wines

If you asked for a wine decanter over the holidays and didn't get one, fret not: you may not even need one in the years to come. The formidable Spanish chef Martín Berasategui, at his eponymous three-Michelin-starred restaurant, has designed a bottle that contains its own breakthrough built-in decanter.

Berasategui's glass container is similar to a traditional wine bottle, save for a special pinched chamber at the bottom that's designed to capture any undesirable dregs. A number of wineries, including northwestern Spain's Adegas Moure, have already signed on to use the unique bottles, as they're a more natural way to address wine sediment than conventional filtration methods — although there's no promise that the new bottling will properly aerate the wines.

So if it was a Vinturi that you were craving, you'd better keep it on the wish list.

Still searching for that ideal wine to pair with a succulent holiday roast? Consider looking into a Pinot Noir such as the 2008 Special Selection Willamette Valley Pinot Noir from McKinlay ($34).

If you've never heard of Washington-based McKinlay Vineyards, you're not alone: the winery makes less than 3,200 cases of wine each year, and they tend to sell out quickly. That's because quaffers like the moderately-priced Special Selection Pinot Noir embody the essence of an American Pinot Noir: deep, red fruit like cherries and berries, rich wintry spices, and a lot of structure without too much tannin. I'm fantasizing about serving my next bottle with a gamy roast goose. What wines are you serving with your holiday dinner?

Every November, the big buzz award seems to go to Beaujolais Nouveau, the immature French red that signifies the year's wine harvest. I may or may not pop open a bottle, decide it tastes like paint thinner, and dump it down the drain. It's not a wine known for its complexity or balanced flavors.

Cru Beaujolais, on the other hand, is a serious wine in its own right. It may have a hard time shaking off its little brother's reputation, but Cru — which comes from one of 10 designated areas in the Beaujolais region — can have legitimate sense of place, complexity, and aging potential.

I've had an obsession with the stuff lately, especially with wines from Morgon. It's the second-largest winemaking village in the region, with volcanic soil that makes wines like this 2009 Raymond Bouland earthy and loamy, but with a ripe, dark fruit bouquet and nice length. Next time you're looking for a complex red under $25, I urge you to ask your local wine shop for a Cru Beaujolais recommendation. Have you had any nice bottles of Beaujolais lately?

Trader Joe's — Whole Foods has a message for you: two can play the Two-Buck Chuck game. The Austin, TX-based natural foods grocer has come out with its own version of Charles Shaw called Three Wishes Vineyards.

The winery, which is based out of Livermore and Ripon, CA, produces three nonvintage bottlings of Chardonnay, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon, all at $3 a pop.

How did the value wine fare? One taster took the new selections for a spin; head to Slashfood for the full results.

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Sparkling wine's rarely inappropriate for an occasion, but there's also hardly a time more fitting to drink it than during the holidays. For a particularly memorable gift, I'll occasionally indulge friends in an over-the-top bottle of bubbly, but with all the festivities that go down between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I typically turn to wines with value.

Overall, American bubbly offers more bank for your buck than French champagnes, and among West Coast sparkling wines, one can hardly get a better value than with Schramsberg. Vintage bubbly is less common and more expensive, but this wine house offers a reasonably-priced selection. Sommelier Eugenio Jardim recently turned me on to the 2006 Rosé ($30).

The blush-tinted bubbly is one of the few left to be hand-riddled in production, and it has a bright, yeasty nose that conjures images of the season's best harvest — apples, pears, cranberries. Like Jardim said, it'd be ideal with Winter squash soup — but it's great alone, too. What are your picks for sparkling wines with value?

When it comes to hostess gifts to bring on Thanksgiving, there are seemingly endless ideas. But what should you bring if you've been invited over to dinner by the ultimate hostess? My advice: come with a bottle of Beau Joie Champagne.

This lattice bottle, which is encased by a copper suit of armor, might be the most stunning bottle of wine we've ever seen — and it's sure to be the talk of the table. What's more, that jacket isn't just a gimmick; the casing (made from 100 percent recycled scrap copper) helps to keep the Champagne colder for longer and easier to grip when pouring. It's recyclable after use, too — that is, if you can bear to part with the bottle in the first place.

But what's in the bottle is what matters — and thankfully, it's quality stuff. Made from 60 percent Pinot Noir and 40 percent Chardonnay grapes from France's Epernay region, this bubbly has a yeasty, bread-like bouquet, light body, and a zippy finish. At about $80 it doesn't run cheap, but it's a hostess and holiday gift easily rolled into one. What's the most standout bottle of bubbly you've ever had?

• Sandra Lee: semi-homemade TV host, semi-first lady of New York. — Eater
• Five things your chef definitely doesn't want you to know. — Eatocracy
• Why you should roast squash in sausage fat. — Salon Food
• San Francisco star chefs' shenanigans during the World Series clincher. — Grub Street
• Taste-testing Popeyes's fried crawfish. — Serious Eats
• More savory oatmeal suggestions. — The Epi-Log
• Which type of wine lover are you? — Huffington Post Food
• New York restaurant reviewer Robert Sietsema cooks pasta, discusses evolving role as critic. — Chow

According to Nielsen, the volume of sparkling rosé produced has grown by nearly 22 percent in the last year — if you're looking for a solid jumping-off point for pink sparklers, a good place to start is Martini & Rossi. The Italian house is known for its Prosecco, Asti, and Vermouth, but this year also launched a reasonably priced Sparkling Rosé ($14).

The bottle's deep coral color is inviting, but it's the flirtatious blend of Malvasia, Brachetto, and Moscato Bianco that's unique. The Malvasia lent a hint of apricot, the Moscato Bianco: lingering sweetness, and red Brachetto: a bright salmon color. The end result was a bouquet of pomaceous fruit that ended with a very off-dry finish.

Martini Sparkling Rosé is also raising attention to breast cancer this month: Make a donation online to The Pink Agenda through the rest of October, and the wine house will match it. What's your favorite blush bubbly?