According to various accounts – I read about this at Jeremy Parzen’s dobianchi.com, the first in the U.S. to report the event – someone broke into the Soldera cellars and opened the valves of big oak casks aging the last six years  of Soldera’s superb Case Basse Brunello, allowing the wine to flood out over the floor. Soldera only makes about 15,000 bottles a year, which sell for $200 to $350. Destroying much of the vintages 2007 to 2012 seems to me far beyond vandalism.

What kind of person would do this?

Soldera is a strict traditionalist, and the maestro of Brunello. I’ve been lucky enough to enjoy a number of vintages of his cult red, including the sublime 1980 Riserva.

Rumor has it that it might be vengeance, or, as they say in Italian opera, una vendetta. Soldera was outspoken in his objections to any change in traditional Brunello, such as aging in small French oak barrels or deviating from the concept of Brunello as a wine made from 100 percent Sangiovese grapes. That’s embodied in the regulations, but in 2008, it was discovered that various producers were illegally blending unauthorized grapes into their Brunellos. Several were indicted, in a scandal that became known as Brunellogate.

Sadly, even if whoever is responsible is caught, that won’t bring back all that beautiful lost wine.

Next came one of my faves, Vieux Chateau Certan, a wonderfully scented, very complex and silky Pomerol. With its return to a high percentage of cabernet franc, it’s even better than the superb 2009 and 2010. Price? $145 a bottle (£1050 in the UK, if you can find it).

These are two wines definitely worth buying as futures.

In an email, Erickson explained that having overseen the replanting of Screaming Eagle’s vineyard and building a new winery there, he’s ready to move on. His original connection to the property, Erickson said, was through former co-owner Charles Banks, and he will be working on several projects with him. That includes consulting for South African winery Mulderbosch, which Banks has recently purchased.

Of course, Erickson is still working with Dalla Valle, Ovid, Dancing Hares, and Arietta, plus his own Favia wines.

That’s the problem.  There are just too many choices.

Even restaurants serving Thanksgiving dinner are happy to pass the buck on what to drink. This year I noticed that very few in New York include wine in their advertised menus, though Latin restaurant Agua Dulce will hand out Pumpkin Hot Butter Rum Cocktails (ugh!). Maybe even top sommeliers can’t take the pressure of coming up with the perfect pairing.

The latest suggestion I’ve received came in a Thanksgiving card from Aline Baly of Bordeaux’s Château Coutet. She touts serving six vintages of her luscious sweet white as the ideal accompaniment for everything from sage-and-spice-roasted turkey to pumpkin mascarpone tart with candied kumquats and Sauternes cream (enticing recipes here).

Much as I like Château Coutet, all that unctuous sweetness seems like way too much of a good thing and would only mystify many of my guests. I’ve learned over the years not to put out anything too outlandish or esoteric or made from an unpronounceable grape.  At holidays, people crave the familiar, and don’t want to feel like they should study the label.

That’s as it should be.  At Thanksgiving, food and feasting take center stage.  The main role of wine is to wash it all down the without fighting the flavors on the table, to mellow tempers during political arguments or the reemergence of sibling rivalries, and refresh the palate so you can eat even more.

The number of dishes with contrasting tastes and dozens of flavor components (sweet, spicy, tart, rich, bland) all heaped together on a plate means you can forget about the subtleties of wine matching or the search for a one-perfect-wine solution.  Instead, go for wines that are fruity, softer and brightly acidic, with little tannin and low oak—the vinous equivalent of lovely background music.

My choices this year? I always pour American on this national holiday.  I’ll start with a fruity sparkling wine, like non-vintage J Cuvée 20 Brut ($20).  Then I’ll put a white and red on the table—a rich but balanced Chardonnay like Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars “Karia” ($35), and a satiny, stylish Pinot Noir like 2008 Freeman Sonoma Coast ($44), served slightly cool.