Wednesday wineblogging: Carlo & Julian and other things Oregon

Tonight I head back to my grassroots.


Carlo & Julian:

Using frost for crop control, sheep for frost protection, trained cats for gopher eradication and planting Nebbiolo are all behind our reputation for "smart" viticulture. The estate vineyard, high on a spectacular bench east of the North Yamhill River and planted at over 7000 vines per hectare produces rich, flavorful wines.

As usual, it's yummy. Described by some as carrying with it a hint of Douglas Fir needles from it's home in Carlton, home to many other great wineries. It certainly has a clean gout-de-terre with a long finish. Well worth the $31 on sale at Bauer on Newbury St.

Speaking of Oregon, we've got all sorts of news from the esteemed public servants in that neck of the woods. And they don't even involve groping! As we've all heard, Gordo checks the calendar and courageously declares that this is the year to remember that the Western half of the state still exists by waiting no longer than absolutely necessary after the midterm elections to express his epiphany on the Iraq war. Always count on him to have his finger on the pulse of Oregon majority opinion. As long as it's less than 24 months before he's up for re-election. Honestly, his statement did surprise me a bit since I'd have expected him to wait at least until all those Democrats were sworn in in January. I mean, you never know, there could be unexpected medical emergencies that could change things. But maybe Gordo felt the heat from the Baker report or maybe there's more to it than that:

State Sen. Ben Westlund, the Central Oregon legislator who left the Republican Party in February and flirted with an independent campaign for governor, will officially join the Democratic Party today.

Why lookey here. A blue dot on the red canvas that is, in Ron Wyden's characteristically dorky yet spot-on parlance, "the dry part of the state."

Westlund, an agribusinessman who made a small fortune selling bull semen, was first elected to the Oregon House in 1996.

If anything warms the hearts of voters east of the Cascades more than Gordo's frozen vegies, it's frozen bull. Semen. Turns out, though, that Westlund might actually have a shot at running against Gordo in '08 and he's got the Tom McCall / Mark O Hatfield "feel" to him that's so important in the state whose former motto is this blog's title. When it comes down to it, we have a soft spot for "the dry part of the state" that consistently makes us excuse their red-state hypocrises. Maybe it's the sunsets at the Alvord hotsprings.



So we wish Ben luck.

Another development this week was Ron Wyden's health care overhaul announcement. It sounds like a plan that might actually get some considerable support. In the end, we expect our workforce to be flexible in this country; this plan helps them be flexible by taking their healthcare with them. We also don't want our corporations dragged down by the high cost of healthcare, and this plan would offer a tempting solution to industry.

"Employer-based coverage is melting away like a Popsicle on the sidewalk in August," said Sen. Ron Wyden, a member of the Senate Finance subcommittee on health care.

Ice cream. Dude, that's like so, so...Voltaire!

Chance of this succeeding? Slim. But as usual, I wish Ron luck. He's a talented visionary thinker when it comes to public policy. And oh, by the way, Stand Tall for America is where you can pitch in to help in the herculean effort that'll be required to solve our healthcare challenges going forward.