tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36270389834154698932024-03-05T10:28:34.921-08:00Ajimi 味見Bite-sized bits of global culture.Virginia Sorrellshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10072724617290853444noreply@blogger.comBlogger134125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3627038983415469893.post-49147568829940639602024-02-12T11:47:00.000-08:002024-02-24T01:30:31.256-08:00United States of Vermouth - Eulalia Apéritif, NV Batch #1<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXu7urbrpKZiU30uNCOC9HNe8avOxCnXAZjyFKUHocs8oA7FYleJdJbTqF00rypNsDeh-VG9bymBGs225BmE-ny-C3gwjMk95UplC8h9IoocQSngrZuCZd0gzRuCPuUu_8KXwQGIWfPj3HIgudSw7vrX_7e4XPWce6Zyye81gmZH7d7rDb6MXtXsfW-vHw/s2000/2022-eulalia_1684518693.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="2000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXu7urbrpKZiU30uNCOC9HNe8avOxCnXAZjyFKUHocs8oA7FYleJdJbTqF00rypNsDeh-VG9bymBGs225BmE-ny-C3gwjMk95UplC8h9IoocQSngrZuCZd0gzRuCPuUu_8KXwQGIWfPj3HIgudSw7vrX_7e4XPWce6Zyye81gmZH7d7rDb6MXtXsfW-vHw/s320/2022-eulalia_1684518693.webp" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Eulalia Apéritif, NV Batch #1</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Origin: Walla Walla Washington USA</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Producer: Hoquetus Wine Co.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">ABV: 18%</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Wine Base: Cabernet Franc (Rocks District)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Known Botanicals: Gentian, Orange Peel, Cinnamon, Ginger</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Sugar: N/A</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Look – Nearly opaque deep purple garnet with sienna brown at edges.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Nose – Raisin and dark cherry candy with hints of menthol and a firm clear alcohol.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Mouth – Big raisin rush at front of taste that lingers long, followed by gentian bitterness (which also lingers through to the end of the taste). The end of the taste is introduced by an alcohol rush, followed by hint of bitter herbs, ending with the lingering gentian and smooth, long Cab Franc tannins. A gentle acidity sweeps over the entire taste.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I was gifted this bottle in early 2023. When I opened it then, I was floored (in not a very pleasant way) by a mismatch of competing flavors. I put the bottle back on the shelf. Opening it up a year later, between having time for the flavors to mellow and mix – and a bit of oxidation to happen – I was pleasantly surprised at how much better this sort of Americano/Chinato-inspired concoction tasted.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This one-off (50 cases) aromatized wine is the brainchild of Walla Walla winemakers, Robert and Bri Gomez. They’ve been making wine since 2020 under the name of Hoquetus. A bit of a cult favorite these days, Hoquetus seems to have an affinity toward Cab Franc – though they make blends with said grape with Merlot and Syrah. They wisely eschew the Cabernet Sauvignon trap that comprises most of the generic wine that comes from Walla Walla. They also work with best practices and organic grapes, though they are not exactly in the contemporary natural wines camp. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">About the name of the winery, Rob Gomez says, “The winery name (also called hocket) refers to a song device first developed during medieval times but ultimately was embraced by 20th century composers. In this technique, each vocal part alternates to create a single melody. I also attended music school, so the relationship speaks to my musical background but also the dynamic of the fermentation and the winemaker both working in unison to create something harmonious.”</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Eulalia Apéritif is relatively harmonious, if a bit on the gentle side. It takes a while to open up, and I’m not quite sure if it was really worth the wait. But it hit the spot on a quiet February night.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Taste</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Wood / Vanilla 2</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Bitter - 3</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Alcohol 5</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Sweet 4</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Acid 2</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Caramel 2</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Aromas</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Spicy 0</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Astringent (barks, roots) 3</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Vegetal / Herbal 2</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Floral 0</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Fruity 4</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><p><br /><br /></p>Nicholas Vromanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15972169098499267195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3627038983415469893.post-6089350044157254022024-01-26T11:47:00.000-08:002024-02-13T08:00:06.607-08:00Canadian Jumbo - The True Seattle Hot Dog<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyQ8elP2gDfRZzXwgUj6_olzaJgefyL3HSnAafrXuPMa4EebfduBEXvvBxS5tRv3x6cB-UQMdGU6RrNyhqrWxUWMfLlxAR_YRh9pguWMa55LkBVaLR4VgOAAHNSY-uDElbCVp00pucToPYskBMu-eI7DBFDFNM22ci467xboWyj18PJ7LzfxBcLWqFlhY1/s225/jumbo.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="225" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyQ8elP2gDfRZzXwgUj6_olzaJgefyL3HSnAafrXuPMa4EebfduBEXvvBxS5tRv3x6cB-UQMdGU6RrNyhqrWxUWMfLlxAR_YRh9pguWMa55LkBVaLR4VgOAAHNSY-uDElbCVp00pucToPYskBMu-eI7DBFDFNM22ci467xboWyj18PJ7LzfxBcLWqFlhY1/w320-h320/jumbo.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">The Ajimi team was at our local Costco today. As usual, the subject of hot dogs came up as we exited the store, passing by the window where one can ogle at the amazing pizza saucing machine – a metal arm of several tubes that squirt perfect concentric circles of scarlet pizza sauce on a turning turntable of raw pizza dough. Beyond that display one comes to the counter where one can not only get a big floppy slice of said pie, but the fast, cheap hot dogs that are part and parcel of the Costco experience. We passed them by this time. Which may have been a first. Not that we don’t like them. They are a fine, if not very memorable, fairly long tube of all-beef wiener served on a short bun. The only condiments available are ketchup (never!), yellow mustard, and a kind of sweet relish slop. But as we sauntered past the receipt checker into the wilds of the parking lot, I thought of hot dogs in the Pacific Northwest. And what it says about us who call this home.</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">The Seattle hot dog – a grilled polish sausage slathered with cream cheese and topped with grilled onions or what-have-you – passed the Ajimi team by. Some folks say that the whole concept started with a guy named Hadley Long, who hung around the Central Tavern in the 1980s and 90s with his bagel cart by the Central Saloon. This member of the Ajimi team was in Seattle during those heady days. I didn’t spend much time in Pioneer Square then as Belltown was where it was at. And if memory serves, it was nearly impossible, particularly in the 80s to have a street cart selling hot food. The city was not very food-friendly in those days. Nonetheless, after the Ajimi team’s years long sojourn in Japan, we returned to find the travesty of the Seattle dog was being pushed, fictions of its history being published and it was supposedly available somewhere. Who knows where? I still wasn’t seeing it being sold at any place one could buy a hot dog. My particular feeling is that it was some city-boosting marketing scheme concocted by some cabal of yuppie business types. Like the ones who decided to “rebrand” Seattle as the Emerald City. It’s still a stupid name that nobody uses. What’s wrong with the Queen City? A fine name. Or something that came up in the late 20<sup>th</sup> century – Jet City! However with Boeing, the company that put Seattle on the map in the mid 1900s, moving to Chicago, a city that really knows how to make hot dogs, the name has less cache. But I digress.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Hot dogs are what is really on my mind.</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Which brings me to the Canadian Jumbo hot dog. Once a fixture in fast food markets and delis, lowbrow cafes, the ferries, these big fatties could be found turning endlessly on roller grills with simple illustration signifying hot dog in orange and yellow with Franklin Gothic lettering over the facing half of facing bun in black simply saying “CANADIAN JUMBO.”</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Of course, a product named Canadian Jumbo certainly does not necessarily bring up anything to do with Seattle. But this dog was the brain child of Seattle-based food food distributing company, Totem. Why they decided to brand their Seattle product with a name that connotes our fine neighbor to the north is anyone’s guess. (I have an email out to the folks at Totem asking about this mystery). But this dog is really is a Seattle original.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">The Canadian Jumbo is a 6 inch all meat (What meat you ask? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯) tubesteak. It’s about an inch thick. This hefty guy is served in a classic hot dog milk bread bun and one dresses it with whatever one wants. The usual choices are those little plastic packages of yellow mustard or ketchup (only to be used if you are truly Canadian). Or if you really want the complete Totem experience, try Mickey’s Prepared Horseradish, the proprietary condiment of the company.</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">All this makes me think that the hot dog that should wear the mantle of Seattle is the Canadian Jumbo. Sure, it makes no sense, but this is the dog that was here first – and will probably be here long after the people of the future, reading about the history of Seattle, will stop and wonder why anybody would have put cream cheese on a hot dog – and if that really happened.</p></div>Nicholas Vromanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15972169098499267195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3627038983415469893.post-12544581167015807052023-08-04T12:10:00.021-07:002023-09-07T12:32:12.748-07:00La vie ranci
The world of modern winemaking, where technology, science, engineering, and control are the hallmarks of how wine gets from vineyard to bottle has been challenged by the contemporary philosophies and methodologies of the natural wine movement. From biodynamic farming to low intervention techniques and the eschewing of sulfites and other additives to wine, an embrace of pre-industrial ways of making wine has captured the imaginations of winemakers and wine-lovers alike. It’s more than a back-to-the-roots movement. It’s a reimagining what wine is and should be. <div><br /></div><div> Ranci sec, a wine from the Roussillon, France, embodies the essential ideas of natural wine – and has a long history and tradition that couldn’t to be erased by the forces of capitalism, contemporary rules of commerce or laws and regulations that conspired against its very existence. Through the love and struggle of a handful of individuals, Ranci sec is now recognized and treasured as a Catalan cultural heritage – and the great wine it has always been. </div><div><br /></div><div> Ranci (rancio in Spanish) directly translated into English means “rancid.” Not exactly a positive description. However, the term ranci carries with the idea of being traditional - and more so of a tradition that takes the idea of letting foods and wines mellow and mature for an overly-long time and allowing that time to create something that defies the vicissitudes of age turning it into a something truly exceptional and delicious. </div><div><br /></div><div> Born of earth, air, water, sun and time, Ranci sec harks back to how wines were made for millennia around the Mediterranean, yet speaks to the land of Roussillon, </div><div><br /></div><div> An old maxim describes ranci sec as le goût de soleil, the taste of the sun. But it's a particular type of sun, colored by rolling hills of late summer herbs and grasses, blanched and intoxicating the air with thick, deep perfume. It's a late summer sun, saturated with saline moisture, drifting long and lazy along wild Mediterranean beaches. It's the rays of sun captured over months and years, magnified through hand-blown glass into a living, breathing nectar, changing its youthful insouciance into something much more thoughtful and mature. The color of ranci may range from a deep chestnut, to a blushing peach, to a straw like golden glow. But often there will be glinting overtones of vermillion, catching the fleeting tones of the southern sun at sunset.</div><div><br /></div><div> And the sun is a major factor in how this wine is made. Grenache Blanc and Maccabeau are the primary grapes used to make Dry Ranci Unlike the more famous and sweeter Rivesaltes wines, Maury and Banyuls, wines that come from the same region, Vi Ranci, with native yeasts, goes through full fermentation, creating a completely dry wine. Sometimes the fermentation will take years. But the main process that makes rancio so unique is its elevage. Rancis, now by law, must be aged for at least five years, either in glass demijohns or in barrels, or a combination o both. One of the most common methods is to fill demijohns with plenty of headspace for air, leaving them outdoors for at least a year. Changing temperatures, intense sun, the vagaries of weather, leave a lasting impression on the fermented and fermenting juice. All the while the wine goes through an oxidative magic, developing intense flavors, reminiscent of nuts and dried fruits. Then the wine is transferred into barrels, where wood, still more oxygen and age transform the wine even more. For at least 5 years! Through this aging, the liquid evaporates, intensifying flavors, aromas, acidity and alcohol. </div><div><br /></div><div> When the appellation system was put in place in France in 1936, Ranci Sec missed out. The famous fortified sweet wines; Rivesaltes, Maury and Banyuls were defined by strict parameters of production and place. In 1977, Côtes du Roussillon and Côtes du Roussillon Villages became their own AOCs, but the rules for these wines were strictly for creating basic, if some very good, table wines. There was still no room for Ranci Sec. If a winemaker wanted to bottle and market Ranci Sec it could only be described as a Vin de Pays, which told the uniformed, as most consumers were, of what might be in that bottle.</div><div><br /></div><div> But a few winemakers kept this tradition alive following family traditions – making special batches for themselves and friends. Others discovered that barrel, forgotten in the cellar, tasted it and thought how can I recreate this! This tradition, the knowledge was being passed on, but there was little or no way to bring Ranci Sec to market. </div><div><br /></div><div> And then Jean Jean Lhéritier came along. </div><div><br /></div><div> Jean is an affable fellow who laughs easily. He scrunches his bushy eyebrows when making a point and keeps a quiet intensity and focus on his passions, the food and wine traditions of Roussillon. </div><div><br /></div><div> So he organized and became the first president of Slow Food France mainly to keep these traditions alive and thriving. </div><div><br /></div><div> His primary mission was to make sure Ranci Sec was recognized. </div><div><br /></div><div> As he put it, “Ranci Sec didn’t have the right to exist. It wasn’t authorized. And it was more complicated because, first of all, the word ‘ranci’ couldn't be used - because it was given to the union of natural sweet wine [Maury, Banyuls, Rivesaltes] producers. And also, pretty often, Ranci Sec is over 15% ABV and in France when the wine is over 15% it enters into a higher tax bracket - and it leaves the category of ‘wine.’ It’s no longer considered a wine.” </div><div><br /></div><div> Some ranci secs could be bottled, but they could only be labeled as Vin de France. </div><div><br /></div><div> “They couldn’t use the domain name, the village name, nothing!” says Lhéritier, still astonished.</div><div><br /></div><div> He and a group of producers organized put together a two-pronged approach to get Ranci Sec recognized. One was to get it on Slow Food’s radar. </div><div><br /></div><div> This involved creating Slow Food France in 2003. With an official recognition in the growing international community of foodway protectors and enthusiasts, he, as president, jumped headfirst into his passion project. By 2004, Slow Food established the Rousillon Dry Ranci Wine Presidium with about 15 producers. Now, with the imprimatur of Slow Food International, he and the winemakers were ready to tackle the French wine establishment. </div><div><br /></div><div> Negotiations began Institut national de l’origine et de la qualite (INAO), the national organization charged with regulating French agricultural projects. Finally, in 2012, the INAO gave Ranci Sec at place at the table with the creation of two new Indication Geographique Protegee (IGP) realms - IGP vin de pays des Côtes Catalanes, Ranci Sec and IGP vin de pays Côte Vermeille, Ranci Sec. The IGP falls loosely between labeling wines “Vin de France,” the catch-all category that covers your basic vine de table, and AOP (Appelation d’Origine Protegee) - wines that are strictly controlled and defined as to how they must be made, what grapes they must contain. Not that the new Rancio Secs IGPs do not have some controls, but now the producers were able to make – and clearly define and market – wines that are considerably different than other types of wines that were already protected by AOC demarcations in the very same area of the Roussillon. </div><div><br /></div><div> A victory for Lhéritier and the producers of Ranci Sec.
</div>Nicholas Vromanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15972169098499267195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3627038983415469893.post-38692327857297054582023-01-28T19:17:00.004-08:002023-07-07T12:49:19.302-07:00United Staes of Vermouth - Brovo Sweet Jammy Vermouth<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_RwIUl1XQ6JDkwVbj0-sErxE2l2zmNPi-ez773JXTa4Ci77k4Y9O9AtxImkrYxQXVu50HoxbI6blYoreG9T4urOUqEjpRN1rTD3bK0LuSyrIDBSNRHddaTEZEpi0G4Ajwi8YqoNxywoXf2r1iCO5zn0IUCKAJFCQ8EdlHeRimJKGcWLGdRgWUiaj60A/s3090/rev20-BROVO-JAMMY-VERMOUTH-BOTTLESHOT.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3090" data-original-width="2318" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_RwIUl1XQ6JDkwVbj0-sErxE2l2zmNPi-ez773JXTa4Ci77k4Y9O9AtxImkrYxQXVu50HoxbI6blYoreG9T4urOUqEjpRN1rTD3bK0LuSyrIDBSNRHddaTEZEpi0G4Ajwi8YqoNxywoXf2r1iCO5zn0IUCKAJFCQ8EdlHeRimJKGcWLGdRgWUiaj60A/s320/rev20-BROVO-JAMMY-VERMOUTH-BOTTLESHOT.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /> BroVo Jammy Sweet Vermouth<p></p><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Origin: Woodinville Washington USA<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Producer: Brovo Spirits<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">ABV: 19.9.%<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Wine Base: Merlot (Wahluke Slope)<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Known Botanicals: cherry, orange peel, coffee beens, cacao nibs, hibiscus, ginger, apricot, other herbs and spices<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Sugar: N/A<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Look – Slightly cloudy deep brownish red with hints of purple.<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Nose – Ginger snap cookie with sweet cotton candy and very slight orange/citrus elements.<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Mouth – Sweet prune juice with cherry/blackberry notes and slight orange citrus edge up front. Alcohol heat building at mid-taste, with a light ginger hotness, resolving with very mild vegetal and cottony bitterness at end.<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Brovo Spirits is the brainchild of Mhairi Voelsgen. She started the operation in 2011 in Woodinville, WA, creating a line of amari with the specific idea of marketing these products to the local (Puget Sound) bartending community. The folks behind the bars reported back to her that what they really wanted was a locally produced vermouth. By 2013 she responded with releasing a suite of vermouths - Witty Dry, Pretty Blanc, Pink Rose and the vermouth in question. Jammy Sweet. She also makes gin, vodka and bunch of liqueurs. But on to Jammy Sweet…<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Brovo’s Jammy Sweet boasts that it is made with 100% Merlot harvested from Washington’s Wahluke Slope. All well and good to source locally, but to make that infamous grape the base for one’s vermouth does go against common sense. It seems more of calculated marketing stunt to appeal to potential consumers who are still stuck in pre-Sideways drinking habits. I’m not as adamant at Paul Giamatti who said, “I am not drinking any fucking Merlot” - words that challenged and actually changed for the better a tired and deadly style of vinifying the tired and deadly “Noble Grape” from Bordeaux. I’ll admit, I’m not a fan of Merlot. It tends toward the flabby, lacking much in the way of acidity. And big and jammy are pretty much the exact opposite of what I am looking for in a wine. Couple that with a generous helping of agave nectar, as good as it may be for you, and you have one cloyingly sweet vermouth. With its whisper of botanicals and spices – and near absence of bitterness, Brovo Sweet Jammy kinda misses the mark completely on what one would call a satisfying vermouth. Cut with a heavy dose of Bourbon, it may make an acceptable Mannhattan-esque cocktail, but I would not go out of my way to order one. I really don't want to drink fucking Merlot in my Manhattan - or in my vermouth, fot that matter.<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">I’m all for local, but other contemporary locavore vermouth-makers are doing it better with more taste and integrity.<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Taste<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Wood / Vanilla 1<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Bitter - 1<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Alcohol 5<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Sweet 5<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Acid 0<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Caramel 0<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Aromas<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Spicy 0<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Astringent (barks, roots) 1<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Vegetal / Herbal 1<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Floral 1<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Fruity 2<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div>Nicholas Vromanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15972169098499267195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3627038983415469893.post-45105157562372482292022-09-25T13:53:00.003-07:002023-07-07T12:49:52.576-07:00United States of Vermouth - Mastrogiannis Vermouth<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7hHmQtAd7JrCnu2J-VghPJVUamSQBWGWg83vlBdWb25jwHusZg_plF47HmwBz9n7Qt-MjF1iMYY7nDGVC9cPAvVbBek1baQ6auCt08Bwku8W5DnM04pl0Xy3WEgCG7i86AwORwBJ5n1GvdOk-SOZuZTg5mLgyAAlrMAZ97QeBUIpLTBXv5KSnSA0SmA/s1420/MastrogiannisRoseVermouth_1800x1800.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1420" data-original-width="1065" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7hHmQtAd7JrCnu2J-VghPJVUamSQBWGWg83vlBdWb25jwHusZg_plF47HmwBz9n7Qt-MjF1iMYY7nDGVC9cPAvVbBek1baQ6auCt08Bwku8W5DnM04pl0Xy3WEgCG7i86AwORwBJ5n1GvdOk-SOZuZTg5mLgyAAlrMAZ97QeBUIpLTBXv5KSnSA0SmA/w240-h320/MastrogiannisRoseVermouth_1800x1800.png" width="240" /></a></div>Origin: Lakewood, WA USA<p></p><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Producer: Mastrogiannis Distillery<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">ABV: 21.6%<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Wine Base: Syrah Rose<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Known Botanicals: Mission and golden figs, wormwood, cocoa nbs, vanilla bean, cinnamon, wild cherry bark<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Sugar: Sweetened with honey<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Look – Clear, pale rose madder with slight golden hints.<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Nose – Cinnamon, dried fig, light strawberry overtones<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Mouth – Rich texture with big mouthfeel. Figgy and honeyed sweetness that build brightly early on, followed by a quick, slightly hot, alcohol crescendo, dropping to light chocolately bitterness and a long mellow end.<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">I love this vermouth, though it is really unlike any traditional vermouth (of which there are many that I also love). This to me is of the essence of whatever New Wave of vermouth-making is up to – redefining taste profiles, developing new approaches, and keeping the world of aromatized wines (oh, how I hate that term!) vibrant, innovative, and exciting. If I have any critique - the particular fragrant and fruity bitterness that wormwood imparts lies a bit far beneath the rest of the smartly orchestrated flavor profile. But it’s a quibble. The flavor profile of a maker’s mix is ultimately subjective. The maker brings you into his/her world. And I’m feeling very welcomed. This is contemporary vermouth-making at its best.<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Ilias Mastrogiannis runs a distillery and winery out of a small warehouse space in Lakewood, Washington. His specialty is crafting traditional Greek spirits, brandy, ouzo, tsipori (grappa), rakomelo. He also makes a rose and is currently about to release his first red wine, a 100% Mourvedre. Apart from his craftsmanship and ability to deliver quality wine, spirits and vermouth, he mentions the influence of his father, Constantine Mastrogiannis, who was a mason turned winemaker. This man would inspire Ilias with the idea of meraki – a word hard to define in English, but carrying the idea of the soul, creativity and love one puts into tasks and endeavors. Fulfilling his father’s legacy and creating his own, Ilias Mastrogiannias is one of the best vermouth-makers in the USA right now.<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Note – Ilias also hosts a very interesting and informative podcast, Distillery Nation, where he talks issues and shop with many a distiller involved with independent micro distilleries.<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Taste<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Wood / Vanilla 2<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Bitter - 2<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Alcohol 4<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Sweet 5<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Creamy 3<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Caramel 2<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Aromas<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Spicy 1<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Astringent (barks, roots) 1<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Vegetal / Herbal 0<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Balsamic 3<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Floral 2<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Fruity 4<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div>Nicholas Vromanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15972169098499267195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3627038983415469893.post-5670582024105548812022-05-24T13:59:00.005-07:002023-07-07T12:50:06.129-07:00United States of Vermouth - Buona Notte Tramanto Due Vermouth<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS72WtCJo79yVOvraNNY8AgWJ5PtX1lsT-B05sCaZDzYWuSb5Z4vmk3w09Xe74F6hyyRgCU8oR56ElcAXnVTwCh0xtSYXtr3QgxF962t9XKvhjC5O6B2_qy-X3i7-V2GcpqIWG0sLabCdkP5ZM2VMzTcxwR0qUiXRhFtvr1aD3w5KNr3OM4xTVZLDuuQ/s2048/WF7aXG.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2045" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS72WtCJo79yVOvraNNY8AgWJ5PtX1lsT-B05sCaZDzYWuSb5Z4vmk3w09Xe74F6hyyRgCU8oR56ElcAXnVTwCh0xtSYXtr3QgxF962t9XKvhjC5O6B2_qy-X3i7-V2GcpqIWG0sLabCdkP5ZM2VMzTcxwR0qUiXRhFtvr1aD3w5KNr3OM4xTVZLDuuQ/s320/WF7aXG.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Origin: Columbia Gorge, Oregon USA<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Producer: Buona Notte<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;">ABV: 17.%<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Wine Base: Pinot Grigio<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Known Botanicals: A blend of 10 herbs and botanicals including turmeric, ginger, chamomile, orange peel, and bitter roots<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Sugar: N/A<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Look – Dark carnelian with vermillion overtones. A slight opacity.<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Nose – Light orange and honeysuckle with a bit of balsam<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Mouth – Light body. Opens with light citrus with a slight sugary edge, which turns quickly to a mildly acrid and medicinal bitterness, resolving on long, lingering, smooth tannin tinged with medicinal overtones.<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Buona Notte winemaker, Graham Markel, worked and learned his craft under the tutelage of Antic Terra’s Maggie Harrison and Hiyu Farm’s Nate Ready. These Oregon winemakers have been at the forefront of new wave natural winemaking in the Pacific Northwest. Markel, with Buona Notte, follows in these trailblazers path, making his own mark on the contemporary wine-scape with his somewhat Italianate and more modern inspirations with his own winemaking.<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;">His Buona Notte Tramanto Due Vermouth is made with skin contact vinification of Pinot Grigio (though he gives no information on how long the wine lays on the skins). He describes it as “demi-sweet" using locally sourced honey. It is barrel-aged using a solera system.</div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;">The vermouth itself is rather unpleasant. The lightly sweet citric opening goes quickly awry with a somewhat nasty mash of miscellaneous bittering agents and herbs. The slamming tannin at the end of the taste only manages to keep the medicinal tastes lingering long – well after choking the stuff down. Markel seems to be very serious about his endeavors vinifying and crafting wines, but certainly needs to re-jigger his whole approach to vermouth-making.<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Taste<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Wood / Vanilla 1<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Bitter - 3<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Alcohol 1<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Sweet 2<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Creamy 0<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Caramel 0<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Aromas<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Spicy 0<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Astringent (barks, roots) 1<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Vegetal / Herbal 0<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Balsamic 1<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Floral1<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Fruity 1</div>Nicholas Vromanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15972169098499267195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3627038983415469893.post-86214687355736112632022-05-16T22:22:00.002-07:002023-07-07T12:50:24.435-07:00United States of Vermouth - Son of Man Someday Harvest Vermouth<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBNbfzKyLy9v4wpQgWjFhGM0n0NDE_CEn2UfuwUCM0Guib0msF25Pwido40p0QRqMFdi3Cx5pgu4F9gwhfGx4j8SY_13rpWhv0WWEiRAJUvbHl2Owfop1C9cZrqy7BAJGooGG6bBZBktXSSLV99OBhzepg9PCJz4yB3lqkczvYJYhZfib5sXYWSQxf0w/s600/304549c6-095c-4592-a349-88557e1b7bd1.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBNbfzKyLy9v4wpQgWjFhGM0n0NDE_CEn2UfuwUCM0Guib0msF25Pwido40p0QRqMFdi3Cx5pgu4F9gwhfGx4j8SY_13rpWhv0WWEiRAJUvbHl2Owfop1C9cZrqy7BAJGooGG6bBZBktXSSLV99OBhzepg9PCJz4yB3lqkczvYJYhZfib5sXYWSQxf0w/s320/304549c6-095c-4592-a349-88557e1b7bd1.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><br /><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Origin: Columbia Gorge, Oregon USA<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Producer: Son of Man<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">ABV: 16.%<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Wine Base: Cider-based w/ distilled cider<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Known Botanicals: 20 different ingredients including fresh orange peel, clove, artichoke leaf, birch bark, cinnamon, sarsaparilla, and chamomile<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Sugar: N/A<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Look – Slightly cloudy yellow-amber with dull orange overtones.<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Nose – Honeysuckle with fennel overtones, a touch of vanilla and orange<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Mouth – Sugar and citrus at front of the taste, resolving to light tea-like bitterness – with a touch of tannin – followed by a slight acridness and a fairly long, lingering taste of citrus peel at the end of the taste.<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Son of Man Someday Harvest Vermouth is the brainchild of Oregon cider-maker Jasper Smith. He makes a small line of Basque-style ciders (sagardoa) using techniques he learned in cider houses (sagardotegia) in Euskal Herria (the Basque Country). He uses new world apples with old world techniques to craft a simulacra of classic Basque cider. He does a decent job of it, but I’d rather have the real stuff from Astigarraga. But good on ya, Jasper. You’re on the right track.<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">As to the vermouth in question, it still needs a lot of work. It’s neither a sippable cider, nor does it hit the notes that really even qualify it for a vermouth. – considering he uses some classic and some not-so-classic botanicals that vermouth demands. Let’s see what further iterations of his “vermouth” will bring.<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Taste<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Wood / Vanilla 1<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Bitter - 2<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Alcohol 1<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Sweet 5<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Creamy 0<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Caramel 0<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Aromas<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Spicy 0<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Astringent (barks, roots) 1<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Vegetal / Herbal 1<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Balsamic 1<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Floral 2<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Fruity 2<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div>Nicholas Vromanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15972169098499267195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3627038983415469893.post-38931475034928535612021-11-21T19:06:00.005-08:002023-07-07T12:50:39.093-07:00United States of Vermouth - Rockwell Vermouth Co. American Flavor Classic Sweet<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm_qRQ5i9B5KxVhk7djBbEDiMrlWfkyrexf5n5DO_GvIEsY-BpYNRpOAwAJ8BYleuzU1k2RR6v0e-P3jXkhOe4gHWH3CtOtvYf3yB2W9MSPZpAGrzcjQof6UpO107sVngH4v9d088sk3l6/s1500/RockwellsweetTransBack.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm_qRQ5i9B5KxVhk7djBbEDiMrlWfkyrexf5n5DO_GvIEsY-BpYNRpOAwAJ8BYleuzU1k2RR6v0e-P3jXkhOe4gHWH3CtOtvYf3yB2W9MSPZpAGrzcjQof6UpO107sVngH4v9d088sk3l6/w277-h320/RockwellsweetTransBack.png" width="277" /></a></div><p>L<span style="font-family: sans-serif;">ot#1</span></p><p><span style="font-family: sans-serif;">B</span><span style="font-family: sans-serif;">TL - 5757</span></p><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Origin: Geyserville, California, USA<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Producer: Rockwell Vermouth Co.<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">ABV: 16.5%<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Wine Base: N/A<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Known Botanicals: Artemisia californica<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Sugar: N/A</div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Look – Very transparent light hued rose madder with chestnut overtones.<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Nose – Sweet apple with balsam notes. Very light vanilla<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Mouth – Sweet candy orange and dried fig at beginning of taste, which drops mid to late taste into a light oakiness with a bare hint of bitter and lingering vanillin finish<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">The figgy sweetness is the dominant taste of Rockwell American Flavor Classic Sweet Vermouth. It’s nice. It mixes well with rye-based Manhattans, giving a lifting sugariness and depth to the lightness and slight astringency of American rye whiskey. Though I’m all in favor of using native Artemisias to give terrior and localness to vermouths, whether Artemisia californica is just not that bitter or the vermouth makers are just a bit too judicious in crafting this product, it barely registers. As to the California black mission figs they use, I must admit, they're pretty yummy – in that desserty sort of way.</div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">The man behind Rockwell is Birk O’Halloran, a fairly new player on the California scene, who’s been making the usual California stalwarts, Merlot, Cabernet, and Chardonnay under his Iconic Wine line. His forays into vermouth production are commendable, if not exactly my cup of tea. I prefer a bit of a spicier profile, a bigger bitterness, and a little less sugar. But that’s just me. I find his Classic Sweet very enjoyable, even if it doesn’t exactly fit my favorite style of aromatized wine. It actually has enough acidic brightness in the base wine to cut some of the sugar. It’s lingering aftertaste invites further sippage. And it fits a certain profile I see in the best of new American vermouths, a certain lightness in body and texture, a certain playfulness, and most certainly, a certain amount of rule-breaking. It’s a brave new world in the New World. Let there be more new vermouths that speak to the many landscape of the Americas, traditions new and old, and trying out new things.<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"> Scale 1 - 5</div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Taste<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Wood / Vanilla 2<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Bitter - 1<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Alcohol 2<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Sweet 5<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Creamy 0<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Caramel 3<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Aromas<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Spicy 1<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Astringent (barks, roots) 1<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Vegetal / Herbal 0<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Balsamic 2<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Floral 2<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Fruity 2</div></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br /></div></div>Nicholas Vromanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15972169098499267195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3627038983415469893.post-80879123780406745882021-08-04T17:25:00.000-07:002021-08-04T17:25:35.070-07:00United States of Vermouth - A.G. Perino Vermouth Classico Sweet Vermouth<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo-53ylkCxHflZbUp7VlxHgbnrO5k72nu05gABtQAdlhX6VZAPdb1LucNqWEbUbJLkf_nA2xgh33Cyx2LEBz3rHlw52jkZYOqPakLk6pGsd3z-dVryHbrHGgpe2c6iJ2r007ALjCrNetQb/s600/ci-ag-perino-sweet-vermouth-e782b46741fb6b05.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo-53ylkCxHflZbUp7VlxHgbnrO5k72nu05gABtQAdlhX6VZAPdb1LucNqWEbUbJLkf_nA2xgh33Cyx2LEBz3rHlw52jkZYOqPakLk6pGsd3z-dVryHbrHGgpe2c6iJ2r007ALjCrNetQb/s320/ci-ag-perino-sweet-vermouth-e782b46741fb6b05.jpeg" /></a></div><br />Origin: Washington, USA<div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Producer: Precept Wines<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">ABV: 16%<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Wine Base: N/A<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Known Botanicals: NA<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Sugar: N/A<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Look - Transparent light hued chestnut color with red orange overtones.<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Nose – A slightly funky earthiness with hint of papaya overwhelmed by sweet caramel with hints of vanilla. Fairly big, but one-dimensional.<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Mouth – light orange citrus and mild savory spice quickly followed by very big slightly burnt sugary caramel. Dissipates to a slight alcohol burn followed by very mild taste of apple pie – savory spices with a very, very small tinge of tartness<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">The story behind A. G. Perino Vermouth goes like this. Washington-based megabrand Precept Founder and CEO Andrew Browne challenges his main winemaker, Hal Landvoigt, one drunken night to come up with a vermouth. After throwing a bunch of time and money at the project, Hal delivers. Precept’s marketing director, Alex Evans, is tasked for coming up with the name for this vermouth, so he pulls A. G. Perino out of the hat. Perino is ostensibly a clichéd Italian feller that Hal met somewhere along the line that exemplifies the abondanza and all the good things that Italians are good at – food, wine, generosity vermouth. If there is an A. G. Perino somewhere in this world, he has really little or nothing to do with this vermouth.<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">That said, one tries to turn away from the cynical marketing and turn to the product itself.<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">A. G. Perino Vermouth Classico Sweet Vermouth is definitely made to market to those who like their drinks to taste like desert. It is one of the cheaper vermouths on the market and definitely seems to be made with a lot of sugar and little spice and/or herbs. The overwhelming caramel and sweetness is not bad, if you like your vermouth to taste like candy. But the decided lack of complexity – and the lack of any balance of either fruit tartness, herbal overtones, and particularly bitterness – make this dumbed-down vermouth something that may have some mass appeal for those with sweet teeth, but for those wanting a bit more of a grown-up drink, it leaves much to be desired. I’m thinkin’, though, that it might be great on ice cream.<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Scale: 1-5</div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span face="sans-serif">Taste</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Wood / Vanilla 2<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Bitter - 0<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Alcohol 2<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Sweet 5<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Creamy 2<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Caramel 5<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Aromas<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Spicy 1<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Astringent (barks, roots) 3<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Vegetal / Herbal 2<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Balsamic 2<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Floral 0<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Fruity 2</div>Nicholas Vromanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15972169098499267195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3627038983415469893.post-61277960428894266932021-07-21T20:58:00.005-07:002023-07-07T12:53:40.310-07:00United States of Vermouth - Uncouth Vermouth Butternut Squash<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRL1hFv3XJrXSnIuOTKm2abEBco8U3TKbbSbsywxQdjKuPtowByfP9rblfQ34pEdeXfkhSU0Ywvhq7rOwlO56OGodfj0cGSTxiP6F4YDvqVi_d-MWdbDfYf26egl_rBNYdAKEJtL6ozn9h/s948/R.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="948" data-original-width="474" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRL1hFv3XJrXSnIuOTKm2abEBco8U3TKbbSbsywxQdjKuPtowByfP9rblfQ34pEdeXfkhSU0Ywvhq7rOwlO56OGodfj0cGSTxiP6F4YDvqVi_d-MWdbDfYf26egl_rBNYdAKEJtL6ozn9h/w160-h320/R.jpeg" width="160" /></a></div><br />Origin: New York, USA<div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"> Producer: Uncouth Vermouth</div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">ABV: 17%<br dir="ltr" div="" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" />Wine Base: N/A<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Known Botanicals: Mugwort, Butternut Squash<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Sugar: N/A<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Look – Light, slightly glowing, transparent yellow, almost the color of chrysanthemum tea<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Nose – A big nose that has notes of vanilla, rose-like floral overtones<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Mouth – A lightly sweet plum fruitiness builds with vegetal overtones, which turns into a slightly tannic slope and quick downturn into a moderately harsh bitterness, leaving a long tea-like dryness<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Wunderkind Bianca Miraglia hit the vermouth scene in 2013 with her novel vermouths, her meme-ish presence, and a good buzz around her iconoclastic, American take on what vermouth could be. She crashed and burned in due time and now apparently is living a simpler life in upstate New York, tending to her own garden. Her Uncouth Vermouth Butternut Squash is an interesting, if not all that accessible experiment. How and why the butternut squash makes its presence felt is debatable. Beyond that, this vermouth has presence with strong scents and big herbs. The kind of stuff I like. But there is a slightly off-putting edge toward the end of the taste that makes it the sort of thing that one might not want to return to, let alone continue with. It might work well, very well, with an equally complex whiskey in something Manhattan-like. On its own, it’s a bit, a lot, overbearing. However, her experimentations helped open up a whole new world of aromatized wine that is now moving toward something more elegant, more beguiling, more drinkable.<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Scale: 1-5</div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Taste<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Wood / Vanilla 3<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Bitter - 3<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Alcohol 4<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Sweet 3<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Creamy 2<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Caramel 3<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Aromas<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Spicy 4<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Astringent (barks, roots) 4<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Vegetal / Herbal 4<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Balsamic 0<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Floral 2<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Fruity 2</div></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div>Nicholas Vromanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15972169098499267195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3627038983415469893.post-58415401582958308142021-02-07T19:28:00.003-08:002021-02-08T18:33:58.855-08:00Wineries to Watch - Los Angeles River Wine Company<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoB8LFyGaBoVl1tVo1xqg5fEVUl8IPLfxBKW4aRfmVJXAIKUk2K3x8-anAfNIc-gihTCvQd_v47Si6J1ApFXIbKr2ZihunfiPkWZXmPB2q0LEHEaIosYvAmS5jeOh4k1SGaRJ-pohNWBj5/s683/The-Scholium-Project-The-Twelve-Jewels-product-image-701-large.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="683" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoB8LFyGaBoVl1tVo1xqg5fEVUl8IPLfxBKW4aRfmVJXAIKUk2K3x8-anAfNIc-gihTCvQd_v47Si6J1ApFXIbKr2ZihunfiPkWZXmPB2q0LEHEaIosYvAmS5jeOh4k1SGaRJ-pohNWBj5/s320/The-Scholium-Project-The-Twelve-Jewels-product-image-701-large.jpg" /></a></div><br />Philosopher/winemaker Abe Schoener has been making his mark on the contemporary wine world since releasing his first vintage in 2000 under the moniker Scholium Wine Project. The project involved sourcing grapes from forgotten and abandoned California vineyards, from which he made strange and brilliant wines, eschewing the arbitrary rules of the AVA system. Interesting, because he’s big on the vineyards themselves, making wines that speak of places and terriors that the AVAs are meant to protect. However, since he didn’t follow the specific strictures and rules, he merely labeled his wines as California Wines. Working largely in the north part of the state, he became a bit of a nomad, gathering grapes from Lodi and Stockton across to Napa and Sonoma counties, making his wine in wineries and warehouses that would have him.<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNJgUBpMFA62u0DwS0oLZ7SLYFZQqCGJgh7keiko-kTKNXz-d7W2dz3Sgj1Klfkl8YuXt0JtL4of7cwX9FKw3I5dO-NYi50ejYlsnfzB4D2E7FQHUFRpeX8EgP1naA-bRSk7okpe3xLXAC/s400/scholium2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="262" data-original-width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNJgUBpMFA62u0DwS0oLZ7SLYFZQqCGJgh7keiko-kTKNXz-d7W2dz3Sgj1Klfkl8YuXt0JtL4of7cwX9FKw3I5dO-NYi50ejYlsnfzB4D2E7FQHUFRpeX8EgP1naA-bRSk7okpe3xLXAC/s320/scholium2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">A year ago, he put down some roots. Not in the fabled wine countries of California like Napa or the Central Coast - but in Los Angeles. Along with famed sommelier/winemaker Raja Parr, he launched Los Angeles River Wine Company. With help from the Historic Vineyard Society he’s found a mess of vineyards, or what was left of them, where he tended to and harvested grapes, not even knowing exactly what kinds some of them were until they had matured. In 2020 he produced a baker’s dozen of wines – zinfandel, granache, palomino, pecorino, mission, and more – which he is now beginning to release. Many of the vineyards, most planted at least a century ago, had been untended for decades. Struggling in parched earth and against the constant encroachments of urban takeover, these valiant vines have also weathered ridiculously hot summers, incredible neglect, and just being forgotten.</div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipzsClvVbj6E7awrEcr4F4_1hPHPiLtxI0laF-2oAZZ9naVrbfsWPyMX6R1nJYAV4-uf0ZsLDlEq2vW0b48OHSZmXr-4ujQn0NIQQyDdDlG4pfaPUl6JqCXGq0j6xgwrmj-57FcN3h8PbB/s423/scholium1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="423" data-original-width="300" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipzsClvVbj6E7awrEcr4F4_1hPHPiLtxI0laF-2oAZZ9naVrbfsWPyMX6R1nJYAV4-uf0ZsLDlEq2vW0b48OHSZmXr-4ujQn0NIQQyDdDlG4pfaPUl6JqCXGq0j6xgwrmj-57FcN3h8PbB/s320/scholium1.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">But Schoener remembers. Or at least he his bringing back memory. And history. Memory in a glass of wine. Let's not forget. A toast to you, Abe!<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Scholium on Facebook<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/the-scholium-project-371036822857/" style="overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/the-scholium-project-371036822857/</a><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Buy his wines<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><a href="https://scholium.securecheckout.com/" style="overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;" target="_blank">https://scholium.securecheckout.com/</a><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Find out about historic vineyards in California<br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><a href="https://historicvineyardsociety.org/" style="overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;" target="_blank">https://historicvineyardsociety.org/</a><br style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="font-family: sans-serif; overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br /></div>Nicholas Vromanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15972169098499267195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3627038983415469893.post-64946677715319132632020-11-17T14:18:00.007-08:002020-11-17T17:36:44.555-08:00Ghost Ingredient in the House of Vermouth - Caperitif<p><span face=""Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-size: 13px;"><i></i></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><i><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVfZfhhMQjHkmlmZt9ZN7chR67RhTzGuiiCw-npgB183Ri93pMO8E2FbZIBvEQlM2SuaHi1pktsWjrQ8AWnnBwUXJzLFwg3IMYcxR8jBsWqNsL9K3qJUaszn04LjvAWh9vAP7PkzqtlfLO/s415/caperitif-bottle.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="415" data-original-width="276" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVfZfhhMQjHkmlmZt9ZN7chR67RhTzGuiiCw-npgB183Ri93pMO8E2FbZIBvEQlM2SuaHi1pktsWjrQ8AWnnBwUXJzLFwg3IMYcxR8jBsWqNsL9K3qJUaszn04LjvAWh9vAP7PkzqtlfLO/s320/caperitif-bottle.png" /></a></div><br /></i><p></p><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><i><span> </span>There's a ghost in my house<br /></i></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><i><span> </span>A ghost of your memory<br /></i></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><i><span> </span>A ghost of the love that was took from me<br /></i></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><i><span> </span>Ghost in my house...<br /></i></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><i><br /></i></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><i><span> </span>- Holland, Dozier, Holland</i></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The relaunching of South Africa’s Caperitif has been something of a bombshell in the rarified world of aromatized wine news. To make the long story short, in some classic cocktail bibles, particularly Henry Craddock’s 1930 Savoy Cocktail Book, mention is made of Caperitif as key ingredient for a few libations. Cut to the contemporary cocktail revival and the ghost ingredient is nowhere to be found, existing merely as a forgotten reference in old manuscripts. Then somewhere in the 2010s, Danish gastro/cultural pioneer and mixologist Lars Erik Lyndgaard Schmidt reached out to cutting-edge South African winemaker, Adi Badenhorst, to see if they could recreate this phantom vermouth.<br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbOi1EpYlTG8pBPZTGqh0ooYp0K2X4GJR1JP38YPDuDplrZyzIxxpOzEgL0JiPtrGWIQDFfqS1-JHMIPpUEr7LcnYY1Z6OtbFq3SyEZAVd7P1Ia9shrlZM0EY9u_La15vLAjGZu9hjSvHZ/s902/Adi_and_Lars-4.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="902" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbOi1EpYlTG8pBPZTGqh0ooYp0K2X4GJR1JP38YPDuDplrZyzIxxpOzEgL0JiPtrGWIQDFfqS1-JHMIPpUEr7LcnYY1Z6OtbFq3SyEZAVd7P1Ia9shrlZM0EY9u_La15vLAjGZu9hjSvHZ/s320/Adi_and_Lars-4.jpg" /></a></div><br />Fact is, nobody living could remember what it tasted like. It seems that by at very latest, the 1940s, Caperitif had disappeared. For what it’s worth, there are several sites/references that place the end of Caperitif somewhere around 1910. However, the fact that Craddock’s first edition cocktail manual did not appear until 1930 makes one think that it was still available in London at that time. I’m thinkin’ the early 40s, considering the German naval activity in the seas around Great Britain and the collapse of the South African wine industry a cause de la guerre mondiale. The true history of what happened to the Castle Wine and Spirits Company, the original company that produced Caperitif is certainly lost to the internet, but probably is readily researchable in libraries and archives in South Africa.<br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">So what the hell is Caperitif? Even if we have no fuckin’ clue about how it tasted?<br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Well, with its new iteration it’s a Chenin Blanc-based wine (good start!), bittered with chinchona/quinine (keep it goin’!), and aromatized with a slew of indigenous South African botanicals (even better!). And beyond that, each batch has a different flavor profile, as the current recipe is still a work in progress (yay!) that is reaching what sort of end? Recreating the original is not on Adi Badenhorst’s mind. He’s taking a concept and reinterpreting the whole thing into a lively and living new vermouth thing, which simultaneously invokes and denies the phantoms haunting our present. Let sleeping ghosts lie – and let’s drink to them!<br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">To put it in a nutshell, though, Helen Sheridan, niggie/coordinator/negotiant for Caperitif says, “We're mostly just inspired by the cool story of the original. And have been playing with local aromatics so unique to the Cape Floral Kingdom (and obviously trying our product in many of the old Savoy recipes to see if it tastes good...)”<br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Those local aromatics include a host of wonderful botanicals with great local names, among them kalmoes/ calamus (Acorus calamus), wilde als/African wormwood (Artemisia afra), konfettibos (Coleonema pulchrum), rooibos (Aspalathus linearis), buchu (Agathosma betulina ), sour fig/suurvy/Hottentot fig (Carpobrotus acinaciformis), naartjies/satsumas (Citrus unshiu), appelliefie/cape gooseberries (Physalis peruviana), which are not rally gooseberries, and kei apples (Dovyalis caffra), not really apples. I mean, how wonderful a whacky combination is that? Plus, they add a mess of other botanicals and spices that are traditionally used in vermouths.<br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The world of aromatized wine is ever expanding. It’s a new world. We will never find Hippocrates' original herbed wine recipe. And we will most likely never know exactly how the original Caperitif was made. Two bottles of what appear to be the last 3 remaining original Caperitif have been purchased by the Badenhorst winery. They still remain unopened. And who knows? Perhaps a secret cache may be hidden in some forgotten corner, maybe on the <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/united-kingdom/galleries/Britains-most-haunted-hotels/the-savoy/" target="_blank">fifth floor of London’s Savoy Hotel</a>. Seems an appropriate place for a ghost ingredient to haunt.</div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><a href="http://caperitif.com/" style="color: #196ad4;" target="_blank">http://caperitif.com/</a></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><a href="http://www.lars-erik.org/" style="color: #196ad4;" target="_blank">http://www.lars-erik.org/</a></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">NV</div>Virginia Sorrellshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10072724617290853444noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3627038983415469893.post-33146954337562717252020-09-06T18:04:00.001-07:002021-02-07T19:32:01.850-08:00The Count of Vermouth<div class="separator"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="418" height="625" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYfa2iSupvKoaxFRu_NnJ5eux85c3SigMb3K2p-l34Yp3jYQiw90lBh1_J55dJ91CQSAazMgO4hI_5ZKZwz1Wqctvnc0gyx5av8f1dBeoG9Et7EoG-hBfe_swyUG04dckxe0C_GxOvfBBn/w263-h625/IMG_2015.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="263" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">It all started with the glass. Wandering through the web, I came across this 1940s advert (see above) for Martini & Rossi Vermouth. Forget about the exhortation to "Be one of the Crowd and be Moderate too!" It was the glass. The squared lip, the graceful foot - a gentle pinchable pedestal for an ample (or was it Moderate?) pour. And at $2.00 a dozen - a true bargain.<div><span><u><br /></u></span></div><div><span>A closer look at the copy revealed that it was designed by Count Theo Rossi. No doubt, one of the Rossi family. And a count no less! Some further research was necessary.</span></div></div></div><div><span br=""></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="242" data-original-width="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoBZvDxq03UANCpTsLXzU-Zdd5XFj3-2zR5cuLJ_leCM5Jxh7lH4qzylUfJMm9RjZ2qUg1e5ts6wWXNKjV-jMXQ7d0ilcTgncidgAc8e7ppe29wcXONRBghUhVksz9L9vSQlN_R9_cplA7/s0/rossi-clipper.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face="" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; font-weight: 700; text-align: start;">Passengers on Pan American's "California Clipper" inaugural flight, <br />Lady Moira Forbes and Count Theo Rossi</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><span>The venerable vermouth company, Martini & Rossi, was started in Torino by businessman Alessandro Martini, accountant Teofilo Sola, and the guy with the recipe, Luigi Rossi. By 1892, Luigi and his sons had taken over the business, though they kept Martini's name on the label. By the 1930s, the biz had been passed down to the grandsons.</span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="593" data-original-width="354" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuoeFGqKEgTrCIXcVnVRa1Ujtj98KutYyTjyUBWA4QlHw_KzBXKpO6C6oWT_9L9x424ysGRCWigqZg2iDUh5QxqR9GqZayChxoCQlC0W8eK-RPir9uZRql9uMizo2ysUt8P2usSNXx22HV/w153-h256/d9ac0b7ea5d76f3d4efab1bb06dc4496.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="153" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Count Theo Rossi di Montelera <br />and Maria Callas</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><span></span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span>Count Teofilo "Theo" Guiscardo Rossi di Montelera was quite the man about the world - bob-sledder in the 1932 Lake Placid Olympics, champion power boat racer by the late 1930s. Martini & Rossi continues to support and brand itself with car and boat racing to this day. He even flew on the maiden flight of the California Clipper from San Francisco to Honolulu. The WWII years saw him missing in action. But he comes back on the radar in the 50s and 60s, with a leading role in the international jet set, chumming up - and popping up in photos - with likes of the Aga Khan, Orson Welles, Maria Callas, and more importantly, Salvador Dali, of whom he became a benefactor. Dali rewarded him with a portrait which has made Theo a minor surrealist celebrity and given him some internet recognition. </span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK5C2x-DWFpJK7OAKNWTADng-0RuNtNg-8ZwNfp_xPucTH8Y9iyjC7qHNkP8pplJttPA1o6tzYd1o3zrV7z0rVUr8a-BlkWLVrfI7br7UAi2f0vlE7NxB2hOQoNVkU_-BKyr11O9aJVVUq/s807/597+The+Duke+of+Urbino+%2528Portrait+of+Count+Theo+Rossi+Di+Montelera%2529+1957.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="807" data-original-width="640" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK5C2x-DWFpJK7OAKNWTADng-0RuNtNg-8ZwNfp_xPucTH8Y9iyjC7qHNkP8pplJttPA1o6tzYd1o3zrV7z0rVUr8a-BlkWLVrfI7br7UAi2f0vlE7NxB2hOQoNVkU_-BKyr11O9aJVVUq/s320/597+The+Duke+of+Urbino+%2528Portrait+of+Count+Theo+Rossi+Di+Montelera%2529+1957.jpg" /></a></div><span face="" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; font-weight: 700; text-align: start;"><div style="text-align: center;">The Duke of Urbino. Portrait of Count Theo Rossi Di Montelera </div><div style="text-align: center;">Salvador Dali, 1957 </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></span></div><div><span>But I'm still jonesing for those vermouth glasses, which I consider his greatest legacy. My obsessive internet search for them has come up goose eggs. Did he really design them? And were they ever manufactured? If so, where can I get some? If you got a line on some, drop me a line. I have a special bottle waiting.</span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span>- NV</span></div><div class="separator"><div class="separator" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><div><span><u><br /></u></span></div><div><br /></div></div></div>Virginia Sorrellshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10072724617290853444noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3627038983415469893.post-20408402079773035572020-06-25T20:44:00.001-07:002021-02-07T19:31:05.593-08:00Wineries to Watch: LMT Wines<span style="font-size: x-large;">Fearless Garnatxa</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNaELsTozXYUWS7vuOEn6VGCP3mqIFOBhXKmfiFdAcC3d_Ma7rAQCq6jKcPYBGyarXv6ysuM2s8HAuoy_RnDncyRU_PMVzB3aKb5ky7_JKkDnd9JuFaXHQgmw1ESXsmjkOJbDOfCA8WN9K/s1600/LMT05-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="709" data-original-width="1064" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNaELsTozXYUWS7vuOEn6VGCP3mqIFOBhXKmfiFdAcC3d_Ma7rAQCq6jKcPYBGyarXv6ysuM2s8HAuoy_RnDncyRU_PMVzB3aKb5ky7_JKkDnd9JuFaXHQgmw1ESXsmjkOJbDOfCA8WN9K/s320/LMT05-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Luis Moya Tortosa describes himself as a nomad. He wanders the landscape of Navarra and Rioja Oriental (formerly Rioja Baja) in search of ancient and forgotten vines, sun-warmed and perfect terriors to produce a set of intriguing Garnatxas. He's one of the pioneers of contemporary Iberian winemakers who are looking at their local landscapes and saying, "why not make great wines here and now." For a nomad, he actually is keeping pretty local. And for a nomad, he also seems to be putting down some serious roots. But that's OK. He makes great wines.<br />
<br />
He hit with a trio of wines, Masusta, Urbanita, and Kimera. Masusta (euskara for blackberry), named for the big bush that dominates a vineyard of 60-year-old Garnacha vines, speaks to a spicy, yet elegant extraction of great fruits. Urbanita, is a white, with ever-changing grapes as the vintages progess. Kimera comes from another old vineyard, this one in San Martín de Unx. This Garnatxa goes through malolactic fermentation in clay jars, creating a rich and heady experience.<br />
<br />
Since, he has been making a wonderful array of wines, highlighting mainly Garnatxa, bringing the appropriate techniques and styles of winemaking to highlight, not only his own mastery, but the very distinctive terroirs of a largely overlooked region, Navarra. It's in places like this where the new nomads of Spanish wine are making their marks and making great wine.<br />
<br />
Here's a link to his website.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://lmtwines.com/" target="_blank">http://lmtwines.com</a><br />
<br />
And here's an old drinking song from Nafarroa to sing when quaffing his wine.<br />
<br />
Arno hun hun huntarik dugun edan alegerarik<br />
hordi beldurragatik edan gogotik,<br />
hordi beldurragatik edan gogotik.<br />
Mintzaldi erranez eta zerbait yanez,<br />
edariz beirea betez atseginik bonbila hustez<br />
noiz helduren gituzun bertze aldi batez,<br />
noiz helduren gituzun bertze aldi batez.<br />
<br />
We're happy to drink this great wine<br />
drinking heartily without fear,<br />
drinking heartily without fear.<br />
Giving speeches and eating everything,<br />
filling the glass and emptying the bottle<br />
when we get together for a while,<br />
when we get together for a while. <br />
<br />
Here's a link to the <a href="http://www.eusko-ikaskuntza.eus/MusicCanc/000198.MID" target="_blank">melody</a>. Nicholas Vromanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15972169098499267195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3627038983415469893.post-9019948274768477972018-06-05T10:01:00.000-07:002018-06-08T09:44:15.685-07:00Wineries to Watch: Pearl and Stone<div>
<div class="yiv5393993728MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
</div>
<div class="yiv5393993728MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmZXcpN3ZRlyqQixWxaIejl9sTGHTopDggI5sQ0EqCtF15uKcByh6YqDJtDYPfViRslc_UzVbR5TC4MZszmMLivlbvjPdrv_cBkAWu2kD145ZifNdStl6W7s1Ofek6I_0gtRKm7pIfs_yV/s1600/Pearl_and_Stone_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="540" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmZXcpN3ZRlyqQixWxaIejl9sTGHTopDggI5sQ0EqCtF15uKcByh6YqDJtDYPfViRslc_UzVbR5TC4MZszmMLivlbvjPdrv_cBkAWu2kD145ZifNdStl6W7s1Ofek6I_0gtRKm7pIfs_yV/s400/Pearl_and_Stone_2.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A new generation of winemakers <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">is</span> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">making <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">its mark on the Washington wine lan<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">dscape. Between garagist<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">as in Seattle<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">, <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Spokane, Yakima and Walla Wall<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">a </span></span></span>and young ups<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">tarts in <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">new AVAs, like Ancient Lakes and Lewis-Clark Valley, a host of fresh ideas<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> a<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">nd ap<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">proaches<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> are being tried - and most importantly<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">, great wines are being pr<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">oduced.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If one common vine runs through this ferment, it's that th<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">is seeming revolution is <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">grafted onto </span>tra<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">dit<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">ion. <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Not just the old tradit<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">ion of making wine<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">, but a new tradition that Washington winemakers are in the act of creating, right here, right now<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">. It's been just a little more than <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">50 years since<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span>Washington planted <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">the seeds of its<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> contemporary <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">viticulture. And it<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">'s borne fruit <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">- and gallons upon gallons of wine - with <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">now over <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.washingtonwine.org/wine/facts-and-stats/state-facts" target="_blank">900 winer</a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.washingtonwine.org/wine/facts-and-stats/state-facts" target="_blank">ies</a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> in the state<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> adding to th<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">is heady blend of discovery and innovation.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Among the more interesting wineries <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">contributing to this <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">mix</span> is Pearl and Stone. A trio of Snoqualmie Valley friends, </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Rob Wesorick, </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Paul Ribary, and Chris Stone,</span></span> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">decided to put their money - and their time - where their palate was<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> <br /><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">As Chris describes it, "We
all met when our wives were teachers together at our local elementary
school. Rob's family purchased my wife's childhood home<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">, </span>just down the
street from where we liv<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">e,</span> so we became neighbors with a deeper
connection. Then we all had kids around the same time, and would hang
out and enjoy wine while enjoying/coping with parenthood. Throughout
those times, we would frequently brainstorm ideas to <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">'</span>someday<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">'</span>
do something together in wine, recognizing our combined passion/interest
and diverse skills & experiences. All those ideas would inevitably
get too complicated, so one day <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">- </span>probably after a bottle or two!<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> -</span> one of
us just said, let's just make a little wine and see what happens! Pearl
and Stone Wine Co. was launched and that <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">'</span>little bit of wine<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">'</span> turned
into about 400 cases for our first vintage of 2013, released in Sept.
2015."</span><br /><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">They came from different walks of life, but Chris<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">h<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">ad some special insight and connections due to his role as the marketing</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> and <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">c</span>ommunications guy for t<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">he Washington State Wine <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Commis<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">sion<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">. And one of those connections was<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> one of Washington's original<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">garage winemakers<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">,<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Chris Camarda </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">at </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Andrew Will </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">wine<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">ry. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">"</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">When
we started this,<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">" says Chris, "</span>we knew enough to be dangerous, but we were also smart
enough to know what we don't know, so we agreed to hire a consultant
for our first couple years. We talked to several winemakers whose
style/philosophies we all liked and ended up hiring Chris<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span>to help us out and make sure we didn't screw
anything up.<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">"</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">He adds, "</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Chris
C. has made a lot of iconic wines over the years, but I have always
been a big fan of his Two Blondes. And since he owns that <a href="http://twoblondesvineyard.com/tb/homepage" target="_blank">vineyard</a> it
was a logical place to start<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> - </span>and an amazing opportunity to get great
fruit from the start.<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">"</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Th<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">eir win<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">e making advent<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">ure began to bear fruit - literally<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> <br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">"</span>After a couple years, we needed to grow and
wanted to bring in some fruit that would be different,
yet complimentary, to the Two Blondes fruit. Again, we talked about
several places that were favorites of our group, and got an opportunity
to get into <a href="http://www.sagemoorvineyards.com/vineyards/dionysus/" target="_blank">Sagemoor's Dionysus Block</a> 11. These old vines were exactly
what we were looking for, and we felt a perfect compliment to the Two
Blondes fruit. </span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">"The following
year we decided to grow some more and wanted to introduce a Rhone blend
to the program. Once again, we talked about and tasted the wines we
liked, found the common fruit sources and then reached out to those
growers. We landed on <a href="http://www.elephantmountainvineyards.com/" target="_blank">Elephant Mountain/Sugarloaf </a>and <a href="https://wineyakimavalley.org/olsen-vineyards/" target="_blank">Olsen Vineyards</a> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">- </span>new in 2018<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> - </span>for the Rhone grapes<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">, </span>Grenache, Mourvedre and Syrah<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> - </span>and
our first wine from this fruit will be released in Sept<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">ember</span> 2018."</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">And all<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> of this has happened in <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">only 5 years.</span></span> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Their beautifully crafted<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> wines<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">, Wandering, Resolut<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">ion Peaks and Mailbox Peak - <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">all </span>Bordeaux<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">-style blends -</span></span></span> are turning heads <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">and<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> moving <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Pe<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">arl and Stone<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> past the winery-to-watch<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> category, signaling that's it's fully arrived an<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">d ready to be rec<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">koned with. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> </div>
</div>
<div class="yiv5393993728MsoNormal">
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">"</span>Chris Camarda has been a big influence on us and he's
imparted some wisdom that we have really embraced, including letting the
wines be what they want to be. Don't try to manipulate them and don't
be afraid of vintage variation. It comes down to making good picking
decisions, producing sound wines, letting the fruit shine, and don't
mask it with too much oak or anything else<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">,<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">" says Chris<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">. The Pearl and Stone approach bears all the hallmarks of tradition: gain simple insights from the wine-wise <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">and take them<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> to the the next l<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">e<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">ve<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">l<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Their 2017 Rose has been a b<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">i<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">g hit and they w<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">ill be releasing <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">their 2018 G<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">renache Blanc from <a href="https://wineyakimavalley.org/boushey-vineyards/" target="_blank">Boushey Vineyard</a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> soon.<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Building on traditions.<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> Creating new ones. This is where Pearl an<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">d Stone fits in th<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">is most exciting of wine times <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">in t<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">he <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Pacific Northwest.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">To f<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">ollow and find out more about <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Pearl and Stone wines:</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pearlandstonewine/">https://www.facebook.com/pearlandstonewine/</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Webs<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">ite:<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> <a href="https://www.pearlandstonewine.com/">https://www.pearlandstonewine.com/</a></span></span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUXMFS4l9TnsEKjJheJ7l2t0qJ8wVaSR3uzCIQagrqrIIH_YvqNiJ8IPC-A2JVKGnZqGDUP5H1x6bQSUDgJK9X1TVzcgWe1FsttyNO0IqmEeuyY2WonDfw_TxvgXdgAmVbWHRZV9VDn773/s1600/Pearl_and_stone_3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUXMFS4l9TnsEKjJheJ7l2t0qJ8wVaSR3uzCIQagrqrIIH_YvqNiJ8IPC-A2JVKGnZqGDUP5H1x6bQSUDgJK9X1TVzcgWe1FsttyNO0IqmEeuyY2WonDfw_TxvgXdgAmVbWHRZV9VDn773/s400/Pearl_and_stone_3.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
</div>
<div class="yiv5393993728MsoNormal">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjaRGQtbJnxcUL5VdtzKEE9ds4SuXHEK-gNGEFbZXzbzKNg-u4Hm4a6l8qadufG8BnUEvnP-v7wwlzv172V14TlFg419NELm09v7JCG-RDrumOrwGKmcaZepiN5gnJUTu-lAW9k-N14lax/s1600/crew.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjaRGQtbJnxcUL5VdtzKEE9ds4SuXHEK-gNGEFbZXzbzKNg-u4Hm4a6l8qadufG8BnUEvnP-v7wwlzv172V14TlFg419NELm09v7JCG-RDrumOrwGKmcaZepiN5gnJUTu-lAW9k-N14lax/s400/crew.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Paul Ribary, Erika Ribary, Rob Wesorick, Laurie Wesorick, Chris Stone, Wendy Stone</span></div>
</div>
Nicholas Vromanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15972169098499267195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3627038983415469893.post-86501853897768362322018-05-29T10:27:00.000-07:002018-06-08T09:44:26.808-07:00Wineries to Watch: Sin Banderas Wine<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp1Egsj4BFj4J0ezrY7jd-mwxBjz7F8UIEOjctLZEvDQFUWf1ltNDz-e0gJ0EWIDDe42IkuPcislKgHU1Raur29hKL3h_vFZhl7IO8YK5DlV2z69n5ZkmLLv05cIdMeO70wCcxAN8DTOrY/s1600/Barrell.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp1Egsj4BFj4J0ezrY7jd-mwxBjz7F8UIEOjctLZEvDQFUWf1ltNDz-e0gJ0EWIDDe42IkuPcislKgHU1Raur29hKL3h_vFZhl7IO8YK5DlV2z69n5ZkmLLv05cIdMeO70wCcxAN8DTOrY/s320/Barrell.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
A Mexican, Texan, Frenchman and Washingtonian walk into a winery...and the result is Sin Banderas - "Without Flags." This barrel (photo courtesy of the company's Facebook page) reflects the international character of the wine they produce. It's made of French oak. The company that produced it, Tonelería Nacional, is a Chilean-based cooper that has offices and production facilities around the world. The silhouetted conifer makes reference to the place where the wine is made - Washington: the evergreen state. This cask acknowledges that the contemporary world of wine is internationally interconnected, but overlaid with local flavor and pride.<br />
<br />
It all started at Owen Roe, the Wapato-based winery, headed by Irishman, David O'Reilly and his wife Angelica. Four folks (the aforementioned Mexican, Texan, Frenchman and Washingtonian) who work there decided to make their own wine. <br />
<br />
Jacki Evans, the Texan, emphasizes, "The Owen Roe connection is huge. We knew that previous employees had produced their own wine under the Owen Roe roof. David O'Reilly is incredibly kind, and simply having the opportunity inspired us to collaborate and produce our own wine. This fun side project would not exist without the generosity of Owen Roe."<br />
<br />
Jacki's experience working in vineyards and cellars has lent a certain pragmatism to the way she makes wine.<br />
<br />
"I feel that working as a harvest hopper between wineries of all sizes and philosophies is a great way to gain experience and perspective. It helps to define the differences between fundamental ideas of winemaking versus individual house styles. It's so easy to fall into a tunnel-vision state of mind, so it's important to understand the bigger picture. So I guess you could say that my approach is to remember practical lessons from prior experiences to help me not worry too much. If you give the wines enough TLC and time, everything usually works out okay"<br />
<br />
Their first release, the 2015 Sin Banderas Red Wine is a Rhone-style blend of 80% Syrah from the <a href="https://www.washingtonwine.org/vineyards/outlook-vineyard/" target="_blank">Outlook Vineyard</a>, in the hills overlooking Outlook and Sunnyside, and 20% Mourvedre from the <a href="https://www.washingtonwine.org/vineyards/olsen-vineyards_1/" target="_blank">Olsen Vineyard</a> near Prosser. It carries some of the bigness of wines from eastern Washington, softened by a soothing elegance reminiscent of traditional Rhones. All in all, a strong statement of place and style. And did I say that it's a beautifully crafted and yummy?<br />
<br />
In spring, 2018 they released a rose, built with Syrah and Mourvedre. It's been getting great reviews as they've been touring around the Pacific Northwest promoting it. I have yet to try it, but hope to soon.<br />
<br />
Sin Banderas makes manifest a somewhat overused maxim about thinking and drinking. But, hey, it's OK if it works, if it's true, and it tastes so good. <br />
<br />
To follow and find out more about Sin Banderas wines:<br />
<br />
Facebook - <a href="https://www.facebook.com/sinbanderaswines">https://www.facebook.com/sinbanderaswines</a><br />
Website - <a href="https://www.sinbanderaswines.com/" target="_blank">https://www.sinbanderaswines.com/</a><br />
<br />
To sample and buy Sin Banderas Wines:<br />
<br />
Walter Clore Wine and Culinary Center - <a href="https://www.theclorecenter.org/" target="_blank">https://www.theclorecenter.org/</a><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCz2g21fTysWBmx11bR1Q1hgj2Y9EC21wgqanhp6naMfZGGBPt_i8FUD5VBB7xm53bEuul1_aLjWR6c4AgAegThijsl3VRHURUFs9VsV77cbXPZLgTcpQV9U0lS3lIjsIeDbGsKyGm82nL/s1600/sin-banderas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="640" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCz2g21fTysWBmx11bR1Q1hgj2Y9EC21wgqanhp6naMfZGGBPt_i8FUD5VBB7xm53bEuul1_aLjWR6c4AgAegThijsl3VRHURUFs9VsV77cbXPZLgTcpQV9U0lS3lIjsIeDbGsKyGm82nL/s320/sin-banderas.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />Nicholas Vromanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15972169098499267195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3627038983415469893.post-16951852567812528492018-04-30T22:59:00.001-07:002021-12-11T18:20:43.219-08:00Annals of Wine Marketing #4 - Tio Pepe<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4O86h5s38Im3xgy6W7n_mQoiez_JyJ9bARyElqKxMhqqp42IScVQCKhof9PIYF7UWT7qIMfTflEKL346h_vHcyYul0mGC8A0-GN_kH6_5W5Xopd6YgMfzwSNjnoanPT7klEmgIEyK0fYY/s1600/TioPepe-1950-00.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="728" data-original-width="500" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4O86h5s38Im3xgy6W7n_mQoiez_JyJ9bARyElqKxMhqqp42IScVQCKhof9PIYF7UWT7qIMfTflEKL346h_vHcyYul0mGC8A0-GN_kH6_5W5Xopd6YgMfzwSNjnoanPT7klEmgIEyK0fYY/s400/TioPepe-1950-00.jpg" width="273" /></a></div>
<br />
<i>Guitarra tiene el Tío Pepe</i><br />
<i>para dar caza a los rojos</i><br />
<i>pues, cuando canta al Pilar, </i><br />
<i>todos se postran con hinojos…</i><br />
<br />
<i>Tio Pepe has a guitar</i><br />
<i>to hunt down the reds</i><br />
<i>then, when he sings to Our Lady of the Pilar*</i><br />
<i>everyone falls on their knees and bows their heads...</i><br />
<br />
Luis Pérez Solero, one of the more mythic figures of the Spanish design and marketing world, wrote those words as the Spanish Civil War raged in the late 1930s. In 1934 he became the <i>jefe de propaganda</i> for the famous sherry house, Gonzalez Byass, quickly coming up with the anthropomorphic bottle illustration to market Tio Pepe, a middling fino. It became a brand-name sensation, dare I say, an icon.<br />
<br />
Tio Pepe, the character, sports a high-crowned <i>sombrero cordobés</i>
and a classic short-waisted Andalucian coat - both in bright scarlet. So much for
hunting the reds! His guitar, rather than killing fascists, serves as a
prop - an easy signifier of flamenco culture. The most famous ad copy
Solero wrote describes the sherry as Sol de Andalucia Embotellado -
Andalucian Sun Bottled. Not bad. A classic "the sizzle, not the steak"
sort of idea. <br />
<br />
Tio's Pepe's faceless Andalucian<i> </i>is an idealized image of a Spain of the imagination, an anachronism even in the 1930s, but perfectly suited to Franco's concept of a unitary national identity based largely upon the traditions of Andalucia, which basically ignored the Basques, the Catalans, and other national minorities. Which is not to say the traditions of Andalucia are not rich and deep. (<i>Dios mio</i>, thanks for the sherry!) But it is perhaps no coincidence that Tio Pepe and Franco both rose at pretty much the same time.<br />
<br />
While Franco has passed on, Tio Pepe remains. He's been a witness to history - and a lot of shopping. He held a revered place on a neon sign overlooking Madrid's Puerta del Sol starting in the 1950s. But in 2011, Apple bought the building and decided to retire the sign. A new sign, with a more modern Tio, was put up on a nearby building. <br />
<br />
Solero himself was born in Burgos and started making his name in Donostia. But when Gonzales Byass called, he finally found his true calling as an Andalucian, promoting their sherry until his death in 1968. He was a bit of a bon vivant - a famous drinker, composer of melodies, writer of indulgent poetry and ad copy, not a bad illustrator, and a very good self-promoter. And is Tio Pepe perhaps a self portrait? Of someone he always wanted to be?<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">*<span lang="es">Nuestra Señora del Pilar - a patron saint of Spain </span>enshrined in Zaragoza</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb-eHegk10ojqRuxD_cqHSUjfs42v_EPWqhwlTvkI5tQgVAlky8KQp-Jhrq7y0Nu77-ydy8HJDkNbi7QMwyepBxunMz-par_AmRJDi-bOZ-S5aESjlEWK-NdvBADVUnv73j_W27qJt4P4A/s1600/Luis-Pe%25CC%2581rez-Solero-2-230x300.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="231" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb-eHegk10ojqRuxD_cqHSUjfs42v_EPWqhwlTvkI5tQgVAlky8KQp-Jhrq7y0Nu77-ydy8HJDkNbi7QMwyepBxunMz-par_AmRJDi-bOZ-S5aESjlEWK-NdvBADVUnv73j_W27qJt4P4A/s320/Luis-Pe%25CC%2581rez-Solero-2-230x300.jpg" width="244" /></a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Luis Pérez Solero</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSXJHDUgTtO4KzjsqDMK-DsgCAodFPvCoKAx3PlVmvX-8a0fW2EeWa4fLgHLyexHNa-Mg0OI_i7Q-q_U3vv9JJI-E0t52-exXYs9ROUsdWPHlloUJJwaoqUV6OorTRLfHceqlmuceK7hN6/s1600/luisperezsolero4_1045.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="211" data-original-width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSXJHDUgTtO4KzjsqDMK-DsgCAodFPvCoKAx3PlVmvX-8a0fW2EeWa4fLgHLyexHNa-Mg0OI_i7Q-q_U3vv9JJI-E0t52-exXYs9ROUsdWPHlloUJJwaoqUV6OorTRLfHceqlmuceK7hN6/s1600/luisperezsolero4_1045.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Luis Pérez Solero's Monogram on a Sherry Cask</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyGqScSk_D26pGWkIBMPhq8HX6jS95ftbpSAEiFMq9CLjZ_7-K_a3TkBkCziJgvp716vQTQr2WenfcqIOemY8zQjaX2cPpOnq2IUUKgKqqzgSk6J0VtSDeppeTP0jJ2gSK_5zRCXubrj7I/s1600/TioPepe-1954-01.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="737" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyGqScSk_D26pGWkIBMPhq8HX6jS95ftbpSAEiFMq9CLjZ_7-K_a3TkBkCziJgvp716vQTQr2WenfcqIOemY8zQjaX2cPpOnq2IUUKgKqqzgSk6J0VtSDeppeTP0jJ2gSK_5zRCXubrj7I/s320/TioPepe-1954-01.jpg" width="217" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYc3WZH0vfA2LQBiU58yNbm2ku9cq503-ynVkoRMY4kfpK-6CSgJchF4A0WeDJ1LaZfMNj3GolS7fsN4cM5r9ZPBJYLTqIZUo2-Gx7IRK_9NSK4qL90ZhihUK8a9idGaYW79rHCjQO4xD0/s1600/tiopepe01.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="405" data-original-width="600" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYc3WZH0vfA2LQBiU58yNbm2ku9cq503-ynVkoRMY4kfpK-6CSgJchF4A0WeDJ1LaZfMNj3GolS7fsN4cM5r9ZPBJYLTqIZUo2-Gx7IRK_9NSK4qL90ZhihUK8a9idGaYW79rHCjQO4xD0/s320/tiopepe01.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
NV<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Nicholas Vromanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15972169098499267195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3627038983415469893.post-55627843195562554132018-04-23T22:46:00.001-07:002021-12-11T18:08:00.716-08:00Annals of Wine Marketing #3 - Tiny's Vino Keeno<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5SE7DECGHKJUlv9RjZHK5Ry-bAqAmw8-_LVGaYc9GI6dnUaEG0TdaKtw1k3UCnmMwUx9aJgt6Tb-epAdTcFM-J4XT3xyxapop3eMiFneYb2SxerHNfd2_OfewWxBEVpFp5yCAyI4OeJAP/s1600/Tinys_vino_keeno_edit.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="419" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5SE7DECGHKJUlv9RjZHK5Ry-bAqAmw8-_LVGaYc9GI6dnUaEG0TdaKtw1k3UCnmMwUx9aJgt6Tb-epAdTcFM-J4XT3xyxapop3eMiFneYb2SxerHNfd2_OfewWxBEVpFp5yCAyI4OeJAP/s400/Tinys_vino_keeno_edit.jpg" width="238" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
Tiny Freeman was a big man. Anyone who's nickname is "Tiny" is pretty much guaranteed to be big. At 5 foot 18 inches he filled the bill - and he had a larger than life personality. A genuine character of the Seattle scene, he had a flair for doing the freaky and outrageous. He ran as the Republican congressional candidate (no real Republican bothered to register as a candidate - and he was no real Republican) in 1972. One of his planks was a muscatel maintenance program for the local street drunks. His campaign headquarters was the Central Tavern, one of Seattle's oldest watering holes, where he plotted his political career over pitchers of beer. He lost.<br />
<br />
He was a regular face on the Pioneer Square scene, working at clubs and bars. Had a radio show on the ur-indie station, KRAB. Hippies and punks called him friend. He worked railroads, tugboats and drove big rigs. And he put his name on a wine - Tiny's Vino Keeno.<br />
<br />
These were the days of Annie Green Springs and Cribari Red. The days when you could buy a pitcher of Rainer and dump a glass of NAWICO (now rebranded and known as Chateau Ste. Michelle) Loganberry Wine into it to create the nearly forgotten concoction - the Logie Flip. Tiny's Vino Keeno fit right in.<br />
<br />
The wine itself was an "apple wine with grape and other natural flavors added." Yum! It was produced by the Werberger Winery in Shelton - not too far from where the original bunch of grapes for wine production in Washington were planted in Grapeview. The winery gave up the ghost some time in the 70s, not too long after they produced Tiny's Vino Keeno. One hopes that TVK was not the cause. But the winds of change were blowing across the Washington wine biz. Things were beginning to get more sophisticated, and well... better.<br />
<br />
Tiny's Vino Keeno wasn't made for cellaring. It was for a cheap drunk. However, if anyone has a bottle squirreled away somewhere, please tell me!<br />
<br />
In the end, this business venture aimed at creating a wine for a very niche market of hippies and hangers-on was ultimately less about marketing the wine. It was about marketing Tiny.<br />
<br />
For some details about Werberger Winery, go to this <a href="http://www.vintners.net/wawine/werberger/" target="_blank">link</a>.<br />
<br />
For a reminiscence about Tiny's life and legacy, go to this <a href="http://zelsj.mlblogs.com/2013/09/16/j-j-tiny-freeman-larger-than-life/" target="_blank">link</a>.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhycvH_mBuPm5doqFXXDWxouwJ_euySy69sgzGR3upjiL2GWbCnSGGblJ_1kZ7pk6BGMH5YywLBFxecS9qKcbiYNwkzzsgvTAcvCqUTbnDXci3G-YBCXi9AiqIGeKw5egRCO7PvxnWNOmUR/s1600/Label.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhycvH_mBuPm5doqFXXDWxouwJ_euySy69sgzGR3upjiL2GWbCnSGGblJ_1kZ7pk6BGMH5YywLBFxecS9qKcbiYNwkzzsgvTAcvCqUTbnDXci3G-YBCXi9AiqIGeKw5egRCO7PvxnWNOmUR/s320/Label.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
NVNicholas Vromanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15972169098499267195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3627038983415469893.post-70937145046590130372018-04-14T10:11:00.007-07:002021-12-11T18:02:58.522-08:00Annals of Wine Marketing #2 - Akadama<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDLb5_4fwspz4fo3nv6s4NdG23aOH_mBWhU7y9BXS0H4d6LDMmiLlZ0Do0vfwaUypd078Tim_O0v5Np9OGPMHyMKwM2p-wxUxizvxtVOH4YlWhyphenhyphentopbkcyqC9QI_W9Rh4GviUPmD73oAC1/s1600/AKADAMA_sweet_wine_poster_edit.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1088" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDLb5_4fwspz4fo3nv6s4NdG23aOH_mBWhU7y9BXS0H4d6LDMmiLlZ0Do0vfwaUypd078Tim_O0v5Np9OGPMHyMKwM2p-wxUxizvxtVOH4YlWhyphenhyphentopbkcyqC9QI_W9Rh4GviUPmD73oAC1/s320/AKADAMA_sweet_wine_poster_edit.jpg" width="235" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">This is face, or to be a bit more honest, the topless torso that launched a thousand bottles of Akadama Port Wine. In 1922, this ad campaign, conceived of by Japanese marketing and design genius Toshirou Kataoka, hit the streets and bars, put prudes' and cultural gatekeepers' fundoshis in a bunch, and made Akadama the iconic wine of Japan.</span><br />
<br />
Shinjiro Torii, the founder of Suntory, started off his career to monumental failure, importing Spanish wines to Japan in 1899. Nobody liked the stuff. So he decided to craft and create something that would appeal to that particular "Japanese taste." And that was Akadama Port Wine, which he launched in 1907. A mix of grape juice, alcohol, sugar, and who knows what else, it became a kind of a middlebrow tipple for the masses who had no idea what wine should really taste like.<br />
<br />
Enter <span face="sans-serif">Toshirou Kataoka,</span> who conceptualized the famous poster. During the shooting session, he got actress and model Emiko Matsushima to strip down - first part of the shoot in full geisha regalia, then in undergarments, finally disrobed - over several hours until he got the money shot. The sepia print, the reddened jewel of the wine glass, simple type, the direct, come hither gaze - all came together perfectly. With an added bit of controversy over the nudity, it made Akadama a genuine hit.<br />
<br />
Kataoka-san would continue to make his mark on Japanese design, particularly with his series of newspaper and poster adverts for Smoca Smoker's Tooth Powder - a brand and product that's still being made! His smart designs and playful illustrations, coupled with an absurdist sense of copy and headline writing (for example - "Smoca Buddha in Nicotine Hell") are wonders to behold. Below is a gallery of some of his work. <br />
<br />
And then there's Emiko Matsushima, the woman whose image, nearly 100 years later, can be found adorning the walls of many a retro izakaya throughout Japan. She was part of a theater troupe that was contracted by Akadama to promote their product. The poster made her a bit notorious for a glorious moment. The Akadama Musical Theater folded within a few years. Life, World War II, marriage continued for her. She lived well into her 80s, retelling the stories of her life and the time when she became a phenomenon.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiouL8d9YsShwiopVoIRbnr-L9-HDMVWwbSyMnF69eIi-RptGTc4GNt_zbEcTTh73WSRlcq2GCKDa6VPo6guxHEKHzH9HUCGEKKwwmSNDAXNBzgEixp9KhGXTKNDxuAMmc6OqFd2m0PJ9cA/s1600/akadama+musical+theater.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="420" data-original-width="580" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiouL8d9YsShwiopVoIRbnr-L9-HDMVWwbSyMnF69eIi-RptGTc4GNt_zbEcTTh73WSRlcq2GCKDa6VPo6guxHEKHzH9HUCGEKKwwmSNDAXNBzgEixp9KhGXTKNDxuAMmc6OqFd2m0PJ9cA/s320/akadama+musical+theater.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Akadama Musical Theater</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixOMDdLWSGJGGZsDtjDTdsw1CwqdgqQ2S5cFozd0YJXorjLhfupLCBRbvk2zVQY6cd6XCt29RO_Ll6_hnLyD7Z0gc1hNejai2myy71cHnKS7jZmFgIXMKY2A82SCmUDMpMZcAEP-GBd3NK/s1600/C1zXZekUQAAbae1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="807" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixOMDdLWSGJGGZsDtjDTdsw1CwqdgqQ2S5cFozd0YJXorjLhfupLCBRbvk2zVQY6cd6XCt29RO_Ll6_hnLyD7Z0gc1hNejai2myy71cHnKS7jZmFgIXMKY2A82SCmUDMpMZcAEP-GBd3NK/s320/C1zXZekUQAAbae1.jpg" width="215" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmsSgSYqq2ZTG95l_OpVOIenDgicNuWn1ep8YkYyIn4GXCZV_hDHQh8nqo5FNnD_gYkRJUgV3HG1VluuYTsy7WaoFTVPEJzVnym_MC7MhjkgIUp8HON85PZDaDbHd7phQPVXB-8awuqqAo/s1600/C149Ul-VEAALRCW.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="840" data-original-width="1200" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmsSgSYqq2ZTG95l_OpVOIenDgicNuWn1ep8YkYyIn4GXCZV_hDHQh8nqo5FNnD_gYkRJUgV3HG1VluuYTsy7WaoFTVPEJzVnym_MC7MhjkgIUp8HON85PZDaDbHd7phQPVXB-8awuqqAo/s320/C149Ul-VEAALRCW.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC0X-dw2vb7BAgXhiImvC5EehIuCrvZakE80xQzORqgrea85s_nRz9YS9KH80Np3Zw95AdJCJMqzNqHmO7XtOsErerAKKFm_Rm9SlQJRvavWXZweWaUWt_HezUOn0SDy-JXJuCOPyS3Jw_/s1600/wst1405120082-p1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="564" data-original-width="600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC0X-dw2vb7BAgXhiImvC5EehIuCrvZakE80xQzORqgrea85s_nRz9YS9KH80Np3Zw95AdJCJMqzNqHmO7XtOsErerAKKFm_Rm9SlQJRvavWXZweWaUWt_HezUOn0SDy-JXJuCOPyS3Jw_/s320/wst1405120082-p1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"> Akadama wine is still being made. They dropped the designation of "port" from the name in 1973 after Portugal demanded that the word only be used to refer to true ports made in Portugal. Now it is called Akadama Sweet Wine. Click this <a href="https://www.suntory.co.jp/wine/original/akadama/index.html?__utma=134926963.1190229134.1523725457.1523725457.1523725457.1&__utmb=134926963.2.10.1523725457&__utmc=134926963&__utmx=-&__utmz=134926963.1523725457.1.1.utmcsr=google|utmccn=(organic)|utmcmd=organic|utmctr=(not%20provided)&__utmv=-&__utmk=156789627" target="_blank">link</a> to find out more than you need to know about it (in Japanese).</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiG-9hzcOEbH7fqOp7PVe8Ol37T4gnUegA3G3gOGycvEpBdYlb0xCtJJfezSWFdD14BsBh0U34iJTq2E0G3YUmRXyJs0SUDi6vkgyknlqmqsyKmuFjhfYm8RC4u7akCn8wHhOFBW9M6PJEK-Ce48S4ABdcCTGZCN07FFuQXuo9lBMqN6-ThnBdRgrABEw=s300" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="277" data-original-width="300" height="277" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiG-9hzcOEbH7fqOp7PVe8Ol37T4gnUegA3G3gOGycvEpBdYlb0xCtJJfezSWFdD14BsBh0U34iJTq2E0G3YUmRXyJs0SUDi6vkgyknlqmqsyKmuFjhfYm8RC4u7akCn8wHhOFBW9M6PJEK-Ce48S4ABdcCTGZCN07FFuQXuo9lBMqN6-ThnBdRgrABEw" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjnmDQqhchlmaqcs4VpHx3UiHq3X60y8gEd0Bn33bN-Oxu4sYDZjscHwNMXBqrsZA_BVoIhVeSLDZsaStm7Glbu-ihrmsgF_WcOH3DXXygF2umcaEyIs9WRMNegQHm6l6PHvtWWL3c-vOcootn1rB4QfF0lTqnu3ylTNa6lGAPi5U8kp9JATLTD-o6-JA=s396" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="396" data-original-width="164" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjnmDQqhchlmaqcs4VpHx3UiHq3X60y8gEd0Bn33bN-Oxu4sYDZjscHwNMXBqrsZA_BVoIhVeSLDZsaStm7Glbu-ihrmsgF_WcOH3DXXygF2umcaEyIs9WRMNegQHm6l6PHvtWWL3c-vOcootn1rB4QfF0lTqnu3ylTNa6lGAPi5U8kp9JATLTD-o6-JA=s320" width="133" /></a></div><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgneoLK2LPpTc101EPW9aoU5MVY6LIkbnA20CSBBIcUwdAwdRlBQaLUPzDg2rsM-WbnT9e2tUZZ5erbQjV45eVgUlxRgAOCNYPzQUkNcRvBdNQblV9TDWqgdS4NgJNIOMzP5hoD8mlKdxXn8b7KZ5-XQ26bI3f94ifK8JNKox4Zlo6ETiRaiupbyaZ2zw=s600" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="427" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgneoLK2LPpTc101EPW9aoU5MVY6LIkbnA20CSBBIcUwdAwdRlBQaLUPzDg2rsM-WbnT9e2tUZZ5erbQjV45eVgUlxRgAOCNYPzQUkNcRvBdNQblV9TDWqgdS4NgJNIOMzP5hoD8mlKdxXn8b7KZ5-XQ26bI3f94ifK8JNKox4Zlo6ETiRaiupbyaZ2zw=s320" width="228" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgzpVhJGvMYTzQ2np6u-FugX2qEZMmiZm9WJmQ9IMc3xfp5TxcuUs4CG4Evwmc0X_b3fU9lTyP0bM0jrlLIoGUvY3bd26j9AweahnRI1Y-G3bAgHWVcjZNme99JQNwLxtoJqKN_CWpMFSlDA8Qwg3OceayDamEJ7DaFILEvxOpWdSXsQr0vsjiAnsrPbQ=s655" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="655" data-original-width="640" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgzpVhJGvMYTzQ2np6u-FugX2qEZMmiZm9WJmQ9IMc3xfp5TxcuUs4CG4Evwmc0X_b3fU9lTyP0bM0jrlLIoGUvY3bd26j9AweahnRI1Y-G3bAgHWVcjZNme99JQNwLxtoJqKN_CWpMFSlDA8Qwg3OceayDamEJ7DaFILEvxOpWdSXsQr0vsjiAnsrPbQ=s320" width="313" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiyabxvC-W2thYp8rQvCz9_CyMZ6zobJIqOfsjKa9lDv8l5yFCNdVF5_nPyqZuXtbJkSyPObR32Z3CqtgcL3kdWFMZfN-oUoYihn5Y75O7nIZ8degKxSDW3qOtDyI6MExUE3Rjihvl1uzXOH4MezhdXuL88EzRs89YMQ6M6NtKtNtQ-6h0E2II-iZw3Ug=s396" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="396" data-original-width="284" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiyabxvC-W2thYp8rQvCz9_CyMZ6zobJIqOfsjKa9lDv8l5yFCNdVF5_nPyqZuXtbJkSyPObR32Z3CqtgcL3kdWFMZfN-oUoYihn5Y75O7nIZ8degKxSDW3qOtDyI6MExUE3Rjihvl1uzXOH4MezhdXuL88EzRs89YMQ6M6NtKtNtQ-6h0E2II-iZw3Ug=s320" width="229" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgIe8scBIQwH9Yll1TIxGF5-yqASu-heFGbfwuqnazcFno8VPKZeOrh3nJJNwuo6bY4VoD7BeQ_yMfHHeAFrwQZXQpa8GB3OyAkrLLQeResNkm_AJJcBQWFkNRQ8t71SE556DQk75MFis78aKdddYvP3fVre0M3KO0fYKFQhZlOa0vHZ8O2K6HP5cyQtQ=s396" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="396" data-original-width="253" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgIe8scBIQwH9Yll1TIxGF5-yqASu-heFGbfwuqnazcFno8VPKZeOrh3nJJNwuo6bY4VoD7BeQ_yMfHHeAFrwQZXQpa8GB3OyAkrLLQeResNkm_AJJcBQWFkNRQ8t71SE556DQk75MFis78aKdddYvP3fVre0M3KO0fYKFQhZlOa0vHZ8O2K6HP5cyQtQ=s320" width="204" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj8mcpYreuVTLtc372hyAbysmo1-duPjOPPCmiIwg3cXsvfT2aIuOvS3T9HnhuugMfg8g8R7XzWez0iHOKfjEJIz7sfIhPLslQiixKsWrRZmIh5P2jgOn1VuYE5qTG3f-j8n-am5AfzMTn3sZFPunCngjd9LvtmTnS5GOvkwS3t1un44p7hlPJQPVuugg=s450" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="269" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj8mcpYreuVTLtc372hyAbysmo1-duPjOPPCmiIwg3cXsvfT2aIuOvS3T9HnhuugMfg8g8R7XzWez0iHOKfjEJIz7sfIhPLslQiixKsWrRZmIh5P2jgOn1VuYE5qTG3f-j8n-am5AfzMTn3sZFPunCngjd9LvtmTnS5GOvkwS3t1un44p7hlPJQPVuugg=s320" width="191" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiWVWtjh-3NmZA79j4zwVLo3Fsoeiq5StnEtBYTblKU87Hl7SJQFbci6j-hRDObR_LX4jW7E-rhnr6zDNKnpnOCvByWBh199nyL5R1XGoMTVXpJNbhwJfQzQ3OXLVa8EBe6AP-FZ6VwRmlT9HDZwvd4ormqPYluNO_cu1MOIz8WSy7VaBDx2ffahyRDBw=s522" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="516" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiWVWtjh-3NmZA79j4zwVLo3Fsoeiq5StnEtBYTblKU87Hl7SJQFbci6j-hRDObR_LX4jW7E-rhnr6zDNKnpnOCvByWBh199nyL5R1XGoMTVXpJNbhwJfQzQ3OXLVa8EBe6AP-FZ6VwRmlT9HDZwvd4ormqPYluNO_cu1MOIz8WSy7VaBDx2ffahyRDBw=s320" width="316" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjcUSjVlAqTq0M0m8KEMv1c2goI7GsFgxSGSC8kUw52tt2GTxhkL0KeQaJX5M3utVLvvcxf9lfXT0ol-JaNklr0tUkdV99bwyZKBriegW2k34khusG2DSPrurV5QrGWLN_ivpV64KJdbwBiai1wzOlDfWxiJwNDX0lh0_ANpgNMqBudSRWBXHG_a13PzA=s396" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="396" data-original-width="300" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjcUSjVlAqTq0M0m8KEMv1c2goI7GsFgxSGSC8kUw52tt2GTxhkL0KeQaJX5M3utVLvvcxf9lfXT0ol-JaNklr0tUkdV99bwyZKBriegW2k34khusG2DSPrurV5QrGWLN_ivpV64KJdbwBiai1wzOlDfWxiJwNDX0lh0_ANpgNMqBudSRWBXHG_a13PzA=s320" width="242" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhSmOrvnWIcrZiTw5HXTIbVrrKtK1zFljXNVjPCiRafTWR0jeOo1Xtneoean3RA3zq5RrcjVLMSSpcK0Z5Oky5Jijo6f-RSbZEVDNryC0jP1evSV6oRpWphRSIuXBQl1ObvtEkGsQHDNsml7U1aDDujiOkyYSjawVlDw4Yrk09kW0MBGSz5yIvp0j_p5A=s396" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="396" data-original-width="164" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhSmOrvnWIcrZiTw5HXTIbVrrKtK1zFljXNVjPCiRafTWR0jeOo1Xtneoean3RA3zq5RrcjVLMSSpcK0Z5Oky5Jijo6f-RSbZEVDNryC0jP1evSV6oRpWphRSIuXBQl1ObvtEkGsQHDNsml7U1aDDujiOkyYSjawVlDw4Yrk09kW0MBGSz5yIvp0j_p5A=s320" width="133" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjGtJvAd9qsDX7GX9QG90gIk82Q_IItuC1Ugq3QyT2JAKjwIFr0aJEPdZFPZ0_bj0by-5TCY3sDAxPx83wc-cL3FgqcnfCJ1jNeHJfRSPBsxWNleQ7p5BfdFprOwwkDEfhoomVXdimDMvFvDXz75CycgbiS4Oi6Q3ZAMEW8qwe2pGhwjNknQvcQZjpU5g=s396" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="396" data-original-width="256" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjGtJvAd9qsDX7GX9QG90gIk82Q_IItuC1Ugq3QyT2JAKjwIFr0aJEPdZFPZ0_bj0by-5TCY3sDAxPx83wc-cL3FgqcnfCJ1jNeHJfRSPBsxWNleQ7p5BfdFprOwwkDEfhoomVXdimDMvFvDXz75CycgbiS4Oi6Q3ZAMEW8qwe2pGhwjNknQvcQZjpU5g=s320" width="207" /></a></div><br /></div>
NV<br />
<br />Nicholas Vromanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15972169098499267195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3627038983415469893.post-42431384079527517172018-04-10T22:00:00.000-07:002018-04-23T11:13:07.354-07:00Annals of Wine Marketing #1 - Italian Swiss Colony<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>JA</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/>
<w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/>
<w:OverrideTableStyleHps/>
<w:UseFELayout/>
</w:Compatibility>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="false"
DefSemiHidden="false" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="375">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="index 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="index 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="index 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="index 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="index 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="index 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="index 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="index 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="index 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal Indent"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="footnote text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="annotation text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="header"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="footer"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="index heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="table of figures"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="envelope address"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="envelope return"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="footnote reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="annotation reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="line number"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="page number"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="endnote reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="endnote text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="table of authorities"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="macro"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="toa heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Closing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Signature"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Message Header"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Salutation"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Date"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text First Indent"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text First Indent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Block Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Hyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="FollowedHyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Document Map"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Plain Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="E-mail Signature"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Top of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Bottom of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal (Web)"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Acronym"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Address"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Cite"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Code"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Definition"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Keyboard"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Preformatted"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Sample"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Typewriter"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Variable"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal Table"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="annotation subject"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="No List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Contemporary"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Elegant"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Professional"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Balloon Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Theme"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" QFormat="true"
Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="41" Name="Plain Table 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="42" Name="Plain Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="43" Name="Plain Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="44" Name="Plain Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="45" Name="Plain Table 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="40" Name="Grid Table Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="Grid Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="List Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="List Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="List Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Mention"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Smart Hyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Hashtag"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Unresolved Mention"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->
<style>
<!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:"Cambria Math";
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-generic-font-family:roman;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:Calibri;
panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-generic-font-family:swiss;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:-536859905 -1073732485 9 0 511 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:"Yu Mincho";
panose-1:2 2 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0;
mso-font-alt:游明朝;
mso-font-charset:128;
mso-generic-font-family:roman;
mso-font-pitch:auto;
mso-font-signature:0 0 0 0 0 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:"\@Yu Mincho";
mso-font-charset:128;
mso-generic-font-family:roman;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:-2147482905 717749503 18 0 131231 0;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{mso-style-unhide:no;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Yu Mincho";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
mso-default-props:yes;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Yu Mincho";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
@page WordSection1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in;
mso-header-margin:.5in;
mso-footer-margin:.5in;
mso-paper-source:0;}
div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}
-->
</style>
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<!--StartFragment-->
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTDNUzd7Nz_94b5ZhXOY5iL_c0FJ4L0sn605iaTL3BqUMug7C3Q8rCr0sOS2ujF630ysCNiNkIQexm9LjsUsHf4WEhOaInPZb7kdUEsJT3KySZ2CAup9pBeQd5hJeLdZc-RIicnzsp_qqZ/s1600/Italian_swiss.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTDNUzd7Nz_94b5ZhXOY5iL_c0FJ4L0sn605iaTL3BqUMug7C3Q8rCr0sOS2ujF630ysCNiNkIQexm9LjsUsHf4WEhOaInPZb7kdUEsJT3KySZ2CAup9pBeQd5hJeLdZc-RIicnzsp_qqZ/s400/Italian_swiss.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">If you were ever within 10 feet of a TV in the ‘60s, chances are
you became familiar with a tag line from one of the most successful wine
producers of the era. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“That little old winemaker, me!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #111111;">The wine, of course, was Italian Swiss Colony. TLOW was
portrayed by Ludwig Stossel, an Austrian actor who fled Europe when the Nazis came
to power in 1933 (Jim Backus of Mr. Magoo fame provided the voice). </span>Apple-cheeked
and lederhosen-clad, TLOW and his pals hinted at old-world Alpine charm within
every bottle. The older
commercials even featured yodeling. We couldn’t find any of those. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DX3Fe7p9mxc" target="_blank">Here, instead</a>, is Glenn Yarbrough singing about the love that makes the wine grapes
grow.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">By 1970, the company had said auf wiedersehen to maedchen in
dirndls and howdy to </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ksJHhIRpik" style="font-size: 12pt;" target="_blank">poncho-wearing hippies on the beach</a><span style="font-size: 12pt;">.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Another wardrobe change in 1975 - to “satin pantsuits and see-through
blouses,” Dick Cavett impersonators and the </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3XT9pB0Qpw" style="font-size: 12pt;" target="_blank">world of urban sophisticates</a><span style="font-size: 12pt;">. And... Ruby Chablis?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">The company has an interesting back story. The Italian Swiss
Colony was launched in part as an intentional community, as much social
experiment as business enterprise. Learn more of the fascinating history </span><a href="http://sonomadiscoveries.com/the-history-of-asti/" style="font-size: 12pt;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="font-size: 12pt;">. The wine company eventually was chopped up, chewed and spit out in a number of beverage-industry
mergers and acquisitions and is no more. But you can apparently still visit the
place in Sonoma County where it all began.</span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">And here’s a little </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ria_KlVhT_s" style="font-size: 12pt;" target="_blank">Dean Martin</a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> to take us out.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">VS</span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment--><br />
<br />
<style>
<!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:"Cambria Math";
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-generic-font-family:roman;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:Calibri;
panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-generic-font-family:swiss;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:-536859905 -1073732485 9 0 511 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:"Yu Mincho";
panose-1:2 2 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0;
mso-font-alt:游明朝;
mso-font-charset:128;
mso-generic-font-family:roman;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:-2147482905 717749503 18 0 131231 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:"\@Yu Mincho";
mso-font-charset:128;
mso-generic-font-family:roman;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:-2147482905 717749503 18 0 131231 0;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{mso-style-unhide:no;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Yu Mincho";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
mso-default-props:yes;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Yu Mincho";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
@page WordSection1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in;
mso-header-margin:.5in;
mso-footer-margin:.5in;
mso-paper-source:0;}
div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}
-->
</style><style>
<!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:"Cambria Math";
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-generic-font-family:roman;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:Calibri;
panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-generic-font-family:swiss;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:-536859905 -1073732485 9 0 511 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:"Yu Mincho";
panose-1:2 2 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0;
mso-font-alt:游明朝;
mso-font-charset:128;
mso-generic-font-family:roman;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:-2147482905 717749503 18 0 131231 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:"\@Yu Mincho";
mso-font-charset:128;
mso-generic-font-family:roman;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:-2147482905 717749503 18 0 131231 0;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{mso-style-unhide:no;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Yu Mincho";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:#0563C1;
mso-themecolor:hyperlink;
text-decoration:underline;
text-underline:single;}
a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed
{mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
color:#954F72;
mso-themecolor:followedhyperlink;
text-decoration:underline;
text-underline:single;}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
mso-default-props:yes;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Yu Mincho";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
@page WordSection1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in;
mso-header-margin:.5in;
mso-footer-margin:.5in;
mso-paper-source:0;}
div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}
-->
</style><style>
<!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:"Cambria Math";
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-generic-font-family:roman;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:Calibri;
panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-generic-font-family:swiss;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:-536859905 -1073732485 9 0 511 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:"Yu Mincho";
panose-1:2 2 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0;
mso-font-alt:游明朝;
mso-font-charset:128;
mso-generic-font-family:roman;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:-2147482905 717749503 18 0 131231 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:"\@Yu Mincho";
mso-font-charset:128;
mso-generic-font-family:roman;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:-2147482905 717749503 18 0 131231 0;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{mso-style-unhide:no;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Yu Mincho";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
mso-default-props:yes;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Yu Mincho";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
@page WordSection1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in;
mso-header-margin:.5in;
mso-footer-margin:.5in;
mso-paper-source:0;}
div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}
-->
</style><style>
<!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:"Cambria Math";
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-generic-font-family:roman;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:Calibri;
panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-generic-font-family:swiss;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:-536859905 -1073732485 9 0 511 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:"Yu Mincho";
panose-1:2 2 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0;
mso-font-alt:游明朝;
mso-font-charset:128;
mso-generic-font-family:roman;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:-2147482905 717749503 18 0 131231 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:"\@Yu Mincho";
mso-font-charset:128;
mso-generic-font-family:roman;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:-2147482905 717749503 18 0 131231 0;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{mso-style-unhide:no;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Yu Mincho";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
mso-default-props:yes;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Yu Mincho";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
@page WordSection1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in;
mso-header-margin:.5in;
mso-footer-margin:.5in;
mso-paper-source:0;}
div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}
-->
</style>Virginia Sorrellshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10072724617290853444noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3627038983415469893.post-9046724527948154272016-09-03T21:11:00.001-07:002016-09-03T21:11:42.475-07:00The Modern World - 1936<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuHpYB9PpAacFfZStVLY-JOLEdeBK-xpnPWCTzP3l8sY2w-vaXGwMGEA9X-zvtzdrFT_9kDRFCy1H-7yML7BBhExjMXnUEVU3uDZBYhMkSP1gxmUMSiaQV-vOhLRu1w8wwYaAm9YhpUT-4/s1600/OMOSHIROGARA_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuHpYB9PpAacFfZStVLY-JOLEdeBK-xpnPWCTzP3l8sY2w-vaXGwMGEA9X-zvtzdrFT_9kDRFCy1H-7yML7BBhExjMXnUEVU3uDZBYhMkSP1gxmUMSiaQV-vOhLRu1w8wwYaAm9YhpUT-4/s400/OMOSHIROGARA_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mens' omoshirogara hanten (inside out)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Omoshirogara (おもしろ柄) is a Japanese fabric tradition that flourished in the early part of the 20th century - and there's still a little bit of it going on now. It comes from the words "omoshiro" (meaning interesting, fascinating, fun, amusing) and "gara" (pattern). It includes kid-oriented fabrics with images from old folk tales; fabrics commemorating historical events and sports firsts; and fabrics used as propaganda, celebrating battles and campaigns, often connecting ancient samurai culture and contemporary warfare, or just showing off the fleet and the armaments of a growing militaristic culture.<br />
<br />
And there were a lot of fabrics celebrating modernity. By the end of the Meiji era (1912), through the Taisho (1912 - 1926) and beyond, Japan leapt into the brave new world of the 20th century. This tumultuous time was documented and commented upon in the arts, literature and design. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDwnqX6kyX7yDXL6M4J5zuF-WOXzNuMAc5-uAMn4v-tpIE37trffzRYAWEfBYHiGoJ3dbH2g8HgryAsmmiUz7PNMiQF_IhrWpvM1e1OKSi0CK4hG_Y5a62y9ngS8NSTt7BVyNF9tq9rQaf/s1600/OMOSHIROGARA_2_sm.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDwnqX6kyX7yDXL6M4J5zuF-WOXzNuMAc5-uAMn4v-tpIE37trffzRYAWEfBYHiGoJ3dbH2g8HgryAsmmiUz7PNMiQF_IhrWpvM1e1OKSi0CK4hG_Y5a62y9ngS8NSTt7BVyNF9tq9rQaf/s400/OMOSHIROGARA_2_sm.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
We came across this men's hanten, its lining patterned with images of trains, automobiles, cable tramway cars and planes. The illustration are fun and futuristic, celebrating an idea of a modern world that has long since past. But they also document a time and place where these aspects of a rapidly changing world were noted, commemorated and meant to be worn close to the heart.<br />
<br />
At first we thought these illustrations seemed a bit generic - perhaps an artist's flight of fancy. But they were actually grounded in what was going on at the time. With a little sleuthing, we learned why these images were deemed important enough to print on a garment.<br />
<br />
First up is an illustration of a train. It's a C55. These train engines were produced in Japan between 1934 and 1937. The trains were identified by the number on the front of the boiler. For this illustration, the artist took a bit of license and labeled it C55 86. Only 62 were ever produced. Nonetheless, this train, though still a steamer, was a leap forward in power and design. It could cruise along at a cool 90 kph. The last of them operated on regular runs until the mid-70s<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgduOMAGO48gcOVc-5pCyGcA2nmcSOIl9RIk0nFRSvzm5yBNeNcQ6Xrpc6SnLU6Nu42iQjEFLsGFExwKVyccyYhqF5uHhHTS0PxxJJubR7XsMBiWNE_M49uQHD2bWGPTcBhVxvyLR6HKoHD/s1600/160831_Omoshirogara_Train_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgduOMAGO48gcOVc-5pCyGcA2nmcSOIl9RIk0nFRSvzm5yBNeNcQ6Xrpc6SnLU6Nu42iQjEFLsGFExwKVyccyYhqF5uHhHTS0PxxJJubR7XsMBiWNE_M49uQHD2bWGPTcBhVxvyLR6HKoHD/s400/160831_Omoshirogara_Train_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsXMO1rSxNyTtiVoBwUsG_QUPQExR-DGELjcfXWlwHmKE1RuDc0Lgre7SIReojuUKyEyeadYMoNVce-82Wb80TMJLMzMIwrQSu7vKz15-apXUzDRlmWJ78Bn6-Z2u6yRCdgvA0gEzb5Jpw/s1600/C55-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsXMO1rSxNyTtiVoBwUsG_QUPQExR-DGELjcfXWlwHmKE1RuDc0Lgre7SIReojuUKyEyeadYMoNVce-82Wb80TMJLMzMIwrQSu7vKz15-apXUzDRlmWJ78Bn6-Z2u6yRCdgvA0gEzb5Jpw/s400/C55-1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">C55 Train</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
On the sleeve of this garment is another pattern - this one with dogs, kids toys and an image of a streamlined train. This "go stop train" illustration, again, is of a C55. Streamlined modernity hit Japan hard in the 1930s. C55 numbers 20 through 40 were fitted with deco features, a bit reminiscent of Raymond Loewey's magnificent <a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/21/PRR-S1-Loewy.jpg" target="_blank">streamlined locomotive of 1936</a>. Loewy would come to Japan after the war and leave his indelible mark with the iconic package design of <a href="http://ajimi-japan.blogspot.jp/2009/05/peace.html" target="_blank">Peace cigarettes</a>.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-Zsii7Zy_taeOs0sEvYRIQM6Bl_3so9bdOQd60pYklYcpSTSghaYXCzCJD6pLkrySorsiUa925q8V39mgKtjXKOPmAubhz6J0tuMo9t9skk3n8z-11fmV5bl6FoC57Bi6Xd-hmQjI3V_P/s1600/160831_Omoshirogara_Streamline_Train.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-Zsii7Zy_taeOs0sEvYRIQM6Bl_3so9bdOQd60pYklYcpSTSghaYXCzCJD6pLkrySorsiUa925q8V39mgKtjXKOPmAubhz6J0tuMo9t9skk3n8z-11fmV5bl6FoC57Bi6Xd-hmQjI3V_P/s400/160831_Omoshirogara_Streamline_Train.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr3mIPElgcndR33clOPTb-86ITi8m7gqZWTNEScoR4dZ1RhmlVJIOosDNp3KK0Hbpk6MuHKH5_RoV7K3ZjyrlvwwByVBSpTg4q0cOBBBYj55EDs6MUSTbQ3RtoCi-U_MbXcjnR_xnJPlMO/s1600/C55-Streamline.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr3mIPElgcndR33clOPTb-86ITi8m7gqZWTNEScoR4dZ1RhmlVJIOosDNp3KK0Hbpk6MuHKH5_RoV7K3ZjyrlvwwByVBSpTg4q0cOBBBYj55EDs6MUSTbQ3RtoCi-U_MbXcjnR_xnJPlMO/s400/C55-Streamline.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">C55 Streamline Train</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
In the 1930s, cars, too, began to move from the flivvers of old to new streamlined designs. In 1936 Ford introduced its thoroughly modern Lincoln Zephyr. But more importantly, De Soto started manufacturing its Airflow in 1934. Its look was pretty revolutionary. The designers at Toyota took a good hard look at it and in 1936 came up with the Toyota AA, from the outside almost an exact copy. Here, the illustrator seems to be copying an Airflow, but it's awful close to a Toyota AA.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIhd3YV176p8fSA34QAvpGW8_I9MT9b8pdA66o0QK8H6Wdlybf5MF0QHmF4WbdBKN03g0fPYDlzsPjj6DwzjVhElgCqKYDisWXfvjSxZoXtnJo92CA55kjSJtO2HbEXXtu10HHqkawebtE/s1600/160831_Omoshirogara_Car_Funicular.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIhd3YV176p8fSA34QAvpGW8_I9MT9b8pdA66o0QK8H6Wdlybf5MF0QHmF4WbdBKN03g0fPYDlzsPjj6DwzjVhElgCqKYDisWXfvjSxZoXtnJo92CA55kjSJtO2HbEXXtu10HHqkawebtE/s400/160831_Omoshirogara_Car_Funicular.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGKtHilIXD6l9T_tD2MZADEfTpi-ikb2lVpIf4c4jX49VRhVpeAKs-V2YzAhBBeqjVEH2CyJTUCp9thu5QvrI7CdaAzOmj9kVJALVYJ1g0pOAKt08DFDmeAZ-InewbDXA31K2H9PxdFzAm/s1600/34-DeSoto-Airflow-SE_Coupe-DV-08_GMG_03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGKtHilIXD6l9T_tD2MZADEfTpi-ikb2lVpIf4c4jX49VRhVpeAKs-V2YzAhBBeqjVEH2CyJTUCp9thu5QvrI7CdaAzOmj9kVJALVYJ1g0pOAKt08DFDmeAZ-InewbDXA31K2H9PxdFzAm/s400/34-DeSoto-Airflow-SE_Coupe-DV-08_GMG_03.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">DeSoto Airflow</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-mieNEkyMEVpWThGZdF8pL3RMtidrG_hUj8egzlNsouxPXxYDeZnXRjSQ9PZFJtAAdo16EiFLrB4OfTux-n8EEcyrhQdKv2f2c1OQrzrCn9l1veeb6E5BfEhE4Fr2BOnVAPPXqqwr948b/s1600/Toyota_Model_AA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-mieNEkyMEVpWThGZdF8pL3RMtidrG_hUj8egzlNsouxPXxYDeZnXRjSQ9PZFJtAAdo16EiFLrB4OfTux-n8EEcyrhQdKv2f2c1OQrzrCn9l1veeb6E5BfEhE4Fr2BOnVAPPXqqwr948b/s400/Toyota_Model_AA.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Toyota AA</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
And finally, there's an illustration of the China Clipper, which Pan Am introduced for the first trans-Pacific air mail service (from San Francisco to Manila) in 1934. Though the Clipper didn't stop in Japan, it was the harbinger of a faster, more connected world, that would soon reach its apogee, only to run headlong into the disruption of World War II. But the advances made during wartime, in the massive transport of people and materials, would morph soon after the war into the transport of business people and vacationers.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzGxAwFdEN4F7xHo-jLW8NtYjrV6EGNBXG8N0hgBvsc9RKRDy76uKQXmCE1onZlIVnJFQqx5NVt7-BtpHAwdDZ26-Yggk0WZ4tdsLvABlRS0ZweqgWz_D_oHCGUICTHA_umDRXPCkIoNqq/s1600/160831_Omoshirogara_Clipper.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzGxAwFdEN4F7xHo-jLW8NtYjrV6EGNBXG8N0hgBvsc9RKRDy76uKQXmCE1onZlIVnJFQqx5NVt7-BtpHAwdDZ26-Yggk0WZ4tdsLvABlRS0ZweqgWz_D_oHCGUICTHA_umDRXPCkIoNqq/s400/160831_Omoshirogara_Clipper.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZo8qYgGp2GOE2fpMNtrMg3bTlMOy14qfRinc05ylyLGkroXUyDdaPsVqLu4hjLjF9-skkRBDBNRTLwncUranxtmHk57wflGV5WewZGtgsmzNVPTVhK_6tKycLnjMaQ2QSIqWf_wNE2j2Q/s1600/cc2-card.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZo8qYgGp2GOE2fpMNtrMg3bTlMOy14qfRinc05ylyLGkroXUyDdaPsVqLu4hjLjF9-skkRBDBNRTLwncUranxtmHk57wflGV5WewZGtgsmzNVPTVhK_6tKycLnjMaQ2QSIqWf_wNE2j2Q/s400/cc2-card.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">China Clipper</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Every picture tells a story and serves as a window into a particular time. This time - 1936. The promise of progress would soon be undone by the horrors of World War II. In this fabric are images of the best, coolest and most modern transportation of the particular world that was Japan at that time. Trains, cars, planes. Things that connect the world becoming more efficient, looking more beautiful, speaking to a better world tomorrow.<br />
<br />
NV Nicholas Vromanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15972169098499267195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3627038983415469893.post-12568661526575672882016-08-14T02:06:00.000-07:002016-11-22T17:08:15.603-08:00Textile Trails<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;">Once upon a time in Japan, pilgrims donned handwoven hemp jackets like this as they traveled from temple to temple. At each stop, the jacket would be stamped or inscribed with sutras. These days, pilgrims generally carry books to receive such blessings. This jacket was probably made around 1900. We'll post more lore about this piece as we uncover it. Stay tuned!</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">VS</span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGSGcPoFwe0rhvqhbn5W6iKrIhdsMDIbollbBRQpsH2qu4v9INNAt4QvClCMnPFCY0UrT6JkXHa6IuPNtZShWMBcjGwm8xXuQXJXUKi5T7aZzTd0y1lA1uhU8x7U7ilHpVelXs569Fb2lL/s1600/IMG_0028.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGSGcPoFwe0rhvqhbn5W6iKrIhdsMDIbollbBRQpsH2qu4v9INNAt4QvClCMnPFCY0UrT6JkXHa6IuPNtZShWMBcjGwm8xXuQXJXUKi5T7aZzTd0y1lA1uhU8x7U7ilHpVelXs569Fb2lL/s320/IMG_0028.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4m5vOjONc1LDc2NvJGgREHnwTBO7e1f1UTDHMz8P6WhyKZYiJY_y_H2OkiF720X9AEfpPvvQL6roCmCiFqMXw5s_MHVDIO9QSHwNqEXlHYq8JUP2v9M_iSgTsJbgoslgnve9ao8Y8r_I0/s1600/IMG_0029.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4m5vOjONc1LDc2NvJGgREHnwTBO7e1f1UTDHMz8P6WhyKZYiJY_y_H2OkiF720X9AEfpPvvQL6roCmCiFqMXw5s_MHVDIO9QSHwNqEXlHYq8JUP2v9M_iSgTsJbgoslgnve9ao8Y8r_I0/s320/IMG_0029.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimaawEAxbj7qtfRI-2dBvjCfwsgHlwRwILeBb7B3ljQFmj3giUJx8gU_-ZWTqgMVgw8seg9MsU0Ly5iYvYixlIt-s7SC8fVh46RZr_G2M4RZK8o0BewzWc00QnsONCvMrtM4ZpHF1w5pTL/s1600/IMG_0027.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimaawEAxbj7qtfRI-2dBvjCfwsgHlwRwILeBb7B3ljQFmj3giUJx8gU_-ZWTqgMVgw8seg9MsU0Ly5iYvYixlIt-s7SC8fVh46RZr_G2M4RZK8o0BewzWc00QnsONCvMrtM4ZpHF1w5pTL/s320/IMG_0027.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Virginia Sorrellshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10072724617290853444noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3627038983415469893.post-82831300603685268112016-07-09T18:38:00.000-07:002016-07-14T21:43:25.569-07:00Mr. Abe's Neighborhood<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1GwuHPLBoiTp8Zx2WGDV8vd5Ak5yIvot3m1SNFAau8AEXAwQ0d82EKmjv4RMbxAiw92QPbVq1whBPa9jkuLj5jaoTfRc5tNplxDg5O0n9sv4pzJEWa4Wg760RA-dfyoJj88NIX3-OO-JK/s1600/_Screenshot+2016-07-05+15.22.40.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="201" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1GwuHPLBoiTp8Zx2WGDV8vd5Ak5yIvot3m1SNFAau8AEXAwQ0d82EKmjv4RMbxAiw92QPbVq1whBPa9jkuLj5jaoTfRc5tNplxDg5O0n9sv4pzJEWa4Wg760RA-dfyoJj88NIX3-OO-JK/s400/_Screenshot+2016-07-05+15.22.40.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
The Ajimi team found a trio of komebukuro, which are decorative patchwork bags meant to carry rice as offerings to temples and shrines. The lining of each bag was inscribed with the name of a man, Abe Sukezo; his business, Abe Beikokusho (a rice shop); some dates, March and April 1915; and some vague addresses that didn't quite tell us where his stomping grounds were. Our conjectures about Abe-san's life and the bags themselves appeared in a previous post, <a href="http://ajimi-japan.blogspot.jp/2016/05/history-embellished.html" target="_blank">History Embellished</a>.<br />
<br />
Friends who read Japanese better than we do set us straight on the place names - and helped us do some Google-sleuthing. Lo and behold, we found the neighborhood - even if we didn't find Abe-san's shop.<br />
<br />
We now had two place names to work with: Shirone and Ichinocho.<br />
<br />
The pieces fell into place pretty quickly. Abe-san lived and worked in the city of Niigata in Minami ward, about 7 or 8 kilometers from the city center. The neighborhood is a bit of a backwater, and was probably even more so a hundred years ago.<br />
<br />
Ichinocho 1-chome was written on the linings of two bags and Inaricho 3-chome on the other. These are two different blocks in the same general area.<br />
<br />
The 1-chome address is largely occupied by a shrine. Did Abe-san write down the destination for the rice rather than his own address?<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUN3li6msTR0PjPXPeIKYeoHbCjqbmnbeEbTOqcuAXuL20d91fJ68VfWlTZkHw3LEnDtujLKy7ijTWQo7RvYhjIDW5BKuPXIFbaqYhyzo4g51zG4dIhnXIgK1ZM_-DY4lcFqYOlnLBWNLM/s1600/_Screenshot+2016-07-05+15.24.06.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="201" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUN3li6msTR0PjPXPeIKYeoHbCjqbmnbeEbTOqcuAXuL20d91fJ68VfWlTZkHw3LEnDtujLKy7ijTWQo7RvYhjIDW5BKuPXIFbaqYhyzo4g51zG4dIhnXIgK1ZM_-DY4lcFqYOlnLBWNLM/s400/_Screenshot+2016-07-05+15.24.06.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
However, in 3-chome, a classic run-down block of mostly shuttered businesses, one building was identified on Google Maps as a rice shop. It's the one on the left, below. It appears to have been closed for some time. Was this Abe-san's place of business?<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl8IP8rzr2BPrlFFAijGYUa_NC4jZJ1yf90n2ajBaaadnN0G_eHigfbqiGzr_Pzop4eb92hozla06ZmrQMvP9Rg5DwJ0hocwq0JOcZGD1zM1QicGWtkhrg157x_q5vZcKFUuMzWk3q8yDV/s1600/_Screenshot+2016-07-05+15.29.44.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="201" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl8IP8rzr2BPrlFFAijGYUa_NC4jZJ1yf90n2ajBaaadnN0G_eHigfbqiGzr_Pzop4eb92hozla06ZmrQMvP9Rg5DwJ0hocwq0JOcZGD1zM1QicGWtkhrg157x_q5vZcKFUuMzWk3q8yDV/s400/_Screenshot+2016-07-05+15.29.44.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
We did find, a short toss of a rice bag away, a genuine, old-fashioned, still-functioning rice shop associated with someone named Takahiro. We like to imagine Abe-san and his family had a place like this.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWaG36kYhOzdaIFoLUtcIQxH5eIbWJcjzrx0LMGL-Dtn5imnoi9VcPXFLcTLjOj0VT9dL_Ecdq58zdVV5gHI6ntJUy8eWxFwo6nL49kNNk7_tkZKTSpNqmqNHZ0eAdS7ZW4zp_fOqueawN/s1600/_Screenshot+2016-07-05+15.37.43.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="201" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWaG36kYhOzdaIFoLUtcIQxH5eIbWJcjzrx0LMGL-Dtn5imnoi9VcPXFLcTLjOj0VT9dL_Ecdq58zdVV5gHI6ntJUy8eWxFwo6nL49kNNk7_tkZKTSpNqmqNHZ0eAdS7ZW4zp_fOqueawN/s400/_Screenshot+2016-07-05+15.37.43.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Here's a <a href="https://www.google.co.jp/maps/place/Ichinoch%C5%8D+1+Shirone,+Minami-ku,+Niigata-shi,+Niigata-ken+950-1217/@37.7596955,139.0022564,15z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x5ff4dcdc9cbf60c1:0x6045ee151e6f5de0!8m2!3d37.7588322!4d139.0112258" target="_blank">link to the neighborhood </a>in Google Maps. Please visit, and let us know what you find.<br />
<br />
NVNicholas Vromanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15972169098499267195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3627038983415469893.post-32242537275667892722016-06-10T13:19:00.001-07:002021-12-30T13:21:52.619-08:00In Praise of Korokke<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v2762/50/120/1546478016/n1546478016_1417542_5579848.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 302px; height: 213px;" src="http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v2762/50/120/1546478016/n1546478016_1417542_5579848.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a>Our good friend, Kiyo Marsh, is publishing a cookbook - tentatively titled <i>Goddesses in Grundens </i>. The cookbook relates her experience cooking in the galley of a crab boat that she and her sister, Tomi, ran off the coast of Alaska a few years ago. Anecdotes, peppered with recipes, lore and a healthy respect for the legacy of the comfort food (fried baloney with soy sauce, anyone?) she grew up with in a Japanese-American household are the heart and soul of her new book. She wrote us the other day asking for some background on korokke (コロッケ) - potato croquettes - one of the great and simple crossover food pleasures found throughout Japan. <div>
</div><div>So, the Ajimi team did a little research. </div><div>
</div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/Korokke.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 302px; height: 213px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/Korokke.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a>Its history in Japan is not very precise. At first thought we conjectured that it may have been introduced along with tempura by the Portuguese in the mid 16th century. But it doesn't appear to have been.
Most online sources put its introduction to Japan in the Meiji era (1869-1912). Apparently a recipe for korokke appears in an 1895 cookbook. Takaoka, a city in Gifu prefecture is making a bit of a claim as the place where where Japanese korokke started. There's a local chain there promoting Takaoka korokke and they have a winter festival at their main temple where one of the featured foods is the daibutsu korokke (the big Buddha korokke). According to the Takaoka Korokke (the chain restaurant) business website there is a reference in a newspaper dated 1900 of a western-style restaurant selling korokke - on the second floor to be exact. It makes a bit of sense as Takaoka was an important port during the early industrialization of Japan. Seems like things western could have been easily introduced there.
Moving into the Taisho era, there was a novelty hit called "The Song of the Korokke" in 1917. The song's popularity led to a popularity of consumption. This hit simultaneously with the introduction and popularization of kare risu and other things from beyond Japan's borders. We haven't found the original recording of the song, but here's a version -
<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/aY66ixyTdZI&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/aY66ixyTdZI&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
Like many humble foods, there is an essence of the sublime in these mashed potato fritters. The Japanese stye can be perfectly simple or enhanced with either shrimp, crab or meat - often served with a squeeze of Bulldog Sauce, the sweet thick soy variation favored with fried foods. A personal favorite is korroke pan - your basic bun with a couple of korroke in it. We love our potatoes and bread.</div><div>
</div><div>Of course, we at Ajimi love our mashed potato fritters in many styles, not just the Japanese way. Noted are cuchifritos, the great Puerto Rican fast food we've found wandering the the Lower East Side in New York. Rellenos de papa (a tennis ball sized fritter of spiced meat covered with potato mash and breading) and alcapurrias (made with taro) are a couple of favorites. </div><div>
</div><div>And then there's this place in Madrid that we were told had the best croquetas in the city. It's a funky little bar on the Calle de Esparteros, near the Plaza Mayor, where a copa and a plate of fritters come cheap. Little fingers of breaded bechamel creamed spuds are all they are. And yes, they are the best.</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>NV
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3627038983415469893.post-38680714418285285982016-05-01T23:19:00.000-07:002016-07-14T21:43:44.521-07:00History, Embellished<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjomqWFe8e31PSPBOsNf-lmJxqfojCV2y4LIPwyPbpNAMCBGAEtNitq0yiK96u8FRs4kyvfKvuZ-06pi93-iuG-0WoCbW6eDB2W1atUnRsdUk8a5XXYLiqKjn1xuWKK6mnxvX33_kWXXYPi/s1600/_P4170007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjomqWFe8e31PSPBOsNf-lmJxqfojCV2y4LIPwyPbpNAMCBGAEtNitq0yiK96u8FRs4kyvfKvuZ-06pi93-iuG-0WoCbW6eDB2W1atUnRsdUk8a5XXYLiqKjn1xuWKK6mnxvX33_kWXXYPi/s400/_P4170007.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvb8JjpxeT5QARhc__AgjXCbu06VtaXl2JATtZAHXU5JEpH1YtKmCwEkOb8gyYh-enxKrm4kw3VdeBV68tYhRrVX80ZHXe6ZWdWNbtEhufpgXpuWrYHwOjE33FpZq-w9LK9OZTyaf4M3DO/s1600/_P4170029.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvb8JjpxeT5QARhc__AgjXCbu06VtaXl2JATtZAHXU5JEpH1YtKmCwEkOb8gyYh-enxKrm4kw3VdeBV68tYhRrVX80ZHXe6ZWdWNbtEhufpgXpuWrYHwOjE33FpZq-w9LK9OZTyaf4M3DO/s400/_P4170029.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3YKhb85XkudAp4JHLh0mIm2fm9kigd8LyQTRYG1uTT-wKbHdQGcybMYlY9CjBgnr0jhZzZumoGwDo8VRHz_iYnIP_m2bEORoU5aCb-FcATEj3nf9pODXLIBX30B6SiIq_XM8eYeOi3Kdf/s1600/_P4170040.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3YKhb85XkudAp4JHLh0mIm2fm9kigd8LyQTRYG1uTT-wKbHdQGcybMYlY9CjBgnr0jhZzZumoGwDo8VRHz_iYnIP_m2bEORoU5aCb-FcATEj3nf9pODXLIBX30B6SiIq_XM8eYeOi3Kdf/s400/_P4170040.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Let's say you were a prosperous rice merchant named Abe Sukezo, living in Japan in the early years of the 20th century. You'd be expected to make offerings to the local temple, assuring not only continued good fortune, but establishing your presence and beneficence as an upstanding member of your community. Your offering? Rice, of course. It was not only your business, but a form of currency in a land where it was the main food staple. You'd bring your offering in a special bag, a komebukuro - a patchwork of fine fabrics from retired kimonos worn by the women of your household.<br />
<br />
The Ajimi team came across a trio of Abe-san's komebukuro about 100 years later. We put together his story from the things he wrote on the linings of the bags - his name and that of his business, his address and the date. His shop was called Abe Beikokusho. It was located in Shiranemachi, Sannocho. Two of the bags were dated March, the 4th year of the Taisho era, or 1915. We put on our detective hats to track down the exact location of the shop. We did find Abe Beikoku, a rice business in Yamagata. Is it the same business?
There are few Shiranemachis and Sannochos around Japan, none corresponding to the same location. Names change. Townships and neighborhoods are subdivided and incorporated, their original identities disappearing from the collective memory.<br />
<br />
However, some evidence gets left behind - here in a trio of komebukuro. Each tells its own story, about the fabrics it was made from and the women who wore them, of the man who carefully wrote his name, address and the date inside, of life at the beginning a century of profound change.<br />
<br />
Imagine Sukezo-san, dressed in his finest kimono. It's a fine, sunny day in March. The air is still a little winter brisk. He's walking to the temple with his wife and young daughter. He carries a komebukuro filled with rice, the bag's rich silk patchwork contrasting with his dark haori. His wife carries a similar bag. Her simple pale green kimono is offset by a bold haori splashed with branches of red and pink cherry blossoms. Their daughter follows behind with a smaller offering, in a garment strewn with white ume blossoms, symbols of spring. They make their rounds - the temple, a tea house, a sake merchant, then return to their home above the rice shop.<br />
<br />
Stories are found in any number of things. Sometimes they're obvious. Sometimes you have to do a bit of sleuthing. And when the reasearch only takes you so far, you sometimes have to let your imagination fill in the rest.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA2NCocBN5ATFvkOEDLpkSauKvaeQsgKCtekD5K2qzZVJeyQVjk6BKrnG8pWFGxu6VirZi8yq23hv0LDbW45QMFUSNu5oklkqNwh34d88C0zLvz2g5bqWvDSw3__MmZjS6lrmCzq51KBYC/s1600/_P4170002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA2NCocBN5ATFvkOEDLpkSauKvaeQsgKCtekD5K2qzZVJeyQVjk6BKrnG8pWFGxu6VirZi8yq23hv0LDbW45QMFUSNu5oklkqNwh34d88C0zLvz2g5bqWvDSw3__MmZjS6lrmCzq51KBYC/s400/_P4170002.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5j77C2Wlslj3UpHLC0p0cEoM9a4nsFL37IXwU-fzHcZBz6DLkCOUQeg8GWp5YquybRI31vd5CRe3eCDOZQCDCI5T2tG7Er7TajdfRHncGHJAnFgZS15jVKnlvzXfuTsUGIN_T3kvimFpV/s1600/_P4170009.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5j77C2Wlslj3UpHLC0p0cEoM9a4nsFL37IXwU-fzHcZBz6DLkCOUQeg8GWp5YquybRI31vd5CRe3eCDOZQCDCI5T2tG7Er7TajdfRHncGHJAnFgZS15jVKnlvzXfuTsUGIN_T3kvimFpV/s400/_P4170009.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXwv1pw3hCTca64qSHbm-xbspINtfwjs7EjCM9mtxlsWCOs8tZJ19AGmukAESsFJESniPxazeoitn18xwYgg25sUEZgRLvjJmD_n0k-3rGPIwDPCrPbIyQJJ92tOSUWeFtBybR6HKaSEpt/s1600/_P4170011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXwv1pw3hCTca64qSHbm-xbspINtfwjs7EjCM9mtxlsWCOs8tZJ19AGmukAESsFJESniPxazeoitn18xwYgg25sUEZgRLvjJmD_n0k-3rGPIwDPCrPbIyQJJ92tOSUWeFtBybR6HKaSEpt/s400/_P4170011.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYMjy3EvxV4hBDEly8L1fK_trHCFGD4_KdVKSwU3-eZ7BFce3KNDft4UIZzJTFP5Y8O-OJ_VAumH0opI2ZzSttlJUK5ORW8ndpH3EVPnyBFfNvVm6MpibKM78zDNghcsrS-XBeCQCqFGt3/s1600/_P4170037.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYMjy3EvxV4hBDEly8L1fK_trHCFGD4_KdVKSwU3-eZ7BFce3KNDft4UIZzJTFP5Y8O-OJ_VAumH0opI2ZzSttlJUK5ORW8ndpH3EVPnyBFfNvVm6MpibKM78zDNghcsrS-XBeCQCqFGt3/s400/_P4170037.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr6umVFTE8b06QrgvmVhYxHujjrvWR6Fy2zN60skHZAXEr_b-AuSCb7gRA_aFKs06Us-_fFdwELWsacTBvztteBVCY9YUJSylFVTyRl6EiAqNZI7xTK6sj-doiNjkjj7toNdkXLXXnplle/s1600/_P4170045.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr6umVFTE8b06QrgvmVhYxHujjrvWR6Fy2zN60skHZAXEr_b-AuSCb7gRA_aFKs06Us-_fFdwELWsacTBvztteBVCY9YUJSylFVTyRl6EiAqNZI7xTK6sj-doiNjkjj7toNdkXLXXnplle/s400/_P4170045.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
NVNicholas Vromanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15972169098499267195noreply@blogger.com0