There is also cause for concern when wines produced by smaller, boutique style wineries begin to label their wines in terms of broader regions and refrain from pin-pointing the district and ward, if applicable. It is possible to purchase a Syrah produced in Franschhoek with grapes brought in from Wellington; however, the label will only confirm that the W.O. is Coastal Region. The average consumer, having visited the winery, tasted and purchased the wine, will assume that the grapes have come from the winery - the vineyard visible from the tasting room will reinforce this perception. It is also possible to purchase a wine that displays both Constantia and Stellenbosch as Wine of Origin and website information confirms that the wine has been made using grapes from the slopes of Helderberg and Constantia.

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Surely this practice is counter-productive to the aims of the Wine of Origin Scheme? Sour grapes, you might say, but take a closer look at what is defined as a District and Ward: When a ward is defined, soil, climate and ecological factors play a very important role as they have a clear influence on the character of the wine. The proposed area name also has to be the real geographical place name and nature has to dictate that the specific area can actually produce wines with a distinctive character. Districts have to meet the same criteria as wards but with a broader definition of the relevant area using macro geographical characteristics such as mountains and rivers. Naturally, a greater variety of soil types are allowed than in the wards. Wines produced from grapes that cover differing wards and districts thus take us away from the objective of producing wines that show varietal character in terms of their terroir or site. Perhaps we should be calling this Scheme Grapes of Origin?

It is at this point that we need to question why this is taking place? Is it done to create certain styles of wine that will appeal to the consumer or that have a better chance of winning at competition level? Right now red wines walking away with first prize in competitions seem to show similarity: higher acid, higher alcohol and higher residual sugar. Does this account for the inclusion of warm, riper fruit from warm climate Stellenbosch being integrated with cool climate Constantia?

The riper, warmer fruit will bring added dimensions to the final product. The manipulation of the wine has not taken place in the vineyard via canopy management or in the cellar, but rather by crossing wards and districts within the same Region. Proponents of this practice will argue that it is important to have access to top quality grapes and lets face it, too many of our vineyards still suffer under the leaf-roll virus, rendering under-ripe, green wines. But, times have changed and today our wine producers have access to top clones and rootstocks, which are disease-free.

And what about the inclusion of wines from outside countries, marketed and sold as a product of South Africa? Are these wines to be ignored because they are uncertified, hence are not considered important enough? The fact of the matter is that there seems to be a dilution of a system that is aimed at protecting consumers and promoting regional and varietal character of wines. WOSA (Wines of South Africa) have been promoting the concept of "variety is in our nature" for quite some time, but just how varietal are the wines that are being produced?

All is not lost though. There are dedicated winemakers who are committed to producing terroir or site specific wines and these are the wines that local and international consumers should be encouraged to drink. The future of South African wine lies with these producers because there can be no confusion as to what the wine is and where the grapes have come from.

Source: “Grapes of Origin,” Catherine Dillon, WineCoZa, July 05, 2008

There's no excuse for stem ware abuse!

The fact of the matter is that the way in which you wash and care for wine glasses has a direct effect on the taste of wine. Properly caring for your crystal will insure that your wines always taste their best.

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Know the dos and don’ts of washing stemware. Keeping your glasses clean can be as simple as washing with hot water and rinsing with cold. For crystal glasses, washing in lukewarm water works best. While often this is enough to clean the glass, you may encounter stubborn wine stains (or perhaps a lipstick print or two). Thoroughly cleaning with a mild detergent or a product like Stem Shine eliminates residues that cause unwanted odors and tastes and prevents clouding. It’s never a good idea to wash with anything harsh, such as a steel or wool pad, unless you are a fan of scratched glassware.

Wine glasses can also be cleaned in the dishwasher, although you should use your judgment to determine if the stem is too long or delicate and will break during the wash cycle. Many newer dishwashers offer a built in rack on the top for snapping in stemware. If yours doesn’t have one, you can purchase a StemGrip Dishwasher Wine Glass Rack. Once the glasses are loaded up and ready to be cleaned, it isn’t necessary to use detergent—the high temperature alone will do the trick. A word of caution: hard water will cause glasses to turn cloudy.

Drying stemware is important, too. If you put your glasses in the dishwasher, it is a good idea to dry them by hand when they are done being rinsed. When hand washing, dry them with a lint free cloth to avoid water spots. Special microfiber towels are made expressely for this purpose. Alternately, you can dry them upside down on a cloth or stem mat.

Though certainly not mandatory, if you are still worried about the effect your glass will have on the wine, before pouring, rinse out the glasses with distilled water or with the wine you are about to serve.

Caring for decanters can be an exercise in frustration. Anyone who has tried to clean or dry the inside of a decanter knows how difficult it can be. When hand washing, there may be spots that need to be scrubbed, in which case a decanter cleaning brush can serve as a useful tool. The drying process can be a cinch as well with—what else—a decanter drying brush. Drip drying can leave spots, and the shape of the decanter is often not conducive to drying it upside down.

Another trick for removing debris is magic balls. These simply need to be swirled around inside and voilà—a clean decanter.

And lastly, if you’ve already done some damage to your glassware, all is not lost. If your glasses are looking foggy, try soaking them in white vinegar for a few hours, then wash with lukewarm water and a mild cleaning agent. Repeat as necessary until all of the residue is gone. Then wash with warm water and mild liquid dish soap and repeat the soaking process if necessary to remove any remaining residue.

Source: “How to Care for Your Glassware,” Samara D. Genee, Wine Enthusiast, July 5, 2008

While most people head straight for the reds, a few good whites deserve a place at your next barbeque alongside a platter of grilled seafood, pork, or chicken. Look for full-bodied, complex whites like an elegant Pinot Gris, Marsanne, Roussanne, or Viognier. Grilled scallops accentuate a lush Marsanne or Roussanne, while a lively Gewürtztraminer or Chenin Blanc will contrast with a spicy sauce or fruit salsa. Complement a platter of grilled vegetables with a grassy Sauvignon Blanc or a crisp, peppery Grüner-Veltliner. (Steer clear of the lighter whites; they’ll be overwhelmed by the bold flavors of the grill.)

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HAPPY 4TH!...

For Rayner, "a big-bellied peasant of Jewish stock with a taste for chicken fat, salt beef and green pickles" out of sixties agony aunt Claire, the world starts at Las Vegas and ends in Paris by way of Moscow, Dubai, Tokyo, New York and London which immediately confirms that this is no slow food sojourn but more pushing the buttons of the "restaurants of ambition". He slags off "Céline Bloody Dion" while sitting at her table enjoying a $350 per person (before drinks) freebie at Joël Robouchon's restaurant in the MGM Grand while Chris de Burgh's Lady in Red, background music at Sirena in Moscow, is mercilessly mocked.

On the subject of rating restaurants, the local jury who vote on such tasty matters, a bit like the foodie version of the Academy that awards Oscars, is a lily white, largely Cape-based affair chaired by publisher (with over half a million copies sold) Lannice Snyman. Which goes a long way to explaining why all seven restaurants featured in the 2008 awards (one in the top 50, one in the top 100 and five regional winners) are all located in the Western Cape.

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It's tempting to advise San Pellegrino to save themselves a lot of money (and gain serious carbon credits by leaving the foodies in the Cape instead of flying them to London for the awards extravaganza) by taking a leaf out of the Michelin Guide.

Last year, 56 establishments around the globe trousered the illustrious 3 star rating (down from 59 in 2006); a good place to start looking for a top fifty. But Rayner's week-long whirl through seven three stars in Paris confirms the observation of New York celebrity chef Mario Batali that "in the late 1980s three Michelin-stars became nothing more than a guarantee that the ultra-rich could eat the same food anywhere in the world". Or his cynical observation that "all Michelin does is reward luxury ingredients. It's the only way these high-end restaurants can justify charging $400 a head, because you can't charge that for spaghetti and clams or a salad".

Rayner blames a bad case of male-menopause for his dinner quest. "I had just turned forty and, reaching life's midpoint, I had begun to wonder seriously whether being paid to eat was a proper way for a grown man to make a living." Especially one beset with existential doubts: "sometimes, in my hungriest moments, I felt I wasn't really a connoisseur at all, just a greedy man with an expense account".

He clearly doesn't set much store by terroir as all ingredients are imported by restaurants in Dubai and Las Vegas and cheerfully admits: "authenticity (is) the greatest red herring in gastronomy".

His own vision is much more bling-based. "I love and always have loved the unique glamour and expectation produced by arriving at a restaurant of ambition. As a food writer, I know I am meant to be in touch with my inner snaggle-toothed peasant; as a restaurant critic, I have long suspected I am actually in touch with my inner pearly-toothed plutocrat."

Wine is mentioned only in passing. At Mix in Vegas - "a masterclass in the finer points of bad" - the '61 Latour is listed at $8,416, as opposed to $8,400 or $8,500, as a strict markup of 300% is applied. Rayner does however claim to be something of a "connoisseur of wine lists, though not of the wines they contained".

Hating lists that arrange wines by regions rather than price, he does appreciate "house selections" even if he thinks this means "a few cheap bottles for those schmucks who shouldn't be here". Australia was a favourite before it became fashionable and hence expensive, the same fate that befell New Zealand and now South Africa.

Rayner has a peculiar love/hate relationship with his readers. Mostly hate. He'd "pay good money" to see a party of ageing Canadians from Montreal "eaten by sharks" in Dubai. Sushi is called "the fallback for rich people who like to pretend they have taste when they have no interest in eating at all".

In fact the lesson learnt from the gastronomic gallivant is a bitter one: "every night in the great food cities of the new millennium there were terrific restaurants filled with horrible people who were there because they could afford them or, through status, gain access to them, and who were having a much nicer time than they could possibly ever deserve".

The best bits are irreverent pen portraits of the gods in foodie heaven. Joël Robuchon, inventor of the fashionable mashed potato who retired aged fifty in 1996, is "a small, odd-looking man with a squashed face, as if somebody has inadvertently folded away the middle. He favours black, collarless shirts and has a monkish air, as if part of his personality has also been folded away". Or Pierre Gagnaire "a tall long-limbed man with a bouffant mane and a bright, toothy smile that makes him look like either a forgotten Bee Gee or the life model for the illustrations in the 1970s edition of The Joy of Sex."

The most shocking revelation is his attitude to freebies. Dubai is included because "the hoteliers of Dubai, desperate to promote themselves, hadn't been slow to come forward with generous offers" like his "very own white Mercedes limousine to drive me around town and a butler called Rajesh". After all, with all meat halal and drained of all blood (and hence flavour) why else would a carnivore visit? And don't mention the "P" word.

While in New York he teams up with a well-connected food blogger called Plotnicki who tells chefs that Rayner is writing a book and then calls it "inappropriate" to request a check. Restaurants are booked through PR's so no quelle surprise! when bills fail to appear.

And they can be heavy - if you order the chicken at Le Côte d'Or in Burgundy, expect to pay £175 (R2,600) while "a black truffle the size of a golf ball... wrapped in foie gras, bound in a buttery pastry, baked and served on a rich, meaty truffle jus" that disappeared down his cakehole in ten minutes at the Auberge de l'Ill would have cost 455 Euro (R5,500) if he'd been paying.

The UK newspaper for which he writes has a simple policy on freebies. "Whenever I review restaurants for the Observer, the newspaper reimburses me for all the meals I eat. Meals eaten for features have always been a different matter, however. At the Observer we are allowed to accept 'hospitality' where the experience would inform what we are writing about, and that pretty much covers all eventualities, including gluttony."

He clearly steps over this admittedly faint and wavy ethical line in making arrangements for a trip to Moscow as a free quid pro quo for reviewing Sumosan, a London restaurant owned by an oligarch that had been open for four years. His rationalization? - "I had become Muscovite in my methods." But quite why he would want to travel to Moscow on a gourmet pilgrimage "because Russians have no palate for spice. They like blander, softer concoctions" is not explained. Perhaps because he could, and it was free.

Towards the end of the journey Rayner admits "I must have been a truly repulsive adolescent". A condition he unfortunately didn't grow out of.

Source: "Connoisseur of wine lists," Neil Pendock, June 23, 2008

"CDFA's GWSS response and containment program continues to demonstrate how effective a comprehensive and integrated approach can be in dealing with invasive pests," notes Family Winemakers of California President Paul Kronenberg.

Wines & Vines applauds PD Research Program:
The following is an excerpt from Cliff Ohmart's Vineyard View column published in the May 2008 issue of Wines & Vines.

“PD funds made things happen”

The California Department of Food & Agriculture's (CDFA) Pierce's Disease (PD) research program is a great example of what can happen when a large amount of money is raised to support a specific area of research. Grants can exceed $100,000 per year for up to three years, and as a result some very talented researchers have applied, been awarded grants and done really great work.

Moreover, the program has attracted scientists who had not worked on grapes before but could apply their many skills to the problem at hand. Researchers quickly figured out how to prevent the spread of the glassy-winged sharpshooter to new areas of the state and economically control it over large areas. They have made great strides in figuring out the ecology of Xylella fastidiosa and how it causes PD in grapevines.

This rapid progress never would have happened without the CDFA PD research fund. I realize that a long-term management program for PD has not been established yet, but it is important to know that it is not for the lack of good science. Bacteria-caused diseases like PD that affect the xylem of the plant are probably the most challenging to figure out how to control.

Click here to learn more about current research projects.

Pierce's Disease Control Program Update

As of June 30, 2008, GWSS is present in only 13 of California's 58 counties.

Resource Downloads:

Xylella fastidiosa Website

● Controlling PD in different regions
● Symptom recognition guidelines
● Early Spring
● symptoms
● Summer and Fall symptoms

GWSS brochure
Quick reference guide

When corporate executives threw parties ten years ago, they only stocked whiskey, vodka and beer. But as a growing economy and increasing affluence changes tastes, middle and upper class Indians make sure they have wine to offer when friends come over.

And those who do not know enough about wine are thronging to wine appreciation seminars and events to master the intricacies of which wines to serve with what.

"The growth has been slightly faster in the last three, four, five years, because there has been a lot of wine promotion, and people have been trying to create awareness, wine education and things like that, and so the culture is expanding and its increasing regularly," he said.

The boom in wine drinking has helped the Indian wine industry become one of the fastest growing in the world. The industry took root barely a decade ago, but it now accounts for nearly three quarters of the wine sold in the country.

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Rajeev Samant, who began Sula Vineyards in the Western Maharashtra state, says the quality of domestic wine is improving in his words "slowly and steadily" as knowledge of winemaking increases.

"When we started no one had ever planted wine grapes in our area, no one had ever made wine, none one had ever tasted wine, so of course these are pretty big barriers to overcome, but what we have found is that the climate in Maharashtra is fantastic for wine growing," said Samant. "The knowledge is increasing day by day, and today we make a pretty decent bottle of wine. I would say that probably the best bottle of wine that is made in India today would compare easily with a $30 bottle of wine that is produced abroad whereas five years ago it might have been just a $12 bottle."

But not everyone is happy. High import duties make foreign wines very expensive, keeping them out of reach of all except the most affluent. Taxes were lowered last year after complaints from the European Union to the World Trade Organization, but they continue to be prohibitive at about 150 percent.

However, the government is under pressure to further slash duties on imported wines, and foreign wine producers are hoping to benefit from the boom in the Indian wine market if that happens.

Indeed, there is still huge potential for growth, because India's wine consumption, although increasing, is still tiny compared to Western countries. India sells about one million cases of wine a year - that is expected to double by 2011.

Source: “India's Domestic Wine Industry Booms,” Anjana Pasricha, New Delhi, VOICE OF AMERICA--VOA News, July 3, 2008

Dr. Steve Amosson, AgriLife Extension economist in Amarillo, said carbon sequestration is getting a lot of attention of late. Carbon sequestration is defined as the capture and secure storage of carbon.

It is estimated that U.S. agriculture could sequester 275-900 million tons of carbon dioxide annually through processes such as no-till or conservation tillage or rangeland improvement, as well as reducing methane gas emissions, Amosson said.

The ultimate goal of the pilot program, which will continue through 2010, is to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide released into the air, Amosson said.

“Companies that want to market themselves as being clean or green are the ones who are buying these credits,” said Luis Ribera, assistant professor and Extension economist in Weslaco.

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“Large manufacturing operations can either do it themselves, by reducing carbon emissions, or they can buy the carbon credits from someone else as an offset,” Amosson said. “Agriculture has been identified as one place they can buy credits from.”

The voluntary carbon market in the U.S. peaked at over $7 per metric ton and is now trading at about $5.50 per metric ton, Amosson said. By comparison, the mandatory European exchange is trading about five to six times higher than the U.S. market. If the U.S. goes to a mandatory carbon market, carbon credit prices could increase dramatically, he said.

“One catch in this game is that in the European market, ag credit doesn’t count,” Amosson said. “So the benefit of future and longer-term programs to agriculture will depend on how that is negotiated.”

The criteria for crop-land eligibility in the pilot program are:

– The land must be in an eligible project area capable of being cropped.

– It must be crop land that recently was turned into grass or no-till or minimum till.

– It must be committed for five years of conservation tillage.

– It must have an annual certification of compliance.

The credits will be transferred every Jan. 1, with 20 percent held in reserve until the end of the pilot project, Amosson said. The transfer price will be determined by sale through the Chicago Climate Exchange, less a 10 percent service fee if an aggregator is used.

If a producer sequesters at least 10,000 metric tons of carbon, then there is no need for an aggregator and he will not have to pay the 10 percent fee, Ribera said.

There are also a verification fee, registration fee and trading fee that will be charged at the time of the transaction, Ribera said.

No-till cropping will result in 0.2-0.6 metric tons per acre, while seeding long-term grasses merits one metric ton and capturing one ton of methane through anaerobic digesters results in 18.25 carbon credits, Amosson said.

In Zone D, which consists of the majority of Texas north of Interstate 20 and parts of Oklahoma, crop land can earn 0.2 metric tons per acre on dryland and 0.6 metric tons per acre on irrigated land if the operator follows a no-till or strip-till regimen, he said.

To determine rangeland project eligibility, the Natural Resources Conservation Service guidelines for managing the controlled harvest of vegetation with grazing animals are used, Amosson said. Stocking rates and livestock distribution criteria are defined according to county and state in the conservation service’s prescribed grazing specification code.

Rangeland values are divided between non-degraded, which earns 0.2 metric tons per acre, and degraded, which collects 0.52 metric tons per acre, he said.

Methane capture is determined on the per head inventory basis, with dairy cows earning about 4.5 metric tons for every four cows on a dairy with an anaerobic digester, Amosson said. Feedlot cattle merit just under two metric tons for every eight to 10 cows.

The Chicago Climate Exchange works through “aggregators,” private agents who can group together different contracts to meet the carbon credit needs of the buyers. The minimum contract size is 10,000 tons from a group of farms and in some cases each farm must have at least 250 acres, Ribera said.

With no-till or quasi-till practices, producers can earn $1-$3 per acre, and rangeland practices can earn and extra $1 to $2.5 per acre, Amosson said. The return for methane control is about $10-$25 per head inventory.

“It is definitely worth a producer’s time to look into it, especially if he is already following these practices,” he said.

For more information on the project, Amosson and Ribera suggested producers go to www.chicagoclimatex.com or www.agragate.com .

Source: “Carbon may be a cash “crop” for producers,” Kay Ledbetter, Texas A&M University via Farm Press, July 3, 2008

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Projections suggest that the Indian wine industry will require some 10,000 viticulturists, 5,000 winery operators, 1,000 wine makers, 2,500 wine marketing executives along with 500 wine experts over next five years.

"The growth potential for wine industry is extremely huge in India," says Chougule. "The University of Adelaide is considered to be the best institute in the field of viticulture education.

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The university academicians will develop the syllabus for this institute and our aim is to provide wine-education of international standards. As the student will receive a degree or diploma from University of Adelaide, they can pick jobs across the world," adds Chougule.

The first batch will be enroled from June 2009 onwards. "The course will allow students to study for a couple of years in Australia-based campus of the Adelaide university, if they want to. Since IIVW is coming up near our own vineyard, students will get industrial exposure along with work experience at a fully equipped laboratory," he added.

Students will be enroled for a three-year diploma after Class10, for a four-year degree programme after Class 12 and for a two-year master's course after graduation. Specialisation in wine making, finance and wine marketing would be available according to the students' choice.

A wine maker can start his career with a salary between Rs 30,000 and 50,000 per month. One can draw over Rs 1.5 lakh per month based on experience.

Source: “First wine institute to be set up near Pune,”Kalpana Pathak & Kaustubh Kulkarni, Pune India, July 2, 2008

Someone once observed that Chardonnay is white wine for red wine lovers and in a sense, whoever said it is right. Chardonnay’s powerful, complex character and rich texture are unusual for a white wine grape. That power and richness gives Lake Sonoma’s winemaker the freedom to ferment Chardonnay in small oak barrels, leave it on the yeast lees for months and allow it to undergo malolactic fermentation. All the aroma and flavor elements these techniques impart complement the concentrated fruit and structure of the finished wine. Pinot Gris – though by no means weak or ethereal – displays a fresh, light, subtle character. It is a character that oak, yeast lees and malolactic fermentation would quickly overwhelm. At Lake Sonoma, the key with Pinot Gris is to use free-run juice exclusively,

Forward aromas of fresh honeysuckle, lime and kiwi fruit show in the 2007 Lake Sonoma Pinot Gris’ easy-drinking style. The flavors are similarly fresh and forward; a seamless mélange of citrus, kiwi fruit and honeydew melon. Because only 840 cases of the 2007 Lake Sonoma Winery Russian River Valley Pinot Gris were produced, availability is limited to select markets nationally and the winery tasting room in Healdsburg. It has a suggested retail of $17.

Established in 1977, Lake Sonoma Winery follows a “best of the best” philosophy in producing wines that express classic Sonoma County character. Sonoma County visitors are invited to sample these wines at its award-winning tasting room in downtown Healdsburg.

2007 Lake Sonoma Chardonnay, Russian River, 100% Chardonnay, abv - 13.5%, srp - $17

2007 Lake Sonoma Pinot Gris, Russian River, 99% Pinot Gris, 1% Pinot Blanc, abv - 13.5%, srp - $17

Drink responsibly.
DRY CREEK VALLEY, CA, July 2, 2008

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Gallo has produced roughly 120,000 cases of the The 2007 Medium Sweet, which is a 10.7% abv product, and 30,000 cases of the 12% abv Medium Dry. Both wines will retail for around $12 per 750-ml. and are packaged in screw top bottles, allowing Gallo to present customers a premium wine with a casual attitude.

Source: “Gallo Unveals 2007 Pölka Dot Riesling,” Curtiss Gibson, Wine Spectator, July 01, 2008

“Our long-term goal is to restore large and diverse populations of managed bee pollinators across the U.S. to sustain natural and agricultural plant communities,” said Keith Delaplane, an entomologist with the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

A multi-disciplinary team of researchers and Extension specialists representing 17 states will be working on the project. The 19-member team will include specialists in epidemiology, virology, pathology, ecology, toxicology, bee biology, apiculture and integrated pest management.

The team will study colony collapse disorder. First identified in November 2006, CCD expresses itself in bee colonies where foragers have abandoned the nest. This leaves behind large quantities of untended young bees and honey.

Normally, weakened colonies are robbed clean by neighboring bees. When a colony is decimated by CCD the untended honey may remain untouched.

Scientists believe a combination of factors contribute to the phenomenon including pesticide exposure, environmental and nutritional stresses, new or re-emerging pathogens and a new virus that targets the bees' immune systems.

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“At this point it’s more forensic science than experimental science,” Delaplane said. “We have a set of symptoms but we don’t understand cause and effect.”

Initial research will focus on determining which of the factors are contributing causes of CCD, either individually or in combination.

“We are trying to look at CCD from every angle, address it with research and deliver the knowledge to clientele groups who need answers,” he said. “Expectations are high.”

After research is complete, the research team hopes to have some practical answers for beekeepers and growers of crops that rely on bees for pollination. Plans include developing best management practice guides, breeding strains of bees with genetic resistance to parasites and pathogens, improving the regulatory framework for better protection against pathogens, pests and parasites and creating Web-based distribution of science-based information on bee health and CCD. They are also laying the groundwork for a bee stock registry.

Honeybees pollinate about a third of the nation’s food supply and add $15 billion annually to U.S. crops. They pollinate 130 different fruits, vegetables and nuts including almonds, apples, avocados, blackberries, blueberries, broccoli, carrots, cherries, cucumbers, onions, peaches and soybeans.

Although they are an essential part of crop production, the impact of the honeybee pollination on human beings is not a matter of life or death, Delaplane said.

“More human calories are supplied by wind-pollinated cereals like wheat and rice,” he said. “However, when economies improve we see an increase in the consumption of meat and dairy products and bee-pollinated fruits like melons and berries.”

A comparative example is the difference in U.S. diets and those in countries like Sudan, he said. “That difference is largely explained by bee-pollinated crops,” he said.

While there are other bee pollinators, honeybees are the most prolific and easiest to manage for the large scale pollination the agriculture industry requires. In California, the almond crop alone needs 1.3 million bee colonies, about half of all honey bees in the country.

The number of managed bee colonies has dropped from five million in the 1940s to half that number today. To meet demand, commercial beekeepers truck bees to provide pollination services.

In addition to UGA, the institutions participating in the grant project are Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, Cornell University, Illinois Natural History Survey, North Carolina State University, Kentucky State University, Michigan State University, Penn State University, Purdue University, University of California-Riverside, University of Maine, University of Massachusetts, University of Minnesota, University of Nebraska, University of Tennessee, USDA ARS Weslaco, Texas and Washington State University.

Source: “Georgia scientists focus on honey bee disorder,” April Sorrow, University of Georgia via Farm Press, July 1, 2008

Additional Articles & Sources:
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January 20, 2008
UC Davis Entomologist Says ”Plight of the Bumblebee Alarming”
January 19, 2008
Honey Bee Research is the Solution to Almond Grower Pollination Needs

February 06, 2007
University of California at Davis Apicultural Expert Nationally Recognized

Colony Collapse Disorder, see Wikipedia (excellent reference source)

The low-wage service workers needed by Aspen’s new spas, restaurants and hotels have little chance of buying or renting a home there and often must commute from distant and more affordable bedroom communities. As a result, Frank observed “all roads into Aspen are clogged morning and night with commuters.” Sound familiar?

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An over-arching angst that I hear and read is that is that Napa County is undergoing a “Disney-fication,” becoming a simulacrum of a once-rural area that is quaint for tourists but not livable for locals or the people who work here.

On the other hand, different voices are saying that Napa could do worse than comparisons to upscale destinations such as Aspen. The rationale goes that most of the things that once made working-class life predominant in Napa are gone and not likely to return, and that the principle thing that we have to trade on--besides (or perhaps tangential to) wine grapes--is a bucolic setting and an iconic name.

I’m curious then what the blogosphere thinks. Can a middle-class economy be preserved in a region that is primarily dependent on upscale tourism?

Will our local jobs market continue to striate between low wage service workers and wealthy owners, with only a small professional and middle-wage class pinched in between? What, if any manufacturing and trades jobs could be promoted in Napa County to secure a viable working-class here?

Source: “Napa and “The Aspen Effect,”“ Matt Pope, Napa Valley Register, July 1, 2008