Black Cloud Wine: 2006 Pinot Noir

OWS started to Twitter about three months ago, maybe a bit more - I can't remember exactly. The whole social networking thing is a bit strange, but it's a place to have conversation, to explore language, so I'm all over it. Well, as all over it as I can be without a mobile communication device. Yes, I still update everything through the tired, old laptop. No cell phone for me.

Through this world of Twitter I have discovered a cornucopia of exciting things in and around the Okanagan. Somehow, a whole other world opened up - like pulling on the thread in your sweater and realizing just how long it is...and what it's connected to.

One Twitter-er (should I call them Twits? I'm still not sure) I met is a winemaker at a Naramata winery called Township7. Me and the OWS hubby have enjoyed their wines in the past, and in the present. I found a 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon particularly delicious about two weeks ago as I was in the midst of writing a ridiculous amount of prose.

This fellow, who goes by the Twitter handle @bradinator (aka Bradley Cooper), decided to start up his own label outside of Township7. I was immediately intrigued. A new winery? Let me at it.

After a few false starts I managed to get myself to Township7 Mr. Cooper's new wine - Black Cloud Wine - is made under license. I was fortunate enough this past weekend to swing by the winery, snag a couple of Township7 bottles and some of bottles of the BCloud - as well as meet the notorious Mr. Cooper himself.

The inaugural vintage is a 2006 Pinot Noir. As you may note from my previous post, I'm not a wine writer, wine critic, nor am I schooled in any form of wine review. Which, I think, is just fine and dandy. I can't speak to the complexity of this wine, or the balance - or any other structural component. Instead, I can speak to what it speaks to in me.

The wine is a delicious looking garnet colour as it pours into the glass, like a liquid jewel. I let it sit on the counter for about 30 minutes as I did some dishes - like a good friend, it sat with me in the kitchen as I cleaned up.

I took a sniff and immediately thought of fruit stands in July. The kind of fruit stand where the fruit is achingly ripe, spilling over the edges of those little green boxes and waiting to stain your jeans. If you haven't had that experience, find it. My own memory dug up images of boating on long weekends as a kid in Ontario, through the Trent-Severn waterways. We would always take a huge bag of cherries on the boat (when in season), and this smelled like that bag of cherries after they had sat in the warmth of the sun. Mmmm.

By the time I took a sip of the Pinot Noir I was already on the dock under the summer sun, remembering the feeling of jumping off the end of the dock and into the cool water of the lake. Sometimes I still had a handful of cherries as I surfaced. There's nothing like that feeling.

It's that kind of wine. Sure, it's the last day of November and reaching temperatures below zero at night. And I haven't been barefoot for an entire day since late September - okay, maybe early October, but that was pushing it. But delving into this liquid jewel is like taking that long summer weekend and extending it by a day, or two. The stolen days that always feel so much better than the planned ones.

Grab yourself a bottle of Black Cloud Pinot Noir, and join the maiden voyage. Let me know what your memories are; the ones you make with the wine, and the ones the wine makes with you.

Cheers.


~Jeannette

to combined passions: writing and wine-ing

This past month I have spent a lot of time on two things: writing and drinking wine. The writing came from entering something called National Novel Writing Month, and the wine drinking occurred as a direct result of the writing. I write, I drink. It’s that simple. So, I figured it was time to combine the two.

I don’t have wine-writer speak; I’ve not taken any courses on how to write about wine, how to drink wine or how to do anything with wine. I’m what you’d call home-grown. Self-taught. Some writers get paid to drink wine and write about it. I drink wine, and no one has to pay me a cent. Well, someone could, but no one does.

Wine is conversational, whether you’re having a conversation about it with a partner, a friend or even your goldfish. Maybe you’re sipping a glass in a chic restaurant, the kind of place where prices aren’t listed on the menu (and hopefully someone else is paying), or you’re swilling a glass as you frantically write into the wee hours of the night (not that I have any experience with that whatsoever).

There are plenty of places to learn about wine: about its structure, balance, complexity and even how to sniff, swirl and sip it. This isn’t one of those places.

I’m here because I tell stories – mine, yours and ours. I think we need to remember that wine is gulp-able, swig-able and mess-around-with-your-friends-able. Wine is drinkable joy, sorrow, commiseration and celebration. We make memories with wine, with friends and with friends drinking wine. We make good stories, too.

My sincere hope is that this will be a place that might help you remember some of that. If not, go drink some wine and make some more stories to tell.

Cheers.


~Jeannette

legacies 2010 - continued

I can't sleep much lately; there are stories unfolding in my head that may or may not be coherent, but I need to get them down. I'm writing more, sleeping less and consuming a bit more wine. Through this, I'm pretty happy.

The thought of contributing to the Penticton Art Gallery show in January is pressing on my grey matter, forcing the story to the simmer burner once in a while. Tonight is one of those nights.

I've hastily drafted prose part II of my submission. Here it is, in the raw.


~ Jeannette


Promise (very bad working title)

Promises, platforms and ponies
the display detracts from content
and we sway so easily

A river of bodies rush in
and slowly trickle out of the
tidal pools, each day

Sitting, standing, riding behind
glass, steel and plastic but not
able to see the real show

Empty, hungry and cold
could describe us on both
sides of the glass

We have a place for
everything, but nothing
is in its' place.

legacies 2010

Legacy. An interesting word in many ways - a word with incredible weight and many layers, bringing different things to different people, depending on their perspective.

The Penticton Art Gallery will be hosting a show in January around the legacy of the 2010 Olympics on the province of British Columbia. True to form, artists are invited to participate in whatever medium they choose and capture a voice of what legacy will live beyond the days of games. I have been invited to participate and I have humbly accepted. I'm a bit nervous now, to be honest. An art exhibition? My writing? My preconceptions are getting in my own way.

My own legacy should come to mind in times like this, but it doesn't, really. Perhaps the concept of my own legacy is actually in me on a regular basis, so tied up in my concern for capturing my true voice that I can't tease it apart. Somehow, though, it doesn't seem appropriate to be thinking of my legacy. But, then again, maybe it's something we should all be thinking - even as we grocery shop. Active participation in our own lives.

This is the very, very first draft of a work I'm considering using in my wee contribution to this show. It's the first of two pieces of prose that I hope to use in two mediums: print and audio. The technicalities of the audio might be a bit beyond my reach, but I'm going to try.

For your consideration...

~Jeannette

______________________________


(untitled)

I see myself reflected in the differences
Between us, in the small spaces which
Crowd the edges of the frame

Unspoken dreams, unrealized fortune
Or fame; these are not the reasons
You wake each day at six

A still, white surface greets you
In harmony with visiting thoughts
Stealing into your head, briefly

These borrowed minutes are few
And far from where you wanted
To be and where you are

But you are now
Precisely where
You need to be

speak your voice

Making presentations, despite the amount of preparation, can be nerve wracking. I admit that sometimes I zone out a little in the interaction part - you know, the moment at the end of a presentation when we as presenters are supposed to be listening to our audience for questions and clarification. That part.

In the heat of the moment, I sometimes lose it a wee bit. I can concentrate so hard on the moment that I don't provide enough directionto my brain to store the information in anything resembling the original. Yes, I recall the flavour of the questions - and sometimes even the flavour of my responses - but I often don't have the mental agility to recall specifics. After spending that much time focusing on presenting to the audience in a way that they will be receptive, it can be difficult to switch gears and become the sponge.

The last post here was about a presentation I did for the BC Standing Committee on Finance in response to a request for consultation on the 2010 budget for our province. I spent a lot of time thinking about my audience, hunching their interests and crafting language that I thought would resonate a bit - while getting my main points across in my own voice. It's a challenge.

Now that a few weeks have passed, I realize that I don't entirely recall (with much clarity) the questions posed to me at the end of my presentation - or how I answered them. Sure, I remember the flavour of each question and how my emotions were triggered. But the analytical side of things seemed to shut down.

Fortunately, our taxpayer dollars have been hard at work these past few weeks. The transcript of the session in Kelowna (where I participated) can be found here. Skim down, not too far, and you'll find me. I was the first presenter. Yep. Do I need to mention the challenges that come with presenting first?

There were some good questions asked, and I think I responded with fair answers. But, don't let me tell you about it - go ahead and find out for yourself. I know you couldn't all be there with me, so here's your little glimpse into that fateful day. And yes, this is a draft transcript - as was stamped all over the internet version. Please keep that in mind.

~ Jeannette


[DRAFT TRANSCRIPT ONLY]
Questions from anyone?

M. Mungall: Thanks very much, Jeanette. You state that health care, education, economic stability and arts and culture aren't exclusive — that, in fact, they're often very interconnected. There's plenty of research that shows, for instance, how art therapy can benefit people who have been marginalized in our society or children with FASD and so on.

Recognizing that and recognizing that one of the reasons we have the deficit that we do is actually because of declining revenue due to tax cuts for corporations, would you rather see the province of British Columbia retain that revenue source — the taxes from corporations — than, for instance, this year giving oil and gas a $120 million cut to their royalties? Would you rather see us retain that revenue and make sure that things like health, education and the arts are funded?

J. Montgomery: That is a very difficult question for me to answer without any additional information on my part. I am a small voice who represents one of a million small voices.

I do believe that our elected officials and our government have the information in front of them to make informed decisions. I don't know if that's an informed decision that I can particularly speak to. I would speak from my heart rather than my mind, and I would like to have both present to be able to make that kind of decision right now.

I would like to see continued support on an equitable scale to as many places as possible. I do know that's very difficult. I really don't have enough information to be able to answer that. I'm sorry.

D. Donaldson (Deputy Chair): Hi, Jeanette. Thanks for the very eloquent presentation. You bring up lots of big ideas, and it's nice to have the zooming out and the zooming in.

As far as one aspect you touched on, on your second page, about often being asked to choose between supporting one thing or the other — arts or businesses…. You talk about this being an adversarial approach in what, in fact, is a multiple-bottom-line economic model. Can you just comment on that or expand on that thought a little bit more?

J. Montgomery: I think there's a lot more progression towards thinking of a multiple-bottom-line model. It is not just asking people to choose between supporting one area or the other. It's like asking to choose between industry or theatre. I like to think that we have made more progress in addressing ethical and sustainable decisions financially without just saying: "What is our net gain at the end of the day?"

I think that's becoming a little more prevalent in financial management, and I'd like to think that it's becoming a little more prevalent in our provincial government's financial management as well. I include it there to ask people to remember that there is more than just one vision or version of wealth.

J. Rustad: Jeanette, thank you very much for the passion you brought with your presentation. It's never easy to come and present, but obviously, in your heart, your belief in the arts and support of the arts…. It's great to see that come through.

I myself have spent a great deal of time in and around the arts. I know the value, the importance of that to community and to the overall health within a community. I just want to make one comment and ask a question around the same thing that Doug just asked about — the choices between industry or arts, those sorts of things.

I actually look at it more as that we have some very difficult challenges around budgets in health and budgets in education. Revenue source, of course, is one question. But I do also believe there's a balance.

The question I have for you is: what is the revenue that the organizations that you've been involved with are getting from government, and their sources — gaming grants or other types of grants?

J. Montgomery: One I know of was through gaming grants.

I'm not as well versed or have the information in front of me to be able to address it. I would be happy to carry on the conversation and find out more information after this and get back to you.

J. Rustad: If you could e-mail us the details on that and where those funding sources are, it gives us a chance to be able to look and be a little more focused.

J. Montgomery: Certainly.

[DRAFT TRANSCRIPT ONLY]