Tasting Room Time in the Napa Valley

It?s that time of year again. Bud Break is all around and the vines begin a new growing year in the wine country. That dreary, cold, and raining period is over and tourists now can flock to the tasting rooms again. Wineries are ready to receive and pamper all tourists. Continue reading

Source: http://www.winecountrygetaways.com/napablog/tasting-room-time-in-the-napa-valley/

Masten Gregory Cliff Griffith Georges Grignard Bobby Grim Romain Grosjean

Volkswagen to Launch Car-Sharing Program in Hanover, Germany

Volkswagen is launching a car-sharing program in the German city of Hanover, dubbing the enterprise ?Quicar ? Share a Volkswagen.? Initial plans call for 200 VW Golf BlueMotions to be available at 50 locations throughout Hanover, and the picture above seems to indicate something’s afoot with the latest Beetle, too. Other than the fuel-efficient fleet, [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/caranddriver/blog/~3/0j_itMhsIUE/

Ryan Joseph Newman Kyle Eugene Petty Floyd Anthony Raines Scott Russell Riggs Hiroshi Fushida

Denny Hamlin?s #11 Crew Repeat Winners at Pit Crew Challenge

By Reid Spencer Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service (May 19, 2011) CHARLOTTE, N.C.?The No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing team, which pits the car of driver Denny Hamlin, became the first back-to-back winner of the Sprint Pit Crew Challenge, defeating the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports team, which pits the car of five-time defending NASCAR Sprint Cup [...]

Source: http://finallapradio.com/2011/05/20/denny-hamlins-11-crew-repeat-winners-at-pit-crew-challenge/

Ralph Dale Earnhardt Sr Ralph Dale Earnhardt Jr Carl Michael Edwards III William Clyde Elliott Jeffrey Michael Gordon

SCHUMACHER EARNS PROVISIONAL NO. 1 IN TF, TRACK RECORD FOR SPEED

NHRA NHRA Summer Nationals Heartland Park, in Topeka, Kan. Fri, May 20, 2011 Beckman and Edwards round out No. 1 qualifiers at NHRA Summer Nationals Seven-time Top Fuel champion Tony Schumacher ended the first of two days of qualifying at...

Source: http://www.motorsportsjournal.com/archives/2011/05/schumacher_earns_provisio.php

Phil Hill Peter Hirt David Hobbs Gary Hocking Ingo Hoffmann

Ford Racing, 2011 NASCAR Sprint All-Star & Sprint Showdown Post-Qualifying Recaps

Ford RacingIt will be an all-Ford front row for tomorrow night?s Sprint Showdown as David Ragan and AJ Allmendinger captured the first and second spots, respectively, in qualifying. Both drivers visited the infield media center to discuss their qualifying efforts.? AJ ALLMENDINGER ? No. 43 Best Buy Ford Fusion ? ?There was a lot of...more»

Source: http://www.catchfence.com/2011/sprintcup/05/20/ford-racing-2011-nascar-sprint-all-star-sprint-showdown-post-qualifying-recaps/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=ford-racing-2011-nascar-sprint-all-star-sprint-showdown-post-qualifying-recaps

Jim Hall Duncan Hamilton Lewis Hamilton David Hampshire Sam Hanks

Kia Borrows a Four From the Optima for a 191-hp Mid-Level Sorento

For 2012, Kia is adding another four-cylinder engine to the Sorento’s powerplant roster, a 2.4-liter four with direct injection, sourced from other Kia/Hyundai products, like the Optima and Sonata. In this application, the engine will make 191 hp and 181 lb-ft, and will slot between the 175-hp 2.4-liter four-cylinder base engine and the range-topping, 276-hp 3.5-liter V-6. [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/caranddriver/blog/~3/dEScnaKAzQQ/

Willi Heeks Nick Heidfeld Theo Helfrich Mack Hellings Brian Henton

Wine Politics and Silly Season Go Local in Oregon

Weary from HR 1161 and national wine politics?  Don’t look to Oregon for respite.  There, its silly season for local politics and it’s wearing the patience of the well-intentioned causing furrowed brows as an assault against reason takes place.

By nearly universal account, Ed King, founder of King Estate in Lane County in the southern Willamette Valley, has built something from nothing – with vision and moxie he has created the largest winery in Oregon.  His is an internationally renowned, sustainable, certified organic estate winery on a 1033 acre property in an area that didn’t have much going for it when he started in 1991.

Planted to 465 acres of grapes and another 35 acres in fruits, vegetables and flowers, King Estate is an exemplar of respecting the land as an ecosystem, supporting farm-to-table cuisine as a way of life (before it became trendy), job creation with a staff of over 200 and a payroll of over $5M a year (nurturing a local economy in the process) while paying heed to the so-called, “Triple Bottom Line” – the notion that a business can be profitable, people-oriented and environmentally sound (this interactive map gives insight into the management of the estate). 

image

In fact, King Estate achieved what many aspire to, but few attain in the wine business:  The creation of a national brand that doesn’t compromise on its core values of agricultural stewardship.  Editorial note to Ed King:  Start name-checking obscure literature reference points, footnote your missives and hire Randall Grahm’s PR apparatus to super-size your well-deserved mojo.

Yet, despite being a beacon of light for how to run a business, King Estate finds itself in the middle of a political sticky wicket from land use advocates.

A tiny operation, the Goal One Coalition is a public interest group that serves to mobilize citizens on issues related to global warming and a “limited number” of land use issues.  My interpretation of, “limited number” means they get their knickers in a twist at least once a year on a minor issue that justifies their existence in the annual report.

Using McCarthyism as a tactic, Goal One has picked a fight with King Estate and the nexus of the issue is a case study in the pointless nature of most politics, absent reason and distinctly partisan in nature.  Let it be said that sometimes a democracy is a drawback, nothing ever gets accomplished in a committee and while all opinions are equal, some are more equal than others.

You see, King Estate had the temerity to establish a restaurant on their grounds in 2005 and pair their wines with estate-grown comestibles along with foodstuff from local farmers and food artisans.

While the restaurant wasn’t an issue for several years, the formerly lackadaisical Lane County land management division encouraged several of the larger wineries, including King Estate, to start submitting for permits for special events and restaurant activity on a volunteer basis in 2009.  King Estate did just that – submitting an application in October of 2009 and their application was approved in December, 2010, some 15 months later (Lane County officials are, apparently, very busy … ahem).

image

Unfortunately, in the intervening months, the state of Oregon passed Senate Bill 1055 and, well, when it comes to politics the state and the local folks don’t much communicate (see also:  formerly lackadaisical)

Under Senate Bill 1055, newly signed into law, a winery is only allowed to sell things that are incidental to the retail sale of wine, including items that would be in a limited-service restaurant, as defined by another Oregon statute.  That statute dictates that a limited-service restaurant means, “pre-packaged” food.

So, what do you think happened when King Estate finally received its permit from Lane County?  Yup, you got it – the Goal One Coalition appealed it on the basis that the newly installed Oregon law from Senate Bill 1055 meant that King Estate’s restaurant that had just received its permit from Lane County was in violation of the new law.

Do you see where this is going?  King Estate, an all organic estate vineyard with a five year old farm-to-table restaurant voluntarily submitting for permitting, waylaid by a new law, was being poked in the chest by radical land use extremists and might have to serve pre-packaged food at its restaurant based on a small technicality…

This makes perfect sense doesn’t it; it’s completely rational, right?  Paging Bizarro Superman... 

And, of course, the land use Nazi’s realized that King Estate has been operating the restaurant for the last five years, has never had a complaint from a neighbor, serves farm-to-table food that supports the local community and treats its land like the crown jewel that it is in the Southern Willamette Valley.  Right? 

Flash forward a couple of months and House Bill 3280 is introduced to right some of the wrongs from the former Senate Bill 1055 including giving the capability for a newly designated, “Landmark” winery (a winery that produces 150K + gallons of wine per year in at least three out of five years) to operate a restaurant.

As of May 2nd, House Bill 3280 passed the House with a resounding vote of 52-3 and it moves on to the Senate for vote, as well.  Thank goodness somebody is demonstrating some rational thought even if it probably took thousands of dollars in lobbyists’ money to do so …

Signing the King Estate petition is still a valid exercise until the Senate bill is approved.  If you’re so inclined, you can do so here.  Personally, I like the notion of a national readership carpet bombing a local petition, but then I’m a benevolent anarchist at heart.

Hopefully, reason beholds the Oregon legislature giving King Estate a clear path forward in continuing to serve food and wine together at the sustainable table, as they should be, and we can turn our focus onto other nefarious activity including HR 1161.

Politics, man.  Got love it.  Or, not.

Source: http://goodgrape.com/index.php/site/wine_politics_and_silly_season_go_local_in_oregon/

Keith Greene Masten Gregory Cliff Griffith Georges Grignard Bobby Grim