The Rat grabs some tunes and wine at Slims in San Francisco while checking out the Uncorked and Unplugged tour - part rock show - part wine tasting.

The Rat ventures out into the hot, sun drenched vineyards to attend an outdoor tasting comparing warm and cool climate Chardonnays from Sonoma County, CA

A side-by-side comparison of six different wines made from six different Pinot noir clones, and a visit from Dolly, my favorite dead cloned sheep

Lured into the Priorat region, of the wine shops, by tasting amazing Priorat wines at this year's Hospice du Rhone, the Cellar Rat goes in search of bargain wines from the region

The Rat tours Pinot country - the Russian River Valley - and reports on the best spots to hang

The Rat goes looking for bubbles in Medocino's Anderson Valley, and finds some killer white wines as well

The Rat checks out Sauce, a hip neighborhood eatery in San Francisco, to see how they go about building their wine list, and if you can charge corkage for Two Buck Chuck

You want 25 cases of high-end Cabernet from a great Napa Valley Vineyard? I thought I heard you right. Just give Crush Pad a call, they'll do the rest... all it takes is about $10,000

So who says cold beats hot when it comes to Syrah growing conditions? I used to but in RC 48 I find some killer Syrah right under my own nose in warm Dry Creek Valley. OK by me.

I should really leave the economic commentary to the serious press , but I couldn't resist, plus I figured I had done my bit for the nation by purchasing a six pack of Australian wine, instead of some pricey imported French plonk. . .It's hardly surprising Australia has been in trade deficit for the last 70 months. We export commodities. Iron ore, grain, wool and the like, and in return we buy...