BITES : Tasteful Web Wine

A lot of food and wine stores can be found on the information superhighway, and one of the best is Virtual Vineyards, a project put together by Peter Granoff, the former sommelier at San Francisco’s Square One restaurant.

Like many of the other sites, Virtual Vineyards offers an assortment of wineries and specialty food makers; the difference in this case is the taste with which they’re chosen. For example, in Granoff’s budget wine assortment ($99 for a case) you get bottles from Bonny Doon, Edmunds St. John, Monte Volpe and Z Moore Winery. The “You Deserve It” assortment ($341.78 a case) includes Sanford Winery’s ‘Sanford & Benedict Vineyard’ Chardonnay, Robert Sinskey Vineyards’ 1992 Claret and a bottle of Germain-Robin’s Fine brandy.

Among the food items are several of the best California olive oils. You can even ask questions in the Cork Dork section. For more information, point your web browser to

https://www.virtualvin.com

The Farmtown Gazette

Can’t get enough of farmers markets? Apparently you’re not alone. There’s enough interest that Mark Thompson has started Farmers Market Monthly, a smartly written newsletter. Besides recipes from farmers and customers, market listings and seasonal information, the monthly also tackles hard news that affects farmers markets; the most recent issue includes an interesting story detailing a suit by one farmer against his local market. For subscription information, write to Thompson at P.O. Box 4220, Culver City, CA 90231, or call (310) 673-8366.