Easter is one of those feast days where the menus positively beg for good wine pairings. Fasting is over, you’ve made it through your Lenten do-withouts, the family is together, and spring is in the air. Celebrate it all with some of these crowd pleasers. We’ve made it even easier with some suggestions for wines under $20. Ranked lightest to heaviest body by style.

As the biggest night in Hollywood approaches I am often asked about wine-themed movies and whether I have any recommendations. As a lover of movies and wine I wanted to put together a list of the top 5 movies in which wine played a major role in the plot and the actors have a link to the Academy Awards. Turns out there really are some great stories—and even a little bit of history to be learned. Here are the movies I would recommend to those who seek entertainment vino style. While you’re at it, grab a great bottle of wine and some good company to make for a great evening at your home cinema.

This week, we’re digging in deep on the topic of wine and chocolate. Chocolate therapy. Rules of thumb for chocolate pairing. A guide for which chocolates go with which wines. But just supposing you happen to be, this very moment, at the wine shop, box of chocolates already in hand, date waiting at the door….well you don’t need no education, you just need to know which wine to get!

Here’s part 2 of our Chocoholic’s Guide to 34b Wines and Chocolates that Pair.

It never fails. Someone tries to tell me that wine and chocolate do not pair. Well to any nay-say’er I have this to say: you have not tried enough chocolate and wine pairings. Chocolate and wine pairing can highlight or bring out flavors you will love. I have sat in many a class and watched people’s eyes grow wide while flavors explode in their mouths and signs of joy spread across their faces before they excitedly tell the person next to them, “You have to try this.” Those aren’t the expressions of a failed experiment. Here, to guide you, are 33 wines and chocolates that pair with them. You'll never be lost in the chocolate aisle again.

Pairing wine and chocolate is something that everyone recognizes around the world as a romantic gift. It speaks to the heart, mind and soul of a person, and it shows just how much you care about them. As someone who has taught thousands of people the joys of chocolate and wine pairing, I’m going to share some basics of how to meld the rich tastes of chocolate with the fruity and sometimes spicy tastes in the wine. Here are some great pairings I recommend to get you started:

I bet you never really thought much about it, or at least not until you had to go and get one, but buying a wine opener can be a little tricky. One of the hardest things about choosing a wine opener is that there are lots of them on the market. This leads most people to ask the question – which one is the best opener to buy? After all, you want to be sure you are spending your money on the best you can get, right? Here are the points to think about when you are comparing openers to find the right one for you.

A question I am asked after teaching my wine classes is, “How can I preserve my leftover wine?” Several of you are probably saying, “That’s not a problem at my house.” But when it comes down to saving that glass or two in the bottle, I recommend three solutions here under a good, better, and best scenario. My criteria is the product must preserve wine in its original bottle for up to a minimum of 5 days after opening and cost under $12, about the cost of a good glass of wine at a bar or restaurant.

It’s Thanksgiving, you have your turkey, and now you need a wine, but which one? Well, think about the flavors you want to go with it. With turkey being a light-tasting fowl, the flavors are often influenced by ingredients and cooking methods more than just the bird itself, so head to the spice rack and take a look around. Herbs and spices are an important part of pairing because they can change the flavor profile of a dish, thus changing which wine you want to pick.

Serving wine for Thanksgiving is easier than you think. Here are a couple of suggestions so you can host a wonderful dinner with any or all four of these wine styles available for your guests. WineTable President Paul Giese suggests having a wine for early in the event, two for dinner, and one to close out the evening leaving everyone satisfied and praising your culinary skills. So get a pen and get ready to take some notes.

WineTable.com, a wine education and social networking website based in Minneapolis and Denver, introduces the “My Wine Lists” app as part of the Microsoft Windows 8 launch.