The Zinquisition: NAPA Sharpshooter alert!

The Zinquisition

Various ruminations and observations regarding the bizarre and otherwise incomprehensible happenings in the wine industry.

SAINT VINI'S CREDO I believe that wine is a beverage that should be enjoyed frequently, alone or with meals. I believe that wine, since it is made from a fruit, should produce a liquid reminiscent of that fruit, not cedar, moss, pipe tobacco, barnyards, manure, pencil lead, or band aids. As such, I believe that good wine can come from any country, but it must be labeled in such a way that the consumer doesn't need an atlas and a wine encyclopedia to figure out what's in the bottle. I believe that the United States should not trail the civilized world in wine consumption per capita and that neo-prohibitionists, wine snobs, and liquor distributors are all joined in a trilateral commission to hinder wine consumption. I believe that wine needs to lose its elitist image by embracing alternative packaging, alternative closures, non-vintage wines, stronger branding, and lower retail prices. I believe in long, slow, deep, soft, wet kisses that last........uh....sorry, I got carried away.

Wednesday, February 28, 2007

NAPA Sharpshooter alert!

This hasn't gotten nearly enough media attention:

Adult Sharpshooter found in Napa County

By JULISSA McKINNON, Register Staff Writer

Saturday, February 24, 2007

"An agricultural inspector found an adult female glassy-winged sharpshooter on a batch of Orange County nursery plants arriving at a Napa nursery Thursday morning -- the first discovery of an adult specimen of the dreaded insect yet in Napa County, according to the Napa County Agricultural Commissioner's Office....

The adult sharpshooter discovered Thursday was not moving, probably due to the morning chill, when the inspector spotted it around 9 a.m. The insect requires a minimum temperature of 55-60 degrees to fly. Napa's high temperature for that day was about 53 degrees, reducing the chances that any other undetected sharpshooters flew offsite, according to the Agricultural Commissioner's report." (my italics, btw)

Phrases like "reducing the chances that any other undetected sharpshooters flew offsite" aren't very reassuring...since no one can say for sure if one might have crawled off, or had dropped off when the doors were opened, etc.

Come On, people!
You'd better get your act together down there in Orange County, or don't bother sending anything up this way!
As far as I can see this was only picked up by Wine Spectator's RSS feed...and that's pretty sad.

1 Comments:

GollyGumDrops said...: Yikes, that's scary. I hope people are out there looking closely and showing no mercy to the sharpshooters.; February 28, 2007 2:03 PM

The Zinquisition

Wednesday, February 28, 2007

NAPA Sharpshooter alert!

1 Comments:

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