Ladies and gents, this is probably the most helpful of all the Hot Plates columns we have had so far. This week there are several terrific articles about wine that suggest a variety of bottles to buy for your holiday table; much ink is devoted, too, to explaining the "why" behind these selections. That is part of what is so addictive about getting into wine: There are guidelines to follow, but bending those rules can lead to a delicious discovery.

Sparkling Red? Oh Yeah

Did you all know sparkling red wine is traditionally paired with holiday turkey in Australia? More to the point, have you tasted any of this stuff? Hot Plates is lucky enough to be related to someone who is fond of buying a case of sparkling red wine when they entertain, and twice they have paired it with a build-your-own pizza station. We were not quite ready for the flavor and texture combination, but it is crisp and fruity -- just holding a glassful of it is a mood-booster.

The Washington Post's wine writers recommend a $28 Rumball sparkling shiraz: "It pairs the palate-refreshing properties and pleasure of a sparkling wine with the power of a shiraz, enabling it to stand up to the strongest flavors on the table." Their anti-oenophobia article is written for those who have some wine experience but are still anxious about making the best selections for the holiday meal. They offer general rules -- "pick fruity whites" -- as well as giving readers specific items to buy and try.

Kim Pierce of the Dallas Morning News highlights a red sparkler as well. Shingleback Black Bubbles Sparkling Shiraz is her pick, and she says it tastes of "rich, unapologetic dark fruit," a mix of flavors that sits "atop a pleasant spritz of tiny bubbles."

Waxing Poetic

Oh my! Here is some super-flowery wine writing. If you truly love wine the way some do, you'll appreciate this L.A. Times essay about the physical beauty of wine. The writer seems to read our mind in places: He seems to know that we don't feel it's truly time for red wine until the sun has gone down.  He is secure enough in his masculinity to love pink wines. And he does not think it odd to consider opening up a whole assortment of wines for an occasion where you're surrounded by your loved ones (and eating pretty much all day long). You don't have to take the wedding party approach of one red and one white. Offer a whole bouquet of bottles, if that is what you choose!

The L.A. Times balances things out with a practical article suggesting three sure bets for Thanksgiving that "not only look beautiful on the table, but also are sure to add their seductive note to the meal." From Napa they recommend this Fortitude Luvisi Very Old Vine Zinfandel, with flavors of "strawberry, red currant and spice," and we are most intrigued by an Austrian red, Moric Blaufränkisch (that last word is the name of the grape).

Gifts of wine that will "please most anyone" -- this list from the Morning News will come in handy for all of us who are attending someone else's feast rather than setting our own table. If your hosts care about the wine, (many are too busy to take note of what you bring), they'll appreciate you bringing a crowd-pleaser. Hot Plates can vouch for the Banrock Station Sparkling Chardonnay from California, a bubbly bargain at $10, and the Cartlidge & Brown Pinot Noir ($14).

Maybe this isn't the most helpful of all the week's articles, but it was the most entertaining read: Eric Asimov's piece on how the N.Y. Times tasting panel goes about its annual business of selecting $25 and under holiday wines. Sometimes they don't like each other's wines; he has even been told his selection tasted of gefilte fish.

This year, he says, he was determined to be a "smackee" in what's become a "Thanksgiving smackdown." Still, the wine tasting has a "spirit of bonhomie and affection, leavened with a bit of rancor, defiance and competition. In short, we’ve achieved a realistic family dynamic." BTW, embedded in the column are names of wines you might want to look for. We are going to try to find the Pine Ridge white and we'll tell our New York friends about the Long Island merlot, but we'll plan on avoiding the one that smells of "leather and sweat." Truly.

Even if we can't find the wines we read about, we still extrapolate from writeups like this Wall Street Journal column on American sparklers. Dottie and John once again teach and inspire us with this good little list of affordable, small-production bubbly wines. They include this note in the fine print: "All are made in very small quantities and are hard to find outside of the winery or the immediate area where they are made. We list them simply to give an idea of the very special small-production wines made across the U.S."

The majority of their picks are from Oregon, and there are two from Michigan. It makes us want to get out and support Maryland and Virginia wineries. Maybe "local wines" would be received about as well as a screw top or -- shudder! -- a boxed wine at certain tables, but it can be fun to watch a skeptical guest's scowl turn into a smile.