Romney style
Wine wasn’t always about scorecards and tastings. With some exceptions, wine was consumed in the Middle Ages much the same way we consume water today. Up until the 18th century wine was considered a safer alternative to drinking water, which was often of somewhat dubious quality. To meet the demand, grapes were harvested to yield […]
Trained to the hilt
You just never know where the times will take you. Take the British nanny. Amid rampant unemployment in other sectors, “Saudi princes, Russian oligarchs, busy executives and celebrities demanding a Mary Poppins-like figure to look after their children” are creating a boom in the market for the classic British nanny, according to a recent news […]
A PAD at PEPtBO
Sometimes I think it’s nice to let you know when I’m writing. Today is Mother’s Day. I almost always do the final write on Sunday and today I am thinking about how grateful I am to be a mom. My family has made my life wonderful, creative and exciting. Mother’s Day aside, today I am […]
Unsung heroes
All communities, everywhere, have unsung heroes. They are the people who do things, unselfishly, day after day, for the good of the community. It is a good thing that these people exist; otherwise, the community would not benefit from their efforts. There are times when the work of these people is recognized; there are more […]
Keeping score
As wine science and technology advanced, of course, standards of measurement became more important in the marketplace. In the 1980s, an American lawyer named Robert Parker started up the aptly named magazine, The Wine Advocate. Mr. Parker’s incredible palate meant that his comments, as the years progressed, could make or break a winery or a […]
Countyworld
This paper has recently aired various serious and not quite so serious pieces advocating the County’s secession. How about taking a step that stops a little short of that, but that would still generate the revenue to let us control our own destiny? I’m talking about turning the County—the whole County—into a theme park. The […]
Our library
We all know what a library is, right? Almost everyone has been to a library at least once in their life—maybe even twice. When I was a little kid, our elementary school was located one block from the public library. Once every two weeks we lined up and marched down to the library to select […]
Visionaries
Because of remarkable advances in winemaking technology over the past 50 years, winemakers can now reliably produce good quality, approachable wines. There will always be variations, of course, due to the vagaries of vintage. But correct vineyard management , paired with modern winemaking science, give winemakers around the world the capability to consistently produce fine […]
Game 7 outcomes—always a mystery
The Belleville Bulls have been playing a little shinny in the Ontario Hockey League for more than 30 years. On his Monday morning sports news broadcast, Jack Miller noted that the team had been on the brink more than half a dozen times. Throughout the winter, many hockey fans listen to the games on the […]
Fields of April
Have you ever stood in the fields of springtime and watched the geese gathering in the sloughs? Now and then you hear a few from far off: sometimes two or three together, but often…often there’s one all alone. Charging their wings full throttle, beating the sky in a frantic search and hollering: Who’s there? Who’s […]