Hannah E Williams

UNCORK THE ISSUE: Trend-spotting wines is a talent that eludes us, so we instead pick the brains of the most in-the-know wine gurus (see last week's mention of The Scholium Project Wines). This week, we ask Wine Goddesses Katherine Conrad and Erin Giarda of Arcadia Fine Wine for the answers in broad strokes: What wine should we be buying and what regions should we be eyeing to stay ahead of the wine popularity curve?

SPILL THE JUICE: "In the whites, the French blends are coming to surface, and we're seeing blends of the weightier reds," says Conrad.

UNCORK THE ISSUE: "Are women better winemakers than men?" was our question of the night during AZ Wine Co. Winemaking Ladies tasting last Thursday. On the tasting menu at the South store were wines crafted by famed female winemakers Heidi Peterson Barrett, Celia Welch and Kathryn Hall. SPILL THE JUICE: "Women have superior palettes," says Richard Betts, the manager and wine buyer at the Carefree store.

The man behind some of the largest and most interestingly shaped wine glasses known to oenophiles, Georg Riedel, graced Miele Gallery with his presence and his Vinum XL glasses for a comparative tasting: 3 glasses + 3 wines + 1 Fiji water = New appreciation for glassware.

UNCORK THE ISSUE: We all know them: The White Zin ladies. Your college friend who dressed up as Franzia for Halloween wearing a box and carrying a space bag to pour the sickly sweet pink concoction out a spigot all night long. The Sutter Home sect. The Arbor Mist crowd.

But for serious wine drinkers (and novices diving into the wine world alike), is pink wine drinkable?

SPILL THE JUICE: "Of course!" says Brian Bergeron, a certified sommelier, certified specialist of wine and a key account manager for Southern Wine & Spirits AZ. "If it's not from Sutter Home, Beringer or anything like that and it's on a good wine list or in a good wine shop, a rosé or blush wine is definitely worth trying. You'll likely be surprised."

Growing grapes and making wine in Arizona? Is that even possible? Better question: Is that even drinkable? If you've been around the block to Sonoita, Willcox and the Verde Valley, you know that the answer to both of those questions is an overwhelming affirmative... but if you're like us, we're still wondering what the hell these winemakers were thinking, so we asked: Why Arizona?