You know the story, about how the heat of the sun makes for the best wine? Vineyard at the Rise, Vernon What heat? Time for a better story. Will it sell? Are […]
In Praise of Cool Climate Wine
The Lungs of the Earth
Bunchgrass defines the grasslands of the intermontane west. It is not, however, the main story here. It is only the canopy forest. The real grassland is here. It is far older. It lies […]
The Ethics of Talking About Wine in British Columbia
The Alumni Association of the University of British Columbia in the Canadian rain forest city of Vancouver is hosting a debate and wine tasting of wines from my valley, although the valley […]
Veraison or The Time of Ripening
The green balls of malolactic and citric acid are turning to tartaric acid now, and depositing sugars as water flow into grape berries decreases. The skins of the grapes are beginning their mysteries, […]
Dogs and Humans: the Showdown
Here’s something cool about dogs. Footprints in the Snow Dogs follow edges. When you’re a dog, you don’t even think about it. You go for boundaries, and you stay there. Since the […]
The Green Green Grapes of Home
Last week, I was speaking about the potential of the various languages within English for creating a new language for science. I think there’s something I should have explained, so let me […]
The Secret of Great Okanagan Wine
In Switzerland, glaciers cool the grapes at night. In Germany, slate holds what heat there is in a long season, while mist and drizzle hold back the sun. In British Columbia, the […]
What To Do On a Day Threatening Rain
Two days ago, the summer sun came up. That evening, the god of the wind passed by. Heading south. Check out the mini-god boiling out of his ear. Such a hurry hurry […]
Ten More New Commercial Fruit Crops for the Okanagan
Yesterday, I started putting the practical side of this blog into order. I started with ten new fruit crops that could restart a failing economy unable to retrain its young people, to […]
Ten New Commercial Fruit Crops for the Okanagan
When the Okanagan was first settled by Europeans and Americans, they planted European and American crops, although the hills were covered in food. Peaches, Such as This Now-Dying Tree, Were Originally Planted […]
Okanagan Okanogan 