Courtesy of Amusée

Leslee Miller gives us her picks.

​It's holiday time, and we're sure you've bought all your gifts and are getting ready for an onslaught of family and friends. You've got the turkey ordered, your sides planned, and even that amazing dessert is partially completed and tucked in your freezer. It's all done, right? Oh, rats--you haven't picked up any wine yet. What to get to please all the relatives?

For our holiday table, we turned to the expertise of Leslee Miller, a certified sommelier and the proprietor of the wine consulting business Amusée. With her trademark mixture of knowledge and humor, she writes, educates, and plans wine events. She learned her trade in the Pacific Northwest and, lucky for us, brought it home to the Midwest (we love her blog too).

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photo by Sara Rice

The wall of wine greets you.

​Taylor Surdyk is the busy great-grandson of the guy who started the family's eponymous store in NE Minneapolis. He's also the CEO and mixologist of Surdyk's Flights, which opened on July 24 in the MSP airport. It's a wine store and bar that serves light, fresh fare for both dine-in and in-flight enjoyment. Located in the Main Terminal just beyond security, the shop carries over 100 varieties of wine and gourmet foods, while the bar offers wine flights, premium beers, and cocktails, plus breakfast and small plates. According to Surdyk, the adjustment to an airport shop has been challenging but successful.

And more importantly, the staff has seen some celebs and sold some expensive bottles. Read on to get the goods on Surdyk's Flights' first three months.

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The first wine of 2010

We don't have a lot of wine vineyards in Minnesota, but there's still plenty of reason to celebrate another grape harvest by opening a bottle of French Beaujolais nouveau. The first bottles of this year's vintage--meant to be drunk when it's barely off the vine--are officially introduced on the third Thursday in November. You can toast this year's Beaujolais Nouveau Day in style at two very French Twin Cities restaurants. Find out where on the following page--along with information on how you can be the first to know about events like these by signing up for City Pages' FREE dining newsletter.

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Walker Art Center

​Picnicking days are coming to a close, but here's one of your last opportunities: Walker Art's Open Field is hosting a picnic Friday, September 3, from 6 to 8 p.m. 

This year they've added a grill to the sculpture garden and smartly stocked it with food, beer, wine, and martinis.

The event is said to be a discussion about art, yoga, and the land speed velocity of your average kite flyer.  It's a broad subject, but not a bad way to spend one of the dwindling summer evenings.

While you're invited to bring your own picnic fair, the Walker will be providing at least one free treat.

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Sara Rice

Refreshing, light, and bubbly -- could you ask for more from a summer wine?

​Vinho verde is the essence of summer in a bottle. Light and palatable with a touch of effervescence, it's as perfect for hot summer nights as it is for a day on the pontoon. Drink it with lighter fare or on its own, as an aperitif. You don't need to be a wine snob to appreciate how fun this is to drink.

"Vinho verde" literally means "green wine" -- but not because of its color. "It refers to the fact that it's drunk young, and not meant to be aged," says Terrence French, wine consultant for Surdyk's Liquor. You don't want to cellar this kind, according to French.

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I sample over a thousand wines a year (yes, I spit many, for the sake of my health and liver), and very few wines are what I deem undrinkable. My dad, for example, loves his Tisdale Merlot, which is usually on sale at Morelli's in St. Paul for $2.00. I consider it drinkable, especially for the price.

Every once in a while I come across a wine that is truly hard to swallow. Here are four reasons why I consider a wine undrinkable, and four wines that deserve a nomination for Worst Wines of the Year.

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Ernst Loosen

Mosel region in Germany

In this third part of a series about important wine terms and concepts, we'll talk about appellation, which tells you what region of the world your wine comes from. (You can read here about the first two terms, terroir and vintage.) Appellations are geographic areas that have been mapped out to identify the boundaries of a certain wine region, but in many countries they are more complex than just geographic areas.

Here's are the basics you need to know when buying wine, along with five recommendations of great wines, available at local stores, that illustrate particular famous appellations.

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Mike Feltault Photography

Old Arizona's Wine Bar

Charity wine events are popular, but not all are created equal. The best have several things in common. They don't just pour wines under $15, and they make sure to list the vintages of the wines. They offer selections from around the globe. (We all know what California chardonnay and cabernet taste like, but have you tried Vin Santo or Crozes-Hermitage lately?) And the wine operation has a strong track record of consistency and quality. By those measures, one of the best opportunities to sample worldwide wines and help out a great cause (University of Minnesota's Amplatz Children's Hospital) is happening next Wednesday at Old Arizona.

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Michael Meek

Meek Family Estates Yakima Valley

I met Michael Meek two years ago as he was about to release his first vintage of Meek Family Estates. As a resident of Minnetonka, Michael realized that to make world-class wines you need to head west, and his location in Yakima Valley, Washington, is the ideal setting to make great wines at affordable prices.

I sat down with Michael for a question-and-answer session on his wines from Meek Family Estates.

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​(Image by paulaloe)

Would you like to make your after work drink today to count for twice as much? Stop by Spill the Wine (1101 Washington Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612.339.3388) tonight from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m., where all proceeds will benefit Cheerful Givers, an organization that provides birthday gifts for children of families in need.
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