"cabernet" news and stories

• This summer, how about a Cuban barbecue (and I don't mean Mark)?
• Boston gets into Pocky and Onigiri, thanks to Dice-K.
• Speaking of Fenway, a chef is trying to bring more restaurant-quality foods to the ballpark.
• An interview with chef and author Marco Pierre White (right).
• A taste test: are these cabernet-based red wines from California or Bourdeaux?
• This week's recipes: Sweet Potato Fries, Salmon Mousse with Sour Cream Dill Sauce, Zucchini Carpaccio with Avocado, Lemon, Thyme, and Pistachio Oil, and Fennel, Treviso, and Prosciutto Salad with Anchovy-Date Vinagrette.

The world of wine can be intimidating, so you have to go into it with a few rules, and David LeClaire, the sommelier at The Tasting Room in Seattle, has some advice, including:

1. There's no such thing as peanut greg-io. Learn how to pronounce the big names, or you're going to sound like a big geek. You don't need to know everything - and it's OK to stumble on the obscure French boutiques - but do yourself a favor and take "Gewurztraminer" out for a spin before your big date.

7. Move over, Scrooge McDuck. More expensive wine is not always better, especially in the store (bottom-shelf shoppers, rejoice!). But, since a bottle of wine in a restaurant is marked up, by up to three times its retail price (four times for wines by the glass), the cheapest bottle you'll want to buy in a restaurant is $30, says LeClaire. If you're watching pennies, go for wines from Spain, Chile, Argentina or Australia - they're good and half the price.

Earlier this year, we saw the WSJ's list of the top celebrity wines, from rockers ro race car drivers.Men's magazine Best Life has a column every month called Instant Sommelier, and in the new issue, Jessica Lothstein picks five wines by celebrites that you might not have heard of before but might be worth checking out. I've heard of several celebrities getting into the wine business, but I had no idea so many sports stars were really into it.

Best Cabernet By A Super Bowl MVP: Joe Montana's 2001 Montagia Cabernet Sauvignon.