Archive for the Thoughts on Things Category

  • Conscious Wine and a Movie - August 31st, 2010

    On line at Ashland’s Noble Coffee for a refill, I was talking to a friend about filming our first ‘ConsciousWine and a Movie’ episode. A guy standing next to us blurts out, ‘What should I drink with Rambo 2? After a short pause, I bust a vocal move and say, ‘something bold, intense, strong and [...]
  • 2010 NY State Harvest Thoughts - August 27th, 2010

    The West Coast (particularly speaking of Oregon and Northern California) saw a cool wet spring, followed by a cool beginning to summer. After a number of vineyards cut back their greenery to expose vines to the sunshine that finally arrived, heat settled in, and in some cases too much. Nature’s climate cycles, that often lead [...]
  • REAL Value on a Budget - August 27th, 2010

    My ears perked up… like a deer. What I was listening to was the thought in my mind for a particular taste in wine. As I moved in the direction of action, I realized my wallet was not in sync with the thoughts spreading from my mind to my taste buds. The $18 for the [...]
  • 10 Things About… - July 30th, 2010

    Wherein we give you 10 tidbits about the topic dujour – factoids & ideas, sometimes a specific winery, region, conference or workshop. But always something to get you thinking. . Here we start with 10 things (nuggets and personal take aways) from a workshop on bees taken at a biodynamic farming program at the Rudolf [...]
  • A Flavor Altering Wine Experience - July 28th, 2010

    On a hot’s summer’s afternoon, on the bustling streets of downtown Ashland (home of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival), I strolled into local dining mecca Chateaulin to meet up with a favorite local wine & foodie, Beverly McKenzie.  I asked her if she would do a quick video with me and off we went onto the [...]
  • A Farmers Market Story - August 14th, 2009

    I was visiting Hollywood Beach, Florida. Walking on the boardwalk, I discovered Josh’s Organic Market and Juice Bar. After a totally refreshing mostly green vegetable juice, I started to look around at the vegetables themselves. They were glowing in colorful delight and something seemed a little strange. The washed out shades of veggie colors from my supermarket shopping habits were nowhere to be found. I noticed a sign said, …
  • An Agricultural Perspective - August 11th, 2009

    If you haven’t seen Food, Inc., go! It says a lot. And it speaks to what’s behind what we’re choosing.

    This rambling is based on the idea that agriculture is not natural to start with.
  • A Panel of Grape Growers - August 5th, 2009

    I attended a conference called, Growing Even Greener: Ecowinegrowing in California’s North Coast in Hopland, CA. The whole experience was an awe-filled mouthful. I’m excited to see the word sustainability taking on a bigger picture meaning that has lots of soul.

    Here’s a little punch line storytelling…
  • Chew on This… - July 22nd, 2009

    In our on-going journey to reframe organic in the wine world, we’re going to play with the term, living wine.

    Wine in general needs to open a while, and we’re talking more than an hour. Imagine wine that gets better for several days once opened, maybe 3, 4, or 5 days.

    Okay, you get up in the morning, you stretch, breathe, get some water in you, a little coffee, step outside, breathe some more air, go for a walk… you’re waking up, and you start to find your mojo for the day.

    If a wine is alive why wouldn’t it need it’s own version of that?