LOGISTICS: If you can’t get away to fair Verona, this silky red wine will give you a little taste of romance. ( In the historic Valpolicella Classico communes of Marano, Negrar, S.Ambrogio and San Pietro in Cariano) Masi's Costasera Amarone is aged 24 months with 80% aged in Slavonian oak barrels of 40-80 hl and 20% in small Allier and Slavonian oak barrels. Getting hitched? Make your own wine for the wedding! Enlist your friends and take on a full-barrel (Starting at $5,760 or $20 a bottle) or half-barrel ($3,312 or $23 a bottle) or even quarter barrel ($1728 or $24 a bottle), and toast to your success next year. The process takes anywhere from eight to 24 months, and the upcoming fall crush means new grapes varietals from California and New York will be arriving soon. Their barrel-making packages take you through the entire five-step winemaking process, where you’ll select the varietal and style, and once the grapes arrive, learn to crush, ferment, bottle and rack your own wine. LORE: Opened in fall 2010, Brooklyn Winery is an urban winery, wine bar and private event space, and best of all, a place where oenophiles can truly geek out over grapes and create their own custom wines, under the expert guidance of Conor McCormack, former Crushpad winemaker. Notes of pear, apple and tropical aromatics make it food-friendly from spicy Indian food to whatever picnic or BBQ you might throw together. The 2010 Maiden and F.B Riesling has the perfect balance of dry and sweet–light, crisp and just enough sweetness to give a supple mouthfeel. Other varietals include Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, crafted in different styles from barrel fermented to a blended rosé (prices vary).

The 2010 Maiden and F.B Riesling (same wine, two different labels to showcase both its masculine and feminine sides) is one of eight housemade wines, available on tap and by the bottle ($31 retail). Williamsburg’s new urban winery– Brooklyn Winery–gets its Riesling grapes from Nutt Road Vineyard, Seneca Lake, Finger Lakes, and after just nine months, you can now quaff their first vintage. LOGISTICS: Summer wine time calls for light and crisp, and for New Yorkers, nothing beats a quality Riesling from upstate, especially when you only have to cross the East River to get it.

Folie a deux wine menage red pairing