TN Friday Night Wines

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Brad Widelock

Brad Widelock
There is an exchange in Joseph Hellers Catch 22 that perfectly sums up my week:

"They're trying to kill me," Yossarian told him calmly.
"No one's trying to kill you," Clevinger cried.
"Then why are they shooting at me?" Yossarian asked.
"They're shooting at everyone," Clevinger answered. "They're trying to kill everyone."
"And what difference does that make?"

Clearly, it makes no difference. So whats a teacher to do after watching the scythe that is California budget crisis sweep through school districts around the state cutting through people and programs? Go home and pull some corks with colleagues. Lets face it, theyre shooting at us teachers.

Feudo Montoni 2007 Cataratto

The perfect wine after a long day of holding up protest signs on the street. Light and crisp, but not too crisp, like a good apple, this wine is very easy and pleasant to drink.

La Casaccia 2007 Grignolino

This is only the second Grignolino I have tasted besides the Heitz bottling. I used to drink a lot of the Heitz. It was easy to impress people with an unfamiliar grape in a familiar bottle. When I poured the La Casaccia one of my friends thought it was a ros. This wine has the flavors and scents of a spice box. What I love about serving a wine like this is how surprised people are that such a light colored wine can be so flavorful.

Vallev 2008 Montepulciano dAbruzzo

I suspect this wine was commissioned by the Italian government to provide affordable quality wines to its teachers. Then again, maybe this budget crisis has gone to my head Nonetheless, this was the favorite of the evening. Nothing fancy, nothing profound, easy to swallow again and again. An honest red wine for a lasagna dinner with friends, this might be our new house red.
 
Sorry for your troubles. Ugh.

Maybe you should take up journalism.

When I poured the La Casaccia one of my friends thought it was a ros.
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It's a sad commentary on our modern world of wine that reds are expected to be impenetrable black'n'blue, and it's a surprise when they're not.
 
I keep seeing, in the Acreage reports in CA, vast amounts of acreage planted to this grape. I keep waiting for the miracle to happen...
 
The perfect wine after a long day of holding up protest signs on the street.
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I remember the week I was on strike, some of the most beautiful pre-autumn weather you could ask for in Central New York, a week of perfect days. A week spent spending 5-6 hours on the picket line, nearly getting run over by scab workers or managers during the day, followed by good meals at home, prepared leisurely since I had more time to work on them, with nice bottles of wine I cannot remember their names now. Sometimes in havoc, there is peace, and our little pockets we find it in can mean the difference between joy and despair.

Of course, the week ended with one of the most fantastical storms ever to hit the area, derecho straight winds with speeds over 100mph that snapped off the tops of trees like a weedwhacker and produced green lightning the likes of which I have never seen again. But the storm stopped after an eerie night, and we got our contract in the aftermath.

Life has a way of working out.
 
This offers very good QPR. Even in Concord, NC the customers liked it. This is not an insignificant achievement.
 
originally posted by Steve Edmunds:
CatarattoI keep seeing, in the Acreage reports in CA, vast amounts of acreage planted to this grape. I keep waiting for the miracle to happen...
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Really?

Who knew? Huh.
 
During the run-up to Prop. 13, the opposition pointed out that property taxes went directly into the coffers for education. Oh, but we'd never let our schools suffer from a lack of funding, the proponents retorted. No, not in a million years.

This product of a CA public education ('64-'77) despairs for the ruins of a once-exemplary system.

Mark Lipton
 
originally posted by MLipton:
Jarvis and Gann chuckle in their gravesDuring the run-up to Prop. 13, the opposition pointed out that property taxes went directly into the coffers for education. Oh, but we'd never let our schools suffer from a lack of funding, the proponents retorted. No, not in a million years.

This product of a CA public education ('64-'77) despairs for the ruins of a once-exemplary system.

Mark Lipton
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Both political parties in this state are at fault. Prop 13 passed because the politicians allowed local property taxes to become so high people could not afford to stay in their homes. It was not unusual for your property taxes to cost you more per annum than your house payments for the same period. It's just a shame a middle ground could not be found. If you bought a home after prop 13 passed your taxes could be 4 to 5 time the amount the identical home next door paid if it had been owned at a prior date. We owned a home in Palos Verdes where our next store neighbor with a similiar size home paid 5+ time what we paid. The supreme court upheld the law which my legal beagle friends said the decision reflected what the vast majority of people wanted in spite of it's legal standing.
There has been no fiscal conservatism reflected in the actions of the govt. in Sacramento for many years and unfortunately it has come home to roost. The last thing we should do is cut the quality of education but everybodies neck is on the chopping block. We need to compete in this world, education has to be of the highest priority. I now have a headache, it's so sad.
 
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