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For The Love Of Good Wine
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by Vanessa Ryan
Vanessa Ryan is a real estate broker, stock trader, and corporate recruiter.
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The movie "Sideways" made wines and wine tasting trendy again. Of course, the love of fine wine has always been with us, but the movie brought out new devotees. Depending on where you live, it's not uncommon to run into people who dabble in the wine business. Even my ex-husband, who couldn't garden to save his life, says he has vineyard. Actually, his girlfriend leases her land to a vineyard, so that doesn't count. But I digress.
In my own neighborhood two new storefront wine-tasting bars opened up recently. The food they serve does not come from their own kitchens, but from nearby restaurants. Both plan on continuing that arrangement because more important than having a space for a kitchen, is a location with foot traffic to capitalize on the trend. And they were right on the money with this, because every Friday around happy hour time these two places are crowded with shoppers, office people, and tourists. It's a fun way to begin the weekend, and an easy way to meet people if you're into the dating scene. Instead of asking, "What's your sign?" the latest pickup line seems to be, "What's your wine?"
Some of the newer establishments offer organic wines. Now organic wines have been with us for some time, but the new ones taste better. Years ago when I first tried organic wines I thought they were too strong and had an unpleasant order. Since then, organic winemakers have become more plentiful and their methods have improved.
Will organic wines be the norm in the future? That's hard to say. Organic farming needs to become more widespread if it is to be effective. Synthetic pesticides and herbicides have a way of seeping into the ground and into our water system. If a vineyard or a farm uses synthetic pesticides it could be affecting neighboring vineyards that do not. The one thing we can count on is winemakers will continue to strive to produce the high quality products.
Published: Jul 14,2008 17:51
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Andy Cowan
Andy Cowan, an award-winning writer, whose credits include Cheers and Seinfeld, regularly contributes humor pieces to the Los Angeles Times and the CBS Jack FM Radio Network.
Paul M. J. Suchecki
Paul M. J. Suchecki has more than 30 years of experience as an award winning writer, producer, and cameraman. He's written numerous newspaper and magazine articles. Currently he writes, produces and shoots for LA CityView Channel 35 and his more than 250 articles for Ehow.com are approaching half a million readers.
Coby Kindles
Coby Kindles is a freelance journalist, screenplay writer and essayist. She has been a staff writer at Knight Ridder and a regular contributor to The Associated Press.
Debbie Milam
Debbie Milam is a syndicated columnist for United Press International, an occupational therapist, family success consultant, and motivational speaker with more than 20 years experience. Her work on stress management, spirituality, parenting, and special-needs children has been featured in over 300 media outlets including First for Women, The Miami Herald, Elle, Ladies Home Journal, The Hallmark Channel, PBS and WebMD.
Dan Rafter
Dan Rafter has covered the residential real estate industry for more than 15 years. He has contributed real estate stories to the Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Business 2.0 Magazine, Home Magazine, Smart HomeOwner Magazine and many others.
Jack Nargundkar
Jack Nargundkar has been repeatedly published in Business Week, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and The New York Times. He is also an author of "The Bush Diaries" published in July 2005.
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