So when you’re out tasting, you talk to a lot of people — winemakers, sommeliers, collectors, connsossieurs — and you get to discussing the Next Big Thing. Here are some trends on the horizon that I think will really take off in 2007:

Finger Lakes Reisling: Germany is the King of Reislings, but recently, this region of upstate New York has been churning out medal winners. Hard to find in California, since we produce more than 80 percent of wine in America, and don’t take kindly to domestic competition. Unfortunate. But ask your favorite wine merchant. He’s no doubt carrying something, or can get it for you.

South African Sauvingnon Blanc: I cherish my bottles of Sauvignon Blanc Cellars from Stellenbosch. These wines are so crisp, limey and almost vegetal, they make me forget my precious white Burgundies. Keep an out out for more producers and affordable pricings. I really recommend SBC.

More dry rose: The pink bubble burst this year on sophisticated, food-friendly roses and sparkling roses. Schramsberg sold out of its J. Schram, which at the end commanded $120, unheard of for a rose. (I have one bottle) So there you go. So much press, two huge Pink Out! events at Butterfly, so many producers making top-notch versions. It will continue to flourish. At this point, if ANYONE tries to mock the blush or tell you it harkens back to their days of Lancer’s, slap them. That argument is so 2006.

And lastly, gru-vee: Gruner Veltiners from Austria are already huge, appearing on many wine lists and commanding upwards of $15 a glass. Since more than a third of Austria’s vineyards are Gruner Vetliner, I have a feeling more competition will yield some affordable options. There are a few out there now, but they’re questionable. Hey, it’s not everyday you can find a peppery white. It’s worth the money.

Anything else? Organic will continue to boom. Oh, and if you haven’t already, give Greek a try. Lodi, too. It’s only five years, if that, behind Paso Robles and Santa Ynez.

Cheers to your New Year!

In taking Monica’s class on putting words to wine, I’m sure the flavor of vanilla will come up. After all, it’s used as a descriptor in some many wines, both red and white. Why? Because those wines were most likely made or aged in oak barrels. When barrels are made, the wood is toasted over a fire in order to make the staves malleable for shaping. Toasting also creates chemical reactions in the wood that result in certain flavors. Much like grilling in meat creates certain flavors, toasting creates the chemical compound vanillin, the molecule for the flavor vanilla. You’ll notice wines that are made or aged in stainless steels tanks don’t have a vanilla flavor.

I always promise to let people know about good, affordable and FUN wine classes, and there’s one coming up. I’ve taken Monica’s classes before and she’s top notch, a class act from an Italian wine family. She worked at Wine.com before the bust, when they had a lot of money and tasted everything. I’m particularly interested in this class, which helps you put words to the flavors in wine. A must-attend. To sign up visit the Lafayette Community Center site. Click on Winter Recreation and open the PDF class schedule. Here are the basics:   

Putting Wine into Words: Friday, February 23rd 6:30 to 9PM. Cost: $27 plus $15 supply fee.

Tasting is, of course, an extremely subjective exercise and you must ultimately let your own palate be your guide. Nobody is born knowing how to taste wine. But tasting is a skill you can learn, just as you learn to dance or play tennis. Unless you want others to tell you what to drink all your life, you’ll need to develop the ability to taste. It’s easy, and practicing is a pleasure.

If you don’t have plans for New Year’s Eve yet, may I suggest a four-course tasting at Cav, the wine bar on Market in San Francisco? That’s where I’ll most likely be. It’s only $50 and is going on twice, at 6 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Here’s chef Christine Mullen’s menu plan:

First course

Choice of Pomegranite and Persimmon Salad or Lobster Bisque

Second course

Choice of Crab and Asparagus Cavatelli with Truffle Oil or Filet Mignon with red wine, shallots, savory bread pudding and arugula

Third course

Serra da Estrela with membrillo and marcona almonds

Fourth course

Hazelnut Chocolate Pizzelle

The tasting does not include wine, though Cav will have a flight of vintage Champagnes on hand. For reservations, call 415-437-1770 or go to the Website. Click on Events, then New Year’s Eve.

So this isn’t going to be some post about Christmas or if you bought enough Beaujolais last month to get you through your second turkey. Rather, I came upon a much-needed sensual-intellectual fact (as is always the case in wine) to cut through all this holiday overload. I’m considering popping my bottle of J. Schram Rose. That’s how close I am to my breaking point.

So here it is: Much of what we think of as wine’s flavor is actually its aroma. Don’t think you have a sophisticated palate? Actually, it’s rather evolved and complex. We can actually detect not 1,000, but 10,000 different odors. In fact, in 2004, two American scientists won the Nobel Prize for discovering the mechanism by which people detect smells. Among their findings: We can smell and later recall 10,000 different odors.

Ponder that at your Hanukkah, Christmas and Kwanzaa tables!

Interesting news today about stalwart, $100-Napa-Cabernet producer Silver Oak Cellars buying Dry Creek’s hipster rebel Roshambo Winery. I profiled Roshambo owner Naomi Brilliant in September and visited her artsy winery the following month. If you haven’t been, imagine a sleek art gallery meets club where the employees have tattoos and patchy facial hair. My friends and I weren’t crazy about the wines, but boy did we admire Brilliant’s business model and marketing savvy: Drag shows, art openings and the slogan, "Fighting for fun in a winey world." After all, it was for us — serious wine drinkers who didn’t wear suits or fanny packs. Well, turns out the world isn’t ready to stop whining, so to speak. Experts have weighed in and I tend to agree on one front: Brilliant, heir to Frank Johnson, went overboard on a showcase winery and tasting room before her brand could build a reputation to cover the costs. Turns out that soon after the winery, which cost $10 million, was built in 2002, the value of the family trust fund behind it began to dip. And dip. What I do not agree with, however, is that Roshambo was too flip, too light and not serious enough for the wines they were making. The wine press is making Silver Oak out to be the Superman of wineries that came and saved little baby Roshambo. After all, they make serious wines for serious people. Well, I love Silver Oak and attend their biannual Cabernet releases but I can tell you that a chunk of their clientele at those parties look and act like anyone at Roshambo. Wine drinkers are getting younger and younger, and they drink everything, gold-trimmed beige labels with cursive writing and wineries named after the rock, paper, scissors game. You can’t blame Roshambo for trying to cement a niche for themselves. I’m just sorry it didn’t work out. I do hope Naomi stays in the wine biz. We need her creativity. As for Silver Oak, it’s been looking for a secondary facility to produce wine following the fire last year that caused $2 million in damages and will put it out of commission for the 2007 harvest. Silver Oak is buying the winery and the acreage surrounding it, but not the brand. So if you have any bottles, hold on to them.

Now that was a vacation. I’ve been out of commission for two weeks. I know, not a good reason to stop blogging. But hey, my palate actually took a break too. I do little wine when I visit my folks in southern California. The bottles of Dariush I give my dad as gifts are always gone by the time I visit, and the Three Buck Trader Joe’s label they buy can only go so far. Plus, there aren’t exactly wineries in Orange County, right? Of course there are! There are  wineries everywhere these days. Denver, upstate New York, Albuquerque, why not Laguna Beach?

I visited the Laguna Canyon Winery on Hwy. 133 (Laguna Canyon Road) with my dad. For those who’ve never been, the narrow, windy road links my idyllic hometown to the major freeways, 5 and 405. It’s mostly peppered with hippie homes and artists’ studios, and now, much to my surprise, a winery.

It’s an urban winery, so they get their grapes from Paso, Napa and Sonoma but crush, press, ferment, oak barrel age, blend and bottle the wines in the same canyon that holds the famed Sawdust Festival and Pageant of the Masters. The tasting room was simple and elegant. The gent who blends the wines is an Italian winemaster by the name of Gianni Seminari. But the style of the wine wasn’t Italian to me. It was very fruit-forward California and French, particularly their Pinot Noir and Bordeaux-style Meritage.

They have a standout Reisling that has a touch of orange muscat and grapes that come from Solano County, and at $16, it’s also one of their affordable buys. I’m also curious about their Late Harvest Cabernet Sauvingnon Partial Ice Wine (the owners are Canadian) that cost $66 and is limited to one per customer. Maybe next time.