Julia’s Kitchen has a new locals’ night — Wednesdays, with dinner served from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. (Formerly the popular event was on Thursday and the restaurant was closed Wednesday.)

For the first three years of my life I lived in an aging brownstone apartment building in the Bronx. Eighty times a year, our neighbor, Yankee Stadium, would blast music through the speaker system.

When the Joseph Phelps Vineyards family is honored as chairs of Auction Napa Valley this weekend, Sonoma County should take notice of the long list of civic contributions the Phelps family has made over the years, because Sonoma County may soon become the beneficiary of the same generosity after the new Phelps winery, Freestone, is completed. 

While no one can predict another million dollar bid this year, the 45 lots at Saturday night’s Auction Napa Valley should attract generous bids from attendees at one of the world’s top charity wine events. 

The 2004 vintage produced some of the best-ever merlots in California, and Ronn Wiegand, MW and MS, will conduct a tasting and discussion of 12 of them, mostly from Napa Valley, on Tuesday at St. Supery Winery , 6:30-9 p.m.

Over the years, several winemakers, as they were about to leave on a trip to promote their wines, have remarked to me, “Making wine is easy. Selling it is the hard part.”

Making a toast to someone or on a special occasion is something we all do, probably without even thinking very much about it. We raise a glass of wine and say, “Here’s to you,” or “To your health,” or even simply, “Cheers,” and then take a sip.