On Saturday, April 8, the Music Hall will hold it’s 15th annual Kitchen Tour featuring nine homes in New Castle, and on Saturday, May 13, the Exeter Area Chamber of Commerce will hold its seventh annual tour featuring 10 homes in Stratham and Exeter. Music Hall organizers predict that about 1,500 participants will stroll through this year’s well-appointed kitchens, and Exeter organizers expect about 350.

It’s difficult to encounter a truly balanced French red for under $20. Leave it to Serge Dore, a Frenchman turned importer, to bring us such a wine from, of all places, the especially pricey region of Bordeaux. An acquaintance of mine, Serge brings approximately 60 different wine and cognac labels to our state. He calls southern New York home, but spends a great deal of time finding those hidden, and therefore undervalued, French wines in that country’s most famous wine regions.

Add Phillips Exeter Academy to the growing list of institutions seeking to buy more locally grown and/or organic foods. For the past 18 months, since assuming the post of director of dining services, David Davidson has been working to seek local sources for produce, dairy, granola, honey and more.

The penguin rookery is a little bigger these days. I’ve recommended Little Penguin wines before because of the quality-to-price ratio built into their product line. With the introduction some months ago of a Pinot Noir, the brand is now also filling a void in an exploding category. The demand for Pinot Noir is outstripping supply everywhere, thanks in part to the popularity of the movie “Sideways,” and Pinot Noir in most every price category is doing well whether it tastes good or not. The timing of this label’s appearance in the marketplace couldn’t be better, as it has the added benefit of being delicious at 10 beans a bottle.