On the road to red
Every winemaker in the County wants to extract the utmost flavour profile from his or her grapes. However, there are no shortcuts to making a memorable red wine. It all begins once the winemaker, in conjunction with the vineyard manager, determine the exact moment for the grapes to be harvested. In most cases, the grape […]
“God Bless You, Phil Collins”
Those were the words spoken recently by Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson as he accepted the rock star’s donation of artifacts having to do with the Alamo. Although the Reuters press report didn’t give a value to the donation, Texas is going to build a $100 million edifice to hold the collection, which will be […]
Remembering them
Our last week away from the County is being spent on a military base in Manitoba. Yep, we’re at CFB Shiloh. It’s not exactly a vacation mecca. In true Canadian military fashion, it’s almost indistinguishable from most other CFBs in Canada. This is where MCOM (Military Children of Mine), aka The Girlies, live. This is […]
Back on the ice
The Florida Everblades played their third game of the season last Saturday night at home in the Germain Arena. The arena is located on I-75, between Fort Myers and Naples, close to the municipality of Estero. More than 7,000 seats fill the barn, and tickets are most reasonable, starting at $16. The Blades faced their […]
Tanks for the wine
During the production of white wine, it is paramount that contact between the juice and oxygen be kept to a minimum, to preserve the fruit characteristics. Before crushing, stems are normally taken off white grapes, since they can add a note of unwanted astringency. Sometimes, stems are added to allow a more freeflowing juice. This […]
Passing the smell test
Scientists are sniffing around smell, traditionally the neglected sibling among the five senses. And they are smelling some interesting results. One study examined some 3,000 people and found that if they were unable to identify smells like fish and peppermint, they were much more likely to die within five years, compared with those who were […]
A day in the life
There are times when my day has a theme song. More often than not it has been It’s Good News Week. Some of you know the song, the rest of you can Google it. Most of us have music in our heads. Youngest COM calls it ear worms. When the story of Cpl Nathan Cirillo’s […]
Play ball!
The 2014 World Series between the San Francisco Giants and the Kansas City Royals opened on Tuesday night in Kansas City. The teams will play three games in Kansas City, fly out to the West Coast to play one game, potentially two, then fly back to KC for the final games. Both of these teams […]
Spiders and the tarantula
This is the time in winemaking when all-or-nothing wagers are placed on the best moment to harvest grapes and transform the fruit into wine. Will the good weather last long enough to assure sugar and acid levels as well as the appearance and general health of the winemaker’s grapes? Think of the weather over the […]
Timing is everything
This is the time in winemaking when all-or-nothing wagers are placed on the best moment to harvest grapes and transform the fruit into wine. Will the good weather last long enough to assure sugar and acid levels as well as the appearance and general health of the winemaker’s grapes? Think of the weather over the […]