National Geographic, of all places, has put together a helpful glossary of the newest in vineyard standards and and farming practices. We all know about organic wine, but what about wines that, say, pair well with your astrological sign? We've summarized a few for you here:

• Biodynamic wine - Is grown using biodynamic agriculture, which means that farmers pay close attention to the holistic properties of the soil, and the relationship that is established between the soil, plants, and animals. Farmers also use astrological signs as a guide to planting and harvesting. Sound hokey? Maybe, but you can bet wine made from a biodynamic grape has been tended to with the utmost in TLC.
  

• Low-sulfite wine - Sulfites occur naturally in wine, but winemakers usually add more to prevent spoilage and oxidation. Some organic wine, as regulated by the USDA, cannot contain added sulfites, to the relief of people who are allergic. These wines tend to contain about 10 and 20 parts per million of sulfite, compared to conventional wines with 80 to 120 ppm or higher.
  

• LIVE/Salmon Safe wine - LIVE stands for Low Input Viticulture and Enology, Oregon's initiative to limit the use of chemical pesticides on its farms. Salmon Safe works with LIVE to ensure that chemical runoff isn't affecting nearby salmon. If you buy wine with either of these labels, it means an independent contractor has inspected the vineyards and assured that they were compliant with rigorous standards.
  

Yesterday around 3:30 pm I found myself rummaging around in the fridge for a snack. I came up with a few slices of swiss cheese and a bunch of red grapes. When I was working full time in an office, I would always find myself slumping around 3 pm or so and would often run out for a smoothie from the cart down the street. When it was raining, I'd get really lazy and wend my way to the building vending machine for a hit of M&Ms. Now that I work from home, I'm often too lazy to convince myself to leave my apartment for a snack and so instead put together comical combinations like leftover brussel sprouts and handfuls of cashews.

Settling back down in front of my computer, I started thinking about the myriad forms an afternoon snack can take and wondering about the afternoon snack habits of others. And that's where you, loyal Slashfood readers, come in. Tell me about your afternoon snacks. Confess your odd habits or your need to have a cup of mint green tea at precisely 2:37 pm every afternoon.

(If you're curious about the snack habits of others, check out Lunch, a food blog that chronicles the daily lunch and snack consumption of two women in NY or Snack Pack, the blog devoted entirely to snacks, written by some folks at the St. Petersburg Times).

Don't tell me that after watching the mvie Sideways you didn't have the teeniest tiniest inkling of a fantasy of dropping everything, moving to wine country and making your simple living as a winemaker. Heck, I had that dream. I even had that dream back when I first saw French Kiss.

But that was a dream. Reality is you have a career, a family, friends, and a whole host of other responsibilities.

You may not be able to go and live on a vineyard, but San Francisco company CrushPad can at least get you as close to making your own wine without leaving your real life. Crushpad provides grapes from California vineyards, and from there, you decide how much you want to be involved in making your own wine, using resources like their team of winemakers. You don't even have to live in California!

A detailed examination of the US wine and spirits market has revealed that the country will be the world's leading wine consumer by 2010, with consumption up to 3.8 billion bottles of wine annually. It should also be the second largest wine importer, moving up from its current position in third place behind Germany and the UK, though imported wines represent less than 1/3 of all the wines consumed in the US.

The study was conducted by the International Wine and Spirit Record (IWSR) for VINEXPO, the world's leading wine exhibition held annually in France. It looked at wine trends from 2001-2005, calculating trends from that period and making projections based on them, in addition to considering economic and political factors that might play a roll in the next three years. Worldwide, wine consumption will be up everywhere, with consumer spending expected to be up almost $2 billion more than a decade ago. China and Russia will enter the top ten list of wine-consuming markets and per-capita wine consumption will be up, as well.

A few months ago, I posted about the debate that several vodka producing countries are having over what should and shouldn't be called vodka. An article in today's New York Times picks up the story. Basically, certain countries, including Finland, Sweden and Poland, contend that for something to be called vodka, it must be distilled from either potatoes or certain grains, not from things like grapes or maple syrup. These countries are seeking labeling restrictions for these "non-traditional" vodkas. BBC News reported that such restrictions could affect up to two thirds of all the vodka currently produced in non-Baltic EU countries. The NYT article also points out that vodka's history and original ingredients are up for debate, citing possible Russian, Polish, Italian and Arabian origins that may have included plums, apples or grapes.

It seems that last years bumper crop of California wine grapes, combined with large harvests this year, have producers paying less than the growing cost to buy grapes from the growers. In some areas all the grapes will be harvested, but depending upon the type of grapes, we will see thousands of tons left unharvested to rot on their vines. No one knows exactly how this is going to affect wine production and sales domestically over the next few years, but some growers are already pulling out vines and planting other crops. So far this seems to be just with lesser varieties of grapes that aren't used by many wine producers, but we will definately see thousands of acres of grapes changing over to almonds, pistachios, and other products. Like usual, it is always the smaller growers who can't afford to redo their vineyards who are going to suffer and disappear.

At Harvard Medical School, an experiment involving red wine has yielded some very interesting results. The study found that the effects of a poor, high-calories diet were offset by a chemical that is naturally found in red wine, resveratrol, which comes from the skin of grapes. On top of that, it seemed to help extend the lifespan in general.

The study was only conducted on mice, not people. The mice were fed a diet in which 60% of the calories came from fat. All the mice gained weight, but the ones that were also given a "a large daily dose of resveratrol" had " all the pleasures of gluttony but paid none of the price" and lived just as well, physically and mentally, as the mice on healthy diets did.

The only problem is not that the study was conducted on mice, but the dose of resveratrol that they were given. One litre of red wine contains 1.5 to 3 milligrams of resveratrol. "A 150-pound person would need to drink from 1,500 to 3,000 bottles of red wine a day" to get the same dose as the mice, 24-mg per kg of body weight. Smaller amounts would have a positive, but correspondingly weaker, effect, but since the results are no confirmed on humans yet, limiting yourself to an extra glass of wine is probably still a better idea than having an extra bottle.

Artisanal cheese makers are using caves and cellars to age their cheeses. Once in the cave, the cheeses are monitored for every variable you can think of, but it is the exposure to natural molds and bacteria that help the cheese evolve a unique and impressive flavor profile.

In the Loire Valley, it was traditional for the grape-pickers to gather at midday for a feast, but as women stopped wanting to cook for 20 or more every day of the week, the tradition has dwindled somewhat and often pickers take their meals at home now.

At Our Lady of the Resurrection Monastery in Millbrook, NY, Brother Victor-Antoine d'Avila-Latourrette upholds a tradition that he learned in France of making vinegars, vinegars which are some of the finest around, according to those who have tasted it.

Good knife skills will allow you to get dinner on the table that much faster, useful when cooking for hungry kids.

Frank Bruni dines at L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon and gives it 3 stars.

Mark Bittman, the minimalist, cooks eggs for dinner.

First blueberries, now this?

Apparently, taste-testing one or two grapes in the produce section before you buy them is fine. More than that, though, and it's considered stealing.

When Tameca Griffin was asked by a female police officer to stop snacking on grapes that she had not yet paid for in a St. Paul, MN Rainbow Foods store, she lashed out, chest-butted the officer, and screamed. According to reports, Griffin also punched the officer in the face, pulled out some hair, and possibly caused a concussion.

Griffin is charged with fourth degree assault.

So maybe it wasn't just because she was eating the grapes, though a police spokesperson doesn't know how many grapes Griffin had actually eaten.

Without a doubt, the most striking thing about this photo of the Winemaker's Cake from Lex Culinaria is the whipped cream. Its astonishing whiteness is evocative of the lightest cloud, but a cloud that will simply melt away to nothing but satisfaction in your mouth. In short, the feelings inspired by the whipped cream almost overshadow the cake, which is lovely in and of itself. The cake is very grapey, made with fresh grapes, and uses both butter and olive oil in the batter. The finished dessert is a bit dense and almost clafoutis-like, although the description notes that it is reminiscent of a very moist coffee cake. If grapes aren't your favorite choice for dessert, berries or cherries can also be used to sweeten up this simple, not-too-sweet cake. And don't forget the whipped cream.

When the first organic wines came out, there was something of a hippie stigma attached to them. The method of growing the grapes was more important than the finished product and, as a result, the wines really couldn't compare to the more traditionally produced vintages. But everyday consumers and connoisseurs alike are no longer turning up their noses at organic wines because there are excellent ones available now. More vineyards are making them and the wines are getting better all the time. The reason for the turn towards organic wine is that consumers' demand for organic products is growing in scope, stretching beyond produce. Their demand means that the market is bigger - the supermarket Sainsbury's reports over 400% growth in the sale of organic wine in the last year - and to fill it, more organic wine is being produced.

Of course, as Jonathan Ray (The Daily Telegraph wine expert) points out, "good wine is good wine" and some of the very best are not organic. But if organic is a criteria that is important to you, for reason, it's nice to know that there a good wine options and that the number of them is growing all the time.

Most grapes are dried on paper trays in the field to make raisins, but researchers at UC Davis have found that there are distinct differences between raisins dried in the traditional way and those dried directly on the vine. Their testing looked at factors that included "fruitiness, chewiness and color" and the tasters were split on which raisins they liked more, though it was clear that there was a big difference between the two types. The vine-dried raisins were said to be softer, plumper and more complex, almost like wine, while the tray-dried raisins were stickier and more caramely. The noticeably different flavor profiles may open the door for gourmet raisins if some growers switch over to the vine-dried variety.

Vine-dried raisins are less labor intensive than tray-dried raisins, but they usually need to be harvested with a machine and take much longer to dry, needing as much as a month on the vine, as opposed to a week on the trays. As a result, they are more expensive to produce and not all of California's growers, who produce almost all of the US's raisins and about 40% of the world's supply, would be willing or able to make the switch.

Anthocyanins, which contribute to the color of red grapes, are a great source of antioxidants and their existence is one of the reasons that red wine is considered to be so heart-healthy. Since red wines use the skin of the grapes in their production, creating a red color, most or all of the antioxidants from the grapes are also found in the wine. For this reason, red wine is thought to be a healthier choice than white wine.

It turns out that the flesh of the grapes is just as heart-healthy as the skin is, as a new study by American and Italian scientists has shown. The results demonstrated that both parts of the grapes reduced the chance of a heart attack and heart attack size when compared to the control group - even though the flesh contains no anthocyanins, but instead has other kinds of polyphenols and organic acids that have antioxidants.

Further study will be needed to isolate the exact chemicals that give these properties to the grapes, but white wine fans can enjoy their favorite drink without having to worry that they're missing out on the heath benefits of red wine.

Summer is the season of fruit, since it seems that more things are in season than at any other time of year. Not only is fruit good for you in terms of nutritional value, but fruits can even help you lose weight. The easiest way to incorporate fruits into your diet is to cut up a large bowl of them and keep them in the fridge. A fruit salad will last longer than fruits stored at room temperature and, because they are already cut up, they are available for snacks and other meals.

There is no recipe for fruit salad, so you can include any kind of fruit you like. Melons and stone fruits, such as peaches and nectarines, are good choices and berries, grapes and pineapple work well, too. For breakfast, serve the fruit salad with yogurt and honey, adding a topping of nuts or granola for some crunch. This combination works well for a light lunch, too. Fruit salad can't really be the focus of dinner, but it can still be served as a side and provides a particularly nice contrast to smoky, tangy barbecue.

And for dessert? Berries and sweetened whipped cream still counts as a fruit salad, right?

Raisins are dried grapes, an obvious and simple truth. Despite the fact that getting the grapes to turn into raisins requires only one step, it's safe to say that not many people try this process at home. I decided to give it a shot, taking advantage of the blazing heat that I've been experiencing lately. I covered a wire cooling rack with a paper towel, set freshly washed grapes on top, and covered them with another paper towel. I set the tray outside in the sun and let nature go to work. You may have to weight down your towels, or cover the whole tray with a domed picnic screen to prevent flies from landing on the grapes.

These grapes, pictured, are about two days into the drying process, but they dry up more each day, getting sweeter as time passes. It took about one week to go from grapes to raisins, but this time will vary depending on sunlight and heat. They taste great, especially compared to the majority of pre-packaged raisins, and are a great summer project that only takes a little effort to do.