the best pasta e fagioli I have ever had, and my husband had the lasagna three days in a row. Prices are reasonable. Red & White Wine Bar, 18 Via Portico Sampietro, Tremezzo; 011-39-0344-40095. Pizzas and pastas from about $10. Main dishes $20-22. Jade Kemble Rancho Bernardo

Barbaresco doesn't usually come in under $30 - and when you find a Barbaresco of this quality at this price, jump on it. One of the great bargains in Piedmont is the Paitin "Serra" from the Elia Pasquero family, which has been farming these hillside vineyards since the late 18th century. Very drinkable already, the 2008 has a lovely bouquet of cherries and earth. Complex and elegant, this Barbaresco has lots to reveal as it sits in the glass - concentrated dark berries, violets, tobacco leaves and more.

While most Southern Californians are snug in their beds on the weekend mornings of May 19 and 20, thousands of people will be gathering in a huge grassy field in the rolling countryside of Temecula. They usually arrive at 5 a.m., when the gates of the seventh annual Temecula Valley Balloon & Wine Festival, this year at Rancon Park, open. And they will watch in fascination as 35 rainbow-colored hot air balloons are inflated, slowly growing to their full size eight of 10 stories in height.

Most of the mail I get from readers is pretty straightforward ("Have you tried the new Ridge Zins?" "How long will the 1996 Chateau St. Jean 'Cinq Cepages' age?"). There are times, however, when the most innocuous-sounding letter somehow requires a complex answer. I got such a letter recently, which read simply "What wine goes with salmon?" I began my answer with, "It depends on the preparation"--admittedly, a bit of a cop-out.

Any discussion of Tar & Roses must begin, as your dinner probably will, with what is probably its simplest appetizer, a concoction of popcorn tossed with brown sugar, lardons and chile, like a bowl of Cracker Jack with chewy cubes of bacon instead of peanuts. (Why can't there be chewy cubes of bacon and peanuts? That is an excellent question.) The popcorn falls solidly into a genre new in Los Angeles cooking, something we may call an elevated bar snack, a staple of the many, many gastropubs that have come to dominate casual dining here over the last couple of years.

We met at the Santa Monica outpost of the Bodega wine bar. Though it was fairly dark inside, I recognized his face at the bar. I waved and walked toward him. As he stood up, his body did not match his face, or any of his online pictures. He was not the same guy surfing in the wetsuit, or wearing the tux, or looking all skinny with his bushy brown hair. He must have gained 50 pounds, maybe more. Beneath his beige button-down shirt I could see man boobs. "Shall we get a table?" he asked.