The answer: Comfort food and hearty wine! But what's the question? What do you need to ward off that psychological malady brought on by gray skies, cold weather, a general lack of sunshine and the end of football season?

Clinically known as seasonal affective disorder (SAD), Doctor Feelgood -- me -- has just the prescription: Braciole or Italian beef roll-ups with penne in a thick tomato sauce. This past weekend, after preparing and then consuming this dish (with a full bodied red I’ll tell you about later), my outlook on the week ahead was definitely brighter.

So, here’s what I put together that should feed four to six hungry and depressed friends.

Tomato Sauce Recipe 1. First, the sauce. Here’s one of my favorite quick red sauce recipes. You’ll need: 3 ounces of extra virgin olive oil 1 large onion, chopped 4 cloves garlic, chopped 1 red pepper chopped 1 carrot, chopped 2 (32-ounce) cans crushed tomatoes (try San Marana or Red Pack) Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2. In a large pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat and add onion and garlic and sauté until soft.

3. Add the pepper and carrot and season with salt and pepper. Cook until all the vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes.

4. Add tomatoes, basil and reduce the heat to low. Cover the pot and simmer for about one hour or until the sauce is thick.

Now, to the wine. Open a bottle (red or white), take a break and have a glass – hey, this ain’t KP, enjoy yourself! While the sauce is cooking and you’re sipping, you can begin preparing the Braciole. (Incidentally, I went to my local butcher -- Johnnie’s at the Capitol Market-- selected a two-pound rump roast and asked them to slice the meat into quarter- inch pieces.

Braciole Recipe 1. Place each piece of meat between two sheets of plastic wrap and pound them to about 1/8 inch thickness. (You don’t want to do this if you have a hangover). If you don’t have a meat pounder, you can use a heavy iron skillet (or a clothes iron if your spouse isn’t looking).

2. Rub a combination of black pepper, red pepper flakes, dried oregano, minced garlic and olive oil into each piece of meat and dust them with flour.

3. Now you’ll need to prepare the stuffing for the roll-ups. Into a sauté pan, put about an ounce of extra virgin olive oil and cook one-half diced onion, one diced red bell pepper and a handful of chopped Italian flat parsley. Sauté the ingredients for about three minutes and set aside in a bowl to cool off. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

4. Once the mixture is cool, put in 2/3 cup grated Pecorino Romano and 1/2 cup grated provolone along with 1/2 cup of bread crumbs then break one egg into the stuffing and mix together.

5. Onto the pounded meat, place a piece of thinly sliced prosciutto (or regular ham, if you prefer) and spread the stuffing evenly across the meat. Roll each piece of meat and then use toothpicks to keep the rolls from falling apart.

6. Into a skillet pour about two ounces of extra virgin olive oil, brown each piece of meat on all sides and then place them into a dutch oven, casserole or other pan with a cover that can accommodate all of them.

7. Take about 2 ounces of red wine and deglaze the skillet and pour the resulting mixture into the pot with the Braciole. Then pour the tomato sauce into the pot, cover, place in the oven and cook for about one and one-half hours (turning the meat once about halfway through the cooking process).

8. About 20 minutes before serving, boil one-pound of ziti or penne pasta until al dente.

9. Take the Braciole from pot, remove the toothpicks and slice the meat into one-half inch rounds, spooning red sauce over each piece. Add the pasta to the red sauce in the pan and serve with the meat. WINE RECOMMENDATION: I have the perfect wine for this meal. The 2005 A-Mano Primitivo ($13) from Puglia in southern Italy is a deep purple, fruit-forward wine with characteristics of zinfandel. Rich and full of blackberry flavors with a nice balancing acidity, this wine is a great match for the Braciole. Enjoy!

"In defense of my decision, it helps to know a little about the wine I chose over my children’s need for nutritional sustenance. " -- John Brown
One of the advantages of advancing age is that you can sometimes live long enough to see youthful acts of irresponsibility redeemed later in life (though probably never forgiven). Let me explain. In the early 1980’s, when I was just beginning my life-long affair with wine -- and when I had little or no disposable income -- I made a profligate, yet fateful, buying decision. That decision caused me great initial pain, but over the long haul, I feel, has turned out quite well.

The year was 1983 and I was on my way to buy the weekly groceries when I stopped by the local state liquor store to check out the wine selection. Back then, the State ABC store was the only place where you could purchase wine. As I casually browsed the aisles searching for any wine not bottled in big green jugs, I came across three bottles of 1978 Chateau Fortia. At that time, Fortia was considered the best producer of Chateauneuf Du Pape, and the ’78 had gotten great reviews.
Unfortunately, the wine cost $18 a bottle, a stratospheric price to pay for wine back then. I agonized over the decision for all of five minutes before using our weekly grocery money to buy the wine. When my wife asked why I had not gotten all the items on her grocery list, I sheepishly presented her with the three bottles of wine and, as I recall, some peanut butter, bread and lunch meat. To put it mildly, she was not happy, and I heard the words “selfish” and “irresponsible” used repeatedly to describe me over the next several months.

In defense of my decision, it helps to know a little about the wine I chose over my children’s need for nutritional sustenance. Chateau Fortia is a storied property and it’s late owner -- Baron Le Roy de Boiseumarie -- not only produced among the best Chateauneuf Du Pape, he developed a system of governmental regulations to insure the quality for everything associated with making wine. This system was the foundation for the Appellation Contrôlée system for all France. I had read about the exploits of Baron Le Roy and the legendary wines he was making so when I saw the opportunity to acquire a few bottles of this monumental wine…well you know the rest.

Now, fast-forward 25 years. (Incidentally, despite even more egregious acts by yours truly over that quarter century, I am still married to the same long-suffering wife). Anyway, this year on Valentine’s Day my wife asked me to go to our cellar and surprise her with a nice bottle of wine to accompany a special meal she had prepared. You can probably guess what I selected. Suffice it to say, I did surprise her - with 1978 Chateau Fortia. But the biggest surprise was magnificence of the wine itself!

As I decanted it, the wine’s orange-brown color did not bode well for its drinkability. There was also about one inch of sediment in the bottom of the bottle (which I expected) and when I put my nose to the carafe, there was very little aroma. At least it didn't have any off odors, I thought to myself.

I set the wine aside for about one hour while dinner was being completed and then, as we sat down to eat, I poured it into our glasses. It had been transformed. As I sniffed and then sipped, the wine had morphed into an aromatic, complex and delicious elixir. Aromas of mint and leather were followed by layered flavors of cherries, caramel and white pepper. What a spectacular wine and one which, surprisingly, held up well to the fillet of beef it accompanied.

After we leisurely consumed the bottle, I went online to Robert Parker’s website (eRobertparker.com) and this is what that esteemed critic had to say about the wine (he rated it 95 out of 100) when he last reviewed it in 2000: “This has always been my reference point for Chateau Fortia (until I tasted the 1970). It remains a prodigious, full-bodied, spectacular Chateauneuf du Pape possessing a deep ruby/purple color with only a hint of amber at the edge. A stunning nose of blackberries, pepper, smoke, dried herbs, and licorice is followed by a full-bodied wine with a seamless personality, a multi-layered texture, and a fabulous wealth of fruit. While fully mature, it is capable of 5-7 additional years of life.”

Well, here it is eight years later and still holding, though for how much longer I cannot predict.

So, did my wife forgive me for that act of profligacy 25 years ago? She’s not willing to go that far, but I may be able to get closer to redemption since I have two more bottles of the 1978 Chateau Fortia lying in repose in the cellar.

Dale Hawkins, Executive Chef for Stonewall Resort, is known for his focus on what he calls New Appalachian Cuisine. You cantaste what he means on March 7-9 at Stonewall near Weston as he, and a whole host of other West Virginia celebrity chefs, prepare their goodies for you at one of this state’s premier food and wine events – The Culinary Classic.

I’ve been to the Culinary Classic on a couple of occasions and it’s a blast! Sumptious food, lots of wine and like-minded people enjoying the stuff we all love. The events begin at 7 p.m. on Friday, March 7, with an evening reception and taste-around , featuring signature dishes from the chefs and accompanying wines to wash it all down.  Saturday is a day full of events for gourmets and gourmands, including chef-led demonstrations, workshops and wine tastings. One of the events features a presentation by Slow Food  USA (a cause to which I ascribe) and a luncheon featuring a chef “throw down.” That evening, guests start with a wine reception and then move into the ballroom for a multi-course food and wine pairing created by the guest chefs. Here is a list of the foodies that will be doing their culinary thing: Steve Mengel and Frederick Montei, The Greenbrier (White Sulphur Springs); Paco Aceves, the Bridge Road Bistro (Charleston); Tim Urbanic, Café Cimino (Sutton); Anne Hart, Provence Market (Bridgeport); Melanie Campbell, Graceland Inn (Elkins); Hall Hitzig, The Crazy Baker (Renick); Logan Springston, Marriott Town Center (Charleston); Jeff Kessler, Jeff’s Breads (Renick).

Jay Vetter, Main Street Grille (Moorefield); Gourmet Central (Romney); Dale Hawkins, Stonewall Resort (Weston); DeFluri’s Chocolates (Martinsburg); Nemat Odeh, Canaan Valley Resort (Davis); Brian Ball, Ember (Snowshoe); Sal Carmona of Carmona’s (Buckhannon); Jim Anderson, Glade Springs Resort (Daniels); Ben Mule, the Blennerhassett (Parkersburg); Jay Mahoney of Pierpont Community and Technical College (Fairmont); Mountaineer Brewing Company (Martinsburg) and Gallo Family of Wines.If you’re interested in participating, the two-night package is $314 per person. It includes all lodging, Culinary Classic events and breakfast both mornings. For additional information or to make reservations, contact the resort at 888-278-8150 or visit the Stonewall Web site.

The estate of Château Cheval Blanc in St Emilion. Home of one of the greatest wines ever? From antique-wine.com. Bordeaux is perhaps the most storied region in all of winedom. Perched in southwestern France and close to the Atlantic Ocean, this famous appellation produces wine that is the benchmark upon which all great red wine, particularly cabernet sauvignon, is measured.

In 1855, the wines of Bordeaux were classified according to quality by a ranking that still exists today. The best of these wines are called "Grand Crus" and are categorized into five classifications or “growths.” The greatest are called “First Growths” and they include Chateau Lafite Rothschild, Ch. Latour, Ch. Mouton Rothschild (which was added in 1973), Ch. Margaux and Ch. Haut Brion.

Two other wines, Chateau Cheval Blanc and Chateau Petrus, were not rated in the 1855 classification, but are also considered First Growths. The thousands of Bordeaux wines not rated among the first five growths are called Crus Bourgeois, Crus Artisans, St. Emilion and Graves.

Bordeaux is a region that inspires great debate among wine lovers. Most recently, that discussion has focused on the stratospheric price of recent vintages, particularly those wines made in 2005. That vintage is considered great by wine critics around the world and, if you can afford them, the cream of the 2005 crop can range from several hundred to thousands of dollars a bottle. Since there are more than 7,000 Chateaux (wineries) in the Bordeaux region, it is possible to find an ample supply of good wines in the $20 to $50 a bottle range, but the ones with the best reputations are prohibitively expensive. And, while some of the lesser known Bordeaux are beginning to appear on wine shop shelves, most of the expensive wines have not arrived yet. In fact, most of the “best of the best” or First Growths, have been purchased as “futures” by well-heeled collectors who hope to get them at prices significantly less than when they hit the shelves later this year.

My experience with First Growths is limited and has not been particularly successful (with one notable exception which I’ll tell you about later). My problem has been discovering the optimum time to drink them. So far, each of the wines I’ve tasted has been too young and tannic, and has not reached full maturity. However, my experience with other highly classified wines has been, for the most part, wonderful.

Why? Well, the beauty of Bordeaux red for me is that it offers so much more complexity than single varietals such as cabernet sauvignon. I think Bordeaux succeeds because it is generally comprised of a proprietary blend of grapes (some combination of cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc, petit verdot and malbec) that results in a style of wine from a particular producer that is pretty consistent from year to year.

Want a whopper? Go to Pauillac (where cabernet is the predominant grape). Prefer a richer, more refined style? Try the wines of St. Emilion or Pomerol (where merlot and cabernet franc are the main varietals). Many new world wineries, such as those in California, are making wines with similar Bordeaux-style blends ( called meritage wines), but the vast majority of producers remain committed to single varietals -- and usually cabernet sauvignon.. And that’s not necessarily bad. It’s just a different approach. So what about my one other-worldly experience with a First Growth Bordeaux? Well, it involves a pretty embarrassing moment for this wine “expert.” About 20 years ago, I attended a blind tasting of cabernet/Bordeaux wines at a friend's home. Among the wines our generous host uncovered at the conclusion of the event, was the '47 Cheval Blanc - which I had described to the assembled multitude as the "best zinfandel I have ever tasted."

After reading a great article on this spectacular wine recently in Slate Magazine ("The Greatest Wine on the Planet"), I don't feel quite so bad. In that piece, the author points to the intensity and opulence and almost Port-like quality of the wine. To this day, it still remains the best wine ever to cross these purple-stained lips!