"local wine" news and stories

• Celebrated chef Frank Ruta is a modern rarity -- despite all the attention, he really wants to stay in the kitchen.
• This 11-year-old kid is a prodigy of the cooking variety.
• You've heard of locavores, but how about locapours? We're talking wine here, folks.
• And speaking of local: The most talked about Washington insiders right now happen to be turkeys.

Photo: Finger Lakes Wine Country

Gretchen Roberts writes the wine blog Vinobite, has passed the introductory course at the Court of Master Sommeliers and is studying for her sommelier certification this fall.

Due to a bout of strep throat this week, which scorched my palate like a prairie brush fire, I've fallen far behind in my wine tastings. I even asked Twitter, "Which wine goes best with strep?," but no one had a good pairing. In the meantime, I'm like a baby making the switch from the bottle (oatmeal and smoothies, in my case) to solid foods (actual dinners, with wine to match). In short, I'm late in posting this week and have no freshly tasted wines to discuss.

But my eyes just landed on my "Drink Local Wine" poster (top right) from the Finger Lakes Wine Country in New York, so here's one for vino-loving Slashfoodies: Can your state's wine stand up to those made in such beloved states as California?