Caffe Boa (398 S. Mill Ave., Tempe [480] 968-9112). Tasty offerings at this red-brick Italian wine bar include paninis, pastas and a very tasty tiramisu. Looking for lighter fare? Boa has a nice list of tapas and flights as well as one of the best happy hours in town. $$$

Tom Kaufman, whose well-regarded Scottsdale restaurants include the fine-dining Rancho Pinot Grill and the casual pizzeria Humble Pie, is opening a wine bar in Chandler.

“This place is like a Scottsdale restaurant.” Those are the sentiments I overhear from not one but two different tables of diners near me on a recent evening at the 98 South Wine Bar & Kitchen in downtown Chandler.

Six months after the closing of popular 98 South Wine Bar & Kitchen in downtown Chandler, the San Marcos Place space is scheduled to reopen next month as a restaurant and wine bar tentatively named 98 Place.

Fresh From the Farm, the eight-month-old restaurant at Schnepf Farms in Queen Creek, is planning to open a wine and beer bar in August.

Michael Fine winces when he hears someone order a soda with their meal.

Wine educator Andrea Immer once told me that the single best way to learn about wine is to drink it. Seems simple, right? You can read all you want about the subject, sip a glass or two at a restaurant, but nothing takes the place of looking at, swirling, sniffing and tasting many different varieties and styles of wine. Your brain and palate make tiny mental notes of each one.

Wine educator Andrea Immer once told me that the single best way to learn about wine is to drink it. Seems simple, right? You can read all you want about the subject, sip a glass or two at a restaurant, but nothing takes the place of looking at, swirling, sniffing and tasting many different varieties and styles of wine. Your brain and palate make tiny mental notes of each one.

We like Brian Mahoney’s vibe at Terroir in Scottsdale. His unpretentious wine bar is all about the wine, not atmospheric bells and whistles.

Fresh From the Farm, the eight-month-old restaurant at Schnepf Farms in Queen Creek, is planning to open a wine and beer bar in August.

In the restaurant industry, blind wine tastings are de rigueur, says Scott Yanni, operating partner of Fleming's in Scottsdale. Wine purveyors visit Yanni several times a week, never telling him what he's drinking or what it costs until after he's sampled it.

Union Wine Bar & Grill, the much-anticipated tapas restaurant that opened this summer in Old Town Scottsdale, is changing its menu — scaling back on its “small plates” offerings and adding full-size entrees — and closing on Sundays and Mondays.

The Valley has no shortage of wine bars where you can try a glass of just about anything, from a crisp white to a smoky red or even a refreshing rosé.

Wine bar and bistro also offering wine classes and dinners.

Wine sales at Kokopelli Winery in Chandler could double, based on a U.S. Supreme Court ruling Monday that said wine lovers couldn’t be barred from buying their favorite vintage directly from out-ofstate wineries.

Contrary to their name, the Wine Brats are an amicable group of folks — except for one, who’s an obnoxious boor.

My dogs haven’t been for a walk in weeks, and they haven’t seen the dog park since May. This time of year, most of their fun comes from daily dive-bomb sessions in the swimming pool. They’re still beside themselves with excitement every time they smell sunscreen, but I could sure use a change in routine.

Wine snobs may scoff, but cheap wine is the backbone of the industry.