Viticulture is a branch of horticulture having to do specifically with the cultivation of grapes for winemaking. There are dozens of official American Viticultural Areas designated by the federal government, the overwhelming majority in California.
Although wine grapes are being grown in Vermont, there's no official AVA designation as of yet. In the U.S. the AVA is what gives a wine its appellation, or place name.
Certain requirements must be met in order to have a specific appellation appear on the label. For example, in a wine labeled “California pinot noir” the grapes could have come from anywhere in the state, while a wine labeled “Russian River Valley pinot noir” contains grapes grown only in that small Sonoma County region.
Vinification is, simply put, the process of making wine, primarily but not exclusively from grapes. Fermentation is essentially the process by which yeast acts on the sugars in juice to produce alcohol and carbon dioxide. Other factors also come into play when making wine, from filtering to barrel aging to fortifying.
Based on some of the recent letters I've read in the local media, the issue of how to deal with animals in Brattleboro seems to have struck a nerve among many people who care about animals and how we treat them. After numerous instances of witnessing or reading about...
Godspell, based loosely on the Gospels and parables of Jesus, will play several dates this July at the New England Youth Theater. The musical, conceived and directed by John Michael Tebelak, with music and new lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, is one of the biggest off-Broadway and Broadway successes of...
A unique passion drives oenophiles, people who love drinking wine, learning everything they can about it, collecting it, sharing it with others, even making it themselves. Like beer and bread and cheese, wine isn't just a nice thing to consume, it's a living thing. Making wine - or beer or bread or cheese - involves living processes that require certain specific conditions for optimal results, and those processes can be tweaked repeatedly for endless variation. In Vermont, winemakers are starting...
In this election year, early voting for the Vermont primary starts in two weeks. Beginning on July 16, voters can fulfill their civic duty and participate in our electoral process as easily as requesting a ballot from one's town clerk and mailing it in. If you're not registered to vote in Vermont, you have until Aug. 22 to vote in the Aug. 28 primary and until Oct.31 to vote in the general election. I ask Windham County voters to join...
Obituaries • Roy Eugene Betit, 75, of Whitingham. Died June 23 at his home. Husband of Antoinette (Stone) Betit for nearly 48 years. Father of Hunter J. Betit and Dr. Brent Betit and his wife, Julie, all of Whitingham; Teresa Betit and her husband, Howard Lurie, of Brookline, Mass.; Lisa and husband, Ralph Buchanan, of Whitingham; and Christy Betit and fiancé Aaron Shadwell of Jamaica Plain, Mass. Brother of John, Raphael and Charlie Betit, Maisie Dockum, and Mae Clough. The...
Plans by town officials to get repair work to the West Dummerston Covered Bridge completed by September have hit a snag. According to Selectboard member Tom Bodett, the contractor who was awarded the bid on June 13 to repair the wing walls of the historic 1872 bridge had not been pre-qualified with the Vermont Agency of Transportation to do the work. LaRock & Son of Guilford, the contractor that won unanimous approval from the board, is in the process of...
I owe my town an apology. At a recent Selectboard meeting, I became just one more in a long list of local officials and private citizens to temporarily deter the members of the board from discharging their duties by injecting boisterous challenges to their reasoning and assumptions. After the meeting, an agitated Selectboard member accused me of being “my own worst enemy.” But I don't see myself as a man with enemies; I see myself as a man with allies...
Bridge Street to close on Sunday for rail repairs BRATTLEBORO - Due to railroad track replacement, Bridge Street (Route 119) between Main Street and the Hinsdale Bridge, will be closed to all vehicular traffic from Sunday, July 8, at 5 a.m. until Monday, July 9 at 6 a.m. On Monday, July 9, beginning at 6 a.m. until 6 p.m., one lane of Bridge Street will be opened to alternating traffic. This upgrade is a part of a larger project upgrading...
In response to the town's advisory regarding pedestrian and automotive safety [“Brattleboro to step up enforcing pedestrian, motor vehicle laws,” June 20]: While the town might have meant well after the unfortunate spike in accidents in 2011, the anti-pedestrian tone was audible. On June 29 at 1:12 p.m., I observed a vehicle on Main Street going south, “playing chicken” with a pedestrian at the crosswalk slightly north of the post office. Despite the pedestrian's clear intention to cross and the...
The evening proved most favorable for the magnificent display of fireworks upon the Fair Ground. Several thousand people were present and enjoyed the exhibition, which was perfect in every detail. Masten & Wells of Boston furnished the exhibit and sent a professional pyrotechnist to superintend the same, which was certainly one of the finest ever given in this section. The announcement of the display was given by signal guns firing heavy detonations that echoed and re-echoed among the hills, after...
On June 27, 2011, the ceremonial first shovel of earth for West River Park was turned over in a weed-choked former cornfield off Route 30. Three-hundred and sixty-five days later, the town Recreation & Parks Department and the West River Park Committee celebrated the progress that has been made in building Brattleboro's newest recreation area, and to make another pitch for the last bit of funding to complete the project. The town approved a $250,000 bond in 2008 to buy...
After 67 years of barbering - the first 37 mostly in his hometown of Meriden, Conn., and the last 30 in Townshend - Robert “Bob” Semrau has hung up his hair clippers. “He's just started getting the hang of it,” said Ted Grussing of Windham, who's been getting his hair cut at Semrau's Barber Shop in the big white house on Route 35 for at least 15 years. The final four days of the 87-year-old's barber shop brought a panorama...
A federal court handed the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) a win on June 26 in a case where the state challenged the federal agency's permit for the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant. The Vermont Department of Public Service (DPS) and the New England Coalition (NEC) - a group that has worked to shutter Vermont Yankee - had argued that the federal permit issued in 2011 was invalid because Entergy Corp., the plant's owner, failed to obtain certification from the state...
In an event organized by the SAGE Alliance timed to coincide with Independence Day celebrations, 40 protesters were arrested at the gates of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant on Sunday. The action, which began with a short rally on the Brattleboro Common, also featured a bicycle procession to the Vernon plant owned by Entergy Corp., busloads of protesters, and a 15-foot tall Trojan Cow. The 600-pound sculpture, designed by Vermont sculptor Ria Blaas, was wheeled to the gate by...
On June 24, more than 20 artists (with one as young as 4-years-old!) came together to create the Concrete Quilt in the High Grove parking lot. This project commemorates the 25th anniversary of the AIDS Memorial Quilt, which currently contains 47,000 panels with the names of more than 93,000 people lost to HIV/AIDS. The painting of the Concrete Quilt was an incredibly moving experience, one of the truest expressions of community and, as one passerby noted, “what Brattleboro is all...
North Hill Garden in Readsboro has become internationally known as an one of the best private gardens in North America, an example of the naturalistic American garden style. The home of Joe Eck and his spouse Wayne Winterrowd, who died in 2010, North Hill has become world famous through Eck and Winterrowd's popular jointly-written books chronicling their exploits in the garden, including A Year at North Hill (1995), Living Seasonally (1999) and Our Life in Gardens (2009). Although unknown to...
Katarina “Kat” Rayno, 21, of Brattleboro, a peer outreach worker for Youth Services and a single mother of a one-year-old, was recently awarded the 2012 William E. Mikell “Spirit of Youth” award from the Children and Family Council for Prevention Programs in Vermont at a gathering of 150 guests at the Burlington Country Club. Receiving a standing ovation from the filled-to-capacity dining room, the award was presented to Rayno in celebration of her strength and success in overcoming significant life...
A round of applause echoed through The Works cafe on Main Street in Brattleboro on the morning of June 28. “The Supreme Court upheld health care reform,” Lynette Lewis, a member of The Vermont Workers' Center, happily told her fellow cafe-goers. “This is cause for celebration.” Most people paused from sipping coffees and eating muffins to cheer. One table of two shook their heads whispering, “I have no idea what they're talking about.” Lewis said that she could feel confident...
Main Street Arts is offering four opportunities for adults and teens to explore carving, painting, and drawing this summer, two each in July and August. Wood sculptor Dave Tuttle will lead Beginner Woodcarving: Make a Cardinal in a one-day workshop Sunday, July 8, from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. The fee is $45 for members and $60 for nonmembers. There will be a limited number of carving knives available to borrow and others to purchase for $10. Tuttle has been...
On Saturday July 7, from 8-11 p.m., the Lil Orphans Creole Connection will bring the sounds of south Louisiana and the greater Caribbean basin to The Metropolis Wine Bar & Cocktail Lounge, 55 Elliot St. Lil Orphans have been presenting their blend of Cajun and Creole music in New Hampshire and Vermont for more than 10 years, incorporating New Orleans R & B, blues, zydeco, jazz, and a variety of Caribbean Creole music from Haiti, Guadeloupe, Martinique, St. Lucia and...
In watching the absurd reactions by right-wingers immediately after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, one has to conclude that our country has finally jumped the shark. How else can you describe the spectacle of Americans protesting for their right to be ripped off by insurance companies and be denied coverage at the whim of a claims manager? Are they so afraid of seeing health benefits go to the “unworthy” (read: not white) that...
Independence Day is one of those holidays that comes with its own menu. Imagining a July 4 without grilled meat, potato salad, and a dessert that involves red, white, and blue is like imagining Thanksgiving without gravy. Sure, we get to fool around a bit with the side dishes, but what everybody really wants is a brown and crispy hot dog, whether it be made of tofu or ground duck breast; a hamburger of some sort; something slathered in barbecue...
What would Brattleboro be without downtown? Or your favorite local mechanic, carpenter, accountant, corner store, or restaurant? Would it still be 100 percent Brattleboro? Just in time for the Fourth of July celebrations, the Brattleboro Area Chamber of Commerce, Building a Better Brattleboro, and the American Independent Business Alliance (AMIBA) announce Independents Week, July 1-7. The organizations hope to focus consumers' attention on the role local, independent businesses play in the economy and character of their home community. “It's a...
Westminster Cares presents its 11th annual Garden Tour on Saturday, July 14, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Sunday, July 15, from noon to 3 p.m. A reception on Friday, July 13, precedes the tour. James Beard award-winning cookbook author and culinary memoirist Crescent Dragonwagon, author of the best-selling Bean by Bean and Passionate Vegetarian will speak at a reception at Harlow Farmstand on Route 5 in Westminster on Friday, July 13, at 6:30 p.m. In addition to her...
As we move into the height of the camping, vacationing, and barbecuing season, the state of Vermont is urging residents to use local firewood. For the sake of forest health, wood should not be moved more than 50 miles from its point of origin. “Firewood can harbor harmful diseases or pests, which could spread when it is relocated,” according to State Survey Coordinator Emilie Inoue, with the Agency of Agriculture. Tree-killing insects and diseases can be devastating not only to...
The AARP Driver Safety Program, the nation's oldest classroom program for experienced drivers, is offering nearly a dozen driver safety classes around Windham County during July and August. In appreciation for their service to our communities, current and retired school personnel may take the class at reduced cost of $5 during July and August. This offer is extended to all current and former school personnel, including custodians, secretaries, paraprofessionals, teachers, and administrators. The fee for all other participants is $14,
In the sudsy realm of my life, the question I hear most often, and quite often, is the impossible-to-answer, “What's your favorite beer?” The difficulty is that there are too many beer styles and flavors out there to settle on a single choice. My personal tastes vary with the seasons and temperatures, with what I'm having to eat, and - naturally - with what's available at the time and place. So I invariably reply, “The beer in my hand.” But...
The New England Organ Bank touring art exhibit, Making Memories, will be on display between the hours of 8 a.m.-8 p.m. in the hallways off the main lobby at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital from July 1-31. Making Memories began touring in 2008 and has been displayed at city and town libraries, schools, colleges and hospitals across New England as well as at capital buildings in Massachusetts and Connecticut. The collection is comprised of art in a variety of media from people...
A desire seems simultaneously to have possessed the minds of many of the sons and daughters of Wilmington to revisit the home of their childhood and renew the friendships and associations of other days; this desire was naturally communicated to others, only to find a hearty response. There is a living cord which binds men and animals to the spots where they first feel life. A wonderful instinct guides the fish of the sea through the dark floods of the...
It would be stupid of me to claim plastic is horrible, as a general rule. You'd have to be the Unabomber to get up on your high horse and profess that you have no use for plastic. These days, nobody is that much of a neo-Luddite (except the Unabomber, and he's in prison, so you really don't want to be like him). But there's one place where plastic is not the miracle substance its creators purport it to be, and...
Musician Randy Smith and his wife, Carol, were living in northern Vermont, when, a few years ago, “One day, we looked at each other and we both said, 'Why are we here?,” he recalls. Smith, a western Massachusetts native who has performed with the band 8084 since 1982, lists a couple of key reasons for his family's move to Charlotte, N.C.: “I don't like snow, and by far, I don't like driving in snow.” But he still returns regularly to...