Welcome to Spring 2000, the first primavera of the new millennium. While I'll be visiting wineries in Austria, an always inviting wine country, and later Slovenia, its mighty-mite neighbor just over the Alps, you'll probably be indulging yourselves in hanami, that annual eternally poetic pastime. Be sure to celebrate by including some suitable wine in your hanami picnic basket.
Is there a wine just right for viewing cherry blossoms? Indeed -- in fact quite a few. Something fresh and light and perhaps even floral comes to mind.
First, though, the food. I suggest that you pack something as simple as finger sandwiches and fresh fruit and/or such Japanese favorites as makizushi (roll-type sushi), inarizushi (rice encased in fried tofu) and, perhaps best of all, onigiri (rice balls containing a dab of salmon, bonito, or pickled plum). Lovely stuff, and light on the midday stomach.