Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment that began in the late 17th century placed confidence in the rational man who would discover scientific and philosophical truths that had eluded classical man. Despite this new savoir-faire, wine continued to suffer a short shelf life. It lost market share to distilled spirits that would last longer—gin in Holland and […]
The new logo— stage two
Now that the County has settled on a new logo, stage two of the branding exercise can begin in earnest— unless, that is, the Fruit of the Loom underwear people seek an injunction to prevent it. Stage two, of course, is the introduction of County-branded products. Barring legal catastrophe, we will soon be inundated with […]
Triple size this
Size 000 at J. Crew. I wondered what the fuss was. A lot of head and media space has been taken up with the kerfuffle about size triple zero. Seemed like someone was making a molehill out of a mountain, or vice versa. As you know—or maybe you didn’t know—I’m no retail clothing expert, but […]
Ready for some RedBlacks Football?
There will be excitement in Ottawa this coming Friday night. For the first time in several years, there will be professional football in our capital city. The Ottawa RedBlacks will take the field at 7 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, to play the Toronto Argonauts. It is actually the team’s fifth game and the third in […]
Super summer sippers
The process of leaving the wine in contact with the lees has a long history in wine making. Cato the Elder records its use in the Roman region of Campania as far back as the second century B.C. This is the same area that would see Pompeii and Herculaneum destroyed by the eruption of Mt.Vesuvius […]
The skyward solution
Congestion. It’s the number one issue in the Toronto municipal election, where the candidates—when not in drunken stupors—are beating one another’s brains out over whether the solution is more subways or rapid transit. A recent column (June 18) noted the advent of the driverless car as a potential solution. But others are looking skyward for […]
Road trip
The nice thing about writing a column for a paper is getting to chew on a topic once or twice. It works for me. Since it’s half-past July already, I’m here to ask you to raise your hand if you’ve visited all of our local community museums. I’m thinking a road trip is in order. […]
World Cup of Soccer
On Sunday, the World Cup of Soccer final game will take place in Brazil, at 3 p.m. eastern time. The third-place game, as it is called, takes place on Saturday, at 4 p.m. At press time, three countries remain in the hunt for supremacy in the soccer world: the Netherlands, Argentina and Germany. They have […]
Of vultures and the aesthetic of July
A rattle-sound from my bike is about all that seems to ground me as I travel the rugged quiet of Closson Road. Red-winged blackbirds and four cranky crows tell of news—something maybe I oughta know? Something in the back-fields? Deer maybe, a fox? The man on the bike with the noisy fender? The sky at […]
Passion and pride
In the course of your tasting room visits you have probably heard of wines—in most cases chardonnay—undergoing malolactic fermentation. This week, I will attempt to define this process and its impact on wine. Malolactic fermentation occurs after primary fermentation. Malic acids—the tart acids found in Granny Smith apples—convert to lactic acids (found in buttermilk, butter, […]