Hello, Dalai!
How to meet and greet the Dalai Lama
Unless you’ve been leading a monastic, media-free existence, you know His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, is coming to Oregon. Continue reading
Whats-Happening: Page 655
En Vin Air
Oregon artist takes pleine air painting to the vineyards
Living as a landscape painter in a geographically diverse state such as Oregon is like being a kid in a candy store. Between the coast, mountains, deserts, the gorge, old-growth forests and the rolling hills of vineyards, the Beaver State is an artist’s paradise. Continue reading
Craft Vinting
Indie vintner Mark Nicholl brings artisanal flair to William Rose Wines
Indie vintner Mark Nicholl started his own label for an elegantly simple reason: He wanted the freedom to make wines that he loved, whether that’s a dry riesling or a Müller-Thurgau white. Continue reading
Bottle Shock
Growlers may radically change Oregon’s wine industry
In the golden years of my youth (ages 8-11), our family was transferred by the U.S. Navy to Rabat, Morocco. My mother blithely enrolled me in a French-run school. I made some friends. My closest bud was Pierrot; his dad was a sergeant in the French Air Force, his mother Bedouin. Pierrot periodically invited me to lunch at his house. Continue reading
Mulling the Microbe
Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a wine yeast, may become the first state microbe in Oregon
Say hello to a winemaker’s little friend. For thousands of years, yeast has graced us with its ability to turn grape juice into wine. Wine lovers owe a debt of gratitude to one species in particular, known to professionals as Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Variations of this species are used in brewing beer and in winemaking, reason enough to show some love for these helpful microbes. Continue reading
Women in Wine
More so than in beer or spirits, women are rising in the wine industry
The Oregon wine industry is a driving economic force, particularly in Lane County. Statewide, the wine business employed approximately 14,000 people in 2010: everyone from winery managers to vintners, from servers in tasting rooms to those tending the vineyards. And as the Oregon wine industry expands, it’s following a nationwide trend — employing more and more women in an industry once dominated by men. Continue reading
Vintage Vineyard
Old School brings new ethos to pinot
Old School Vineyard’s 21 acres are tended by one full-time human employee, grower Stephen Hagen, and a crew of four-legged colleagues, including a team of Belgian draft horses, Ike and Olivia, who help Hagen cultivate under vine rows, till the soil and drill cover crops with precision and accuracy. Continue reading
Enter Room 237
Stanley Kubrick created The Shining to exorcise his guilt for helping fake the 1969 Apollo moon landing, to represent the genocide of Native Americans or to retell the Greek myth Theseus and the Minotaur. Continue reading
A Win for the Bees?
Europe takes action while U.S. bees take a hit
On April 28, the European Commission (the governing body of the European Union) voted to impose a two-year moratorium on the use of neonicotinoid insecticides on food crops attractive to bees and other pollinators. Neonicotinoids, now the most widely used pesticide class in the world, are suspected of contributing to colony collapse disorder (CCD) in honey bees, and their use is already restricted in France, Germany, Italy and Slovenia. Continue reading
Back Beat
Blood Sugar Sex Lama? After His Holiness speaks at Matthew Knight arena May 10, he heads to Portland where the Red Hot Chili Peppers will serenade him, preceded by a Q&A with His Holiness hosted by Anthony Kiedis. Warning: This is not a joke. Continue reading