We’re talking about Pinot Noir. Don’t google it. You’ll get thousands of variations on the title of one book, rather sloppily quoted and never questioned, so let’s just go to the source. […]
Black Pine
Art & Urban Renewal
Today, an idea that I’ve brought back to the valley from my years in Campbell River, on Vancouver Island, where the sculptor and painter Ken Blackburn has worked for years to free […]
Weird Things People Do to Trees
Trees are ancient creatures. Then humans came along. Somewhere along the way we forgot this: The Green Man An ancient symbol of human origin, the green man remains relatively common in churches […]
Grapes at Work
Our grapes are up to something we never suspected. You know those leaves on grape plants? Grape Leaves Waiting for the Light Assmannshausen am Rhein, late June, 6 a.m. Photosynthesis is the […]
Getting Out of Town
History eventually becomes the present. For instance, to look back to the day when the entire Okanagan was a part of Oregon and the only business going was the raising of cattle […]
The Art of Walls (and Citizenship)
In the urban spaces of the valley, walls are vital. These very public spaces are used to enclose very private ones. It is a relationship that doesn’t come without its stresses, as […]
Urban Okanagan
I recently spent two summers in East Germany. I fell in love with the place, partly because of the very public nature of its politics, and how it is conducted through nightly […]
The Grace of Wine
Technical wine-making is a new invention. Before that, wine-making was an art. It still is. That’s what I’d like to talk about today, because discussions of winemaking usually give short shrift to […]
Marc, yeast, and terroir
Today, the first of a two-part series on the spiritual and environmental nature of wine, and what it can teach us about productive paths for our society as it works to reintegrate […]
The Art of Wine
The art of wine is a way of working with life. It is the art of life. You could say, it is the art of living, but then all art is that. […]
