Regarding the onions: Use no ordinary white or yellow onions. The only fairly adequate substitute for Vidalias is the mild Texas onion. The season for Vidalias has been short, beginning in late May. Some Vidalias are rather flattened in shape. For this recipe, choose the more nearly spherical ones.

Prepare the onions: Cut a thin disk from the top and the bottom of each onion, about 1 3/4" in diameter. Peel off the dry skins. One flattened end is to make the onion sit upright in the baking pan. From the other end, gouge out a cavity in the center of each onion, spherical in shape, with a top opening of about 1 1/2" diameter. Use a melon ball cutter, rotating it.

In a small pitcher (for easy, slow pouring), mix the wine, sherry, Worcestershire sauce and pepper. Pour a small fraction of the wine mixture into each cavity, to within 1/4" of the tops. Pour 1/4 of the remaining wine mixture into each cavity. If, in a minute or so, the bread crumbs aren't pretty well soaked, add tiny amounts of water. Put a generous blob of butter atop each. Put a few ounces of water in the bottom of a baking pan. Place the onions in the pan. Bake until onions are quite tender, an hour or so.