Wise & Otherwise
Philip E. Hiaring
Good Work. Novartis Corp., makers of Flint[TM] fungicide, got a “Best of NAMA” (National Agri-Marketing Assn.) award in the New Product Introduction category.
Rutherford Dust Society. You’ll no doubt be pleased to know such an organization exists. And it has its own Web site! That would be rutherforddust.org; Jeremy Benson is executive director. The org reps some 100 growers and wineries. Those who click on the site can get the history of the appellation and more.
Adios, Chickens. Following attacks mainly on children, the chickens of the square in Sonoma have been removed and placed in “foster” farms. I cry “fowl” here. Seems some roosters harmed the kids with talons and beaks. A former city councilman, Bob Cannard, who raises chickens at home, said the aggressiveness of the roosters was caused by a lack of hens. That figures. Some Sonoma politicians, who tried previously to get the flock out of there, “crowed” about the new decision. On the other hand, don’t be surprised if some scalawag drops off some birds, in the square, in the heat of the night. All is not dull in historic Sonoma County, not by a long shot. Somehow, an emu got loose on Guerneville Road out of Santa Rosa. It made a break, but was grabbed by police officers and reps from the Humane Society. We thank compliance ace Jackie Lee for these gems. On the other hand, one day in May we watched two female peacocks strut though our parking lot. Where they came from, we don’t know. Maybe headed for Sonoma?
Sorry We Missed It. That would be a professional camel race in Australia. The purse was 30 grand for the Boulia Desert Sand 2000 race July 14-16. The Australian Tourist Commission in L.A. has details on this and other fascinating events Down Under. The e-mail for Michelle Silberman is msilberman@atc.gov.au.
Web-based Marketing Degree. Leave it to the Australians. Now, there’s a Web-based wine marketing degree offered by the University of South Australia. For details, contact the Web site at wine.unisa.edu.au or e-mail Dr. Larry Lockshin at Larry.Lockshin@unisa.edu.au. How curious and bizarre….
“Mission Impossible”. Malvadino Vineyards in Murphys, Calif. has gotten the ok from the feds to use the “Mission Impossible” name for its Mission varietals. “Mission Impossible” was a long-time tv series that developed into a flick in ’96, and a sequel was released in May. There isn’t a lot of the wine available–just 80 cases from ’98 were produced. Mission is a historic, if undistinguished, grape that was planted by Franciscan missionaries in the United States and Mexico for sacramental wines.
Confused. Don’t know about you, but I’m confused about all the e-commerce outfits. There are so many it’s hard to keep ’em straight. Well, the same is true in the United Kingdom, per Harpers. Here’s the list: Bordeauxdirect.co.uk, bbr.com, Waitrose.com, ChateauOnline.co.uk, Orgasmic.wines.com (?), Madaboutwine.com, Itswine.com and Wineandco.com.
COPYRIGHT 2000 Hiaring Company
COPYRIGHT 2000 Gale Group
