Numerous conversations with friends and coworkers show that a significant number of USAians' Thanksgiving Day plans can be summed up largely as "doing whatever the hell we want." Some will be eating boxed stuffing while wearing pajamas. Others are cooking the full turkey dinner with all the trimmings, even if it's just for three people.

I saw my first Christmas commercials on TV the other day. OK, it was the Hershey Kisses We Wish You a Merry Christmas bell-ringing ad that's been running on TV since God was a child. No seriously! It's been running for over 30 years! And you all are going to call me a Grinch for stealing holiday joy from people just trying to get through pandemic world, and how can I complain about that?

Happy Halloween Eve, Mischievous Constant Readers! Okay, not the Halloween we exactly wanted or expected. In these dark and strange times, we need some levity. And wine. A buttload of cheap wine. Thank you, Vampire Vineyards for providing both!

In honor of the Finger Lakes vacation I might have taken this month — if not for, you know, everything — I dipped into my cellar and brought out a wine I got when I was last there. 2015 Shalestone Zweigelt.

The creative folks at William Heritage Winery have another winner! In my September allotment was something from a brand new line, 2019 Stayman Piquette.

I've been in a little bit of a funk this last week, so anything that cracks me up is a bonus right now. I normally don't advocate buying wine just because you like the label. Unless the label reads THE REAL HOUSE WINES OF NEW JERSEY.

Hey folks. Can't really talk about wine this week without acknowledging the dreadful wildfires scorching Napa and Sonoma in California. As of Thursday afternoon, four people had died. Thousands of acres have burned, and dozens of wineries have been damaged. The fires are still raging, so no word yet on the final tally of losses. Many wineries had already finished their harvest, but I don't know what that means for wines fermenting in barrels or aging in bottles.

Continuing on the "thank God it's actually fall-like now" theme from last week, as soon as the weather changes, you can count on two things. 1) I'm going to require OTC allergy meds and 2) I'm going to want duck. I couldn't find fresh at my supermarket last week, so bought some pre-made duck confit. And I found a pretty good match for it in my cellar: Famiglia Castellani Chianti Classico Riserva 2014.

Here in the Northeast U.S., some people are distressed that summer weather is over, and it's overwhelmingly cooler. I, as always, say bring it on! I'm wearing pants! Long pants! I turned off the AC! I'm sleeping with the windows open! Sure, we had those crazy cool days back in May, but that feels like 47 years ago. This is fall. Autumnal. Pumpkin spice all the things.

How do, friends. I'm back on the couch and flipping through my myriad streaming services to bring you the highlights of wine-related media. Last weekend I watched Wine Country on Netflix in the US with my best friend from high school, Constant Reader A.

Another day, another privileged person typing at her computer in her safe WFH setup, complaining about stuff they can't do because of a pandemic that's killed over 869,000 people worldwide. Sorry. Not the perky content you were hoping for? My bad.

Hey folks, I needed to take a little break this week, and turn my attention again to the world of wine media. If you’ve ever wanted to learn more about New Zealand wines, check out Thirsty Work, with two seasons on Amazon Prime in the U.S. It’s hosted by Yvonne Lorkin, a wine reviewer and columnist. She’s friendly and peppy without being too annoyingly perky. And she loves wine and great food!

It's an almost Pavlovian response. Let the evening temps dip down into the 60s, I start sleeping with the windows open and think, Hmmmm, maybe a red would be nice! I dug into the cellar and found one of the "anything other than France, Spain or Italy" wines I bought earlier in the spring, 2017 Argatia Haroula Red, from Macedonia.

I'm writing this from the air-conditioned comfort of my home office, which after this week puts me in a pretty significant minority. Tropical Storm Isaias, which began as a hurricane, caused significant damage all the way up the U.S. East Coast, from the Carolinas up into Massachusetts. Colleagues were left without power for days. Friends in Princeton got their power back, but no Internet, so no working from home cause of the 'Rona. And great news, the NOAA warns that this year's hurricane season will be "extremely active", with 19-25 named storms.