Chris Macias

Despite the Sacramento Kings' dismal season on the court thus far, here's something local wine fans who also like sports can toast.

Welcome to the epicenter of the Western Hemisphere's wine industry, also known as the 2012 Unified Wine & Grape Symposium.

The 2012 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition wrapped up earlier this month, with judges considering 5,500 entries – a record for a U.S. wine competition. With all the votes tallied, a number of Sacramento-region wineries scored some key medals.

Two area wineries are greeting 2012 with especially coveted news: They've made the cut for the third annual WSJwine Annual Dozen. Also known as the Wall Street Journal's wine club, which touts more than 100,000 active customers, the Annual Dozen selects best-of-the-year wines in two categories and offers them for sale.

Now that you've got those holiday appetizer ideas ready to go, it's time for a toast. Let's give it up for those festive fizzes known as Champagne and sparkling wine.

After a second year of unseasonably cool temperatures, the grape tonnage has been tallied and the results are ready. According to the California Department of Food and Agriculture, 3.3 million tons of wine grapes were harvested in the 2011 growing season, a 9 percent drop from the previous year.

The year is winding down, which means it's time for lists honoring the best wines of 2011. And in this bit of good fortune, four local wineries received accolades in Wine Enthusiast magazine's "The Enthusiast 100." They are (cue drum roll):

Now that the holiday shopping season has kicked off, it's time to think about what present the wine lover on your gift list would love to unwrap.

Just like the commercials for Black Friday sales and jokes about the in-laws, the question always arrives this time of year from friends and readers: What wine should I serve for Thanksgiving?

The winery of the future might not need to be hooked up to a power grid, and no worries if the water table isn't sufficient. With the right technology, the building could be self-sustaining and produce a zero-carbon footprint.

So, you want to start a winery? Perhaps you've been making wine at home for some time and have access to some top-notch grapes, or you're an investor who dreams of running the next wine mega-brand. Sounds fairly straightforward, right?

Finally, here's restaurant survey news that deserves a toast. OpenTable, the online reservation site, recently polled its users and shared the findings of its "Top 50 Wine Lists in the U.S."

Lodi is going LoCA.

The wine grape harvest is in full picking mode, especially during the wee hours.

In Japan and the world of spirits, it's revered as the "drink of the gods." We're talking about sake, the Japanese drink made from rice and water, originally consumed for spiritual functions and now a staple of your favorite sushi spot.

For more than a year, "Wine Buzz" has been tracking Jeremiah Morehouse, who – at 27 – has become one of Sacramento's best regarded sommeliers.

Could Sacramento County become the new home of "Two Buck Chuck"?

Once again, we'll get back to wine quicker than you can say "gewurztraminer," but right now there's some big news brewing on the local beer scene.

We're going to give wine a break this time, and make room for the revelry that is Midtown Cocktail Week.

Mario Ortiz kicked off his restaurant career four decades ago, when he was just 16.

Let's take a quick detour from the grapes and get down with a little agave. National Tequila Day will be celebrated Sunday, so think of it as a chance to savor tequila without the Cinco de Mayo distractions of faux sombreros and mariachi overload.

Accolades and good press continue to flow from the Sierra foothills wine country.

If the wine grape- growing season had a theme song this year, it might as well be "Touch and Go" by the Cars.

Looking for a quick wine country getaway, especially after being cooped up from this weird weather? You've got a couple of new options.

The nation's capital will soon get a taste of some wines from the Sacramento area.

The line snaked dozens deep as Taste of Oakville kicked off last week at Robert Mondavi Winery.

The wine pours with a deep cloudiness that foreshadows the thunderstorm of flavor that's about to follow.

Placer County continues to grow as a wine region, to the point now that Lincoln has its first full-production winery.

Enotria Restaurant Wine Bar recently completed its $1.5 million remodel, adding a brand spanking new wine bar and remodeled restaurant to this spot on Del Paso Boulevard at Arden Way.

'Liquid Assets" spent part of last weekend sipping and soaking up the festivities at Premiere Napa Valley.

Look for a new wine bar soon in Davis, a town that's hosted a who's who of winemakers back when they were starving students.

A recently released grenache from the high- altitude vineyards of Fair Play might just be the finest regional wine that I've ever tasted.

Sacramento's underground rappers have sold millions of CDs and you probably know little, maybe nothing, about them. Bee pop music critic Chris Macias and photographer José Luis Villegas spent five months exploring the south Sacramento hip-hop scene that is known across the country for its extreme lyrics, gangsta images and big beats.