Though the costs to attend the various events are steep— $90 gets you entrée to Georg Reidel’s comparative taste testing on Saturday at 6:15, using his cool stem-less glasses (considering that plebians never hold wine glasses the proper way, might as well do away with those bothersome, lame stems); the 7:30 Riserve Dinner featuring eight courses paired with nearly as many wines and spirits is higher still, at $125. But the regular events are more reasonable at $45 for a day pass. On both days, there are featured speakers and food pairing discussions (wine and cheese, wine and olive oils) with winery directors, sommeliers, and food writers. Maybe you will finally be wine-smart enough to get a date with Virginia Madsen, too. Hopefully, you won’t blow it like this sad sack did.

LA Winefest: July 12 and 13th, Raleigh Studios, 5300 Melrose Ave., Hollywood.

While Whoopi held steadfast on the pro side of the issue, the cons were represented by Babs and Sherri. Things get interesting for a bit while Whoopi and Sherri debated the various means of consuming marijuana (Whoopi to Sherri: "Have you ever smoked [pot] in a glass pipe?"), but when the floor gets turned over to Joy, the conversation suddenly and strangely turned toward the oeuvre of Ezra Pound. In what is surely Pound's first mention on daytime television this decade, Joy wants it known that it's okay to enjoy his poems despite the fact that he was a rampant anti-Semite. Alrighty then! Despite the fact that these four brainiacs never really got around to settling their argument (do they ever?), we can all rest assured knowing that no stoner was left unturned in this hot button debate for the ages.

• The View [ABC]