Wow, what an excellent conference! A game changer. I have to thank my friends over at Village Green Energy for hooking me up with a free pass. I’ve been so passionate about this movement as long as I can remember… ever since 6th grade when I messed around with electromagenetic fields and plants. Early education for me was all about ecology and environment, and that followed with rigorous economics in college, which I didn’t quite understand about myself until now. Having not gone into banking with my degree and now seeing the state of the economy I was like shit… but David Suzuki put it so clearly… it’s (eco)nomics. I can’t believe I never recognized that. I automatically associated economics with the greedy, short-sighted mentality of Wall Street that focuses solely on the bottom line and exploiting the market for cash and egoic status. Yet you realize the bottom line is not the statement of cash flows or the balance sheet… it’s the fuckin planet. Ecology + Economics = Sustainability. This conference was absolutely buzzing! People were feeling alive and connecting and touching each other like I’ve never seen in my life. We all knew the green revolution is ready and about to change the world in a big way.

Read the rest of this entry »

uShip.com has provided us with some wonderful advice for packing and shipping wine.  We hope you enjoy this handy guideline.

This article was written by Joseph Ho of uShip.com, an online marketplace for moving companies.

Moving wine bottles can be quite a daunting task. Imagine unpacking in your new home and realizing your most prized bottle has been cracked and is leaking on your other possessions.  Read on for a step-by-step guide to prevent damage to your wine during a move. Read the rest of this entry »

For all of our readers in the United States, Friday is the 4th of July Independence Day. For most, this means a day off of work and an opportunity to relax, get some sun, picnic, bbq, grill up some Brats (NOTE: do NOT poke a hole in them while you’re grilling), and drinking beer, Red Zinfandel and Champagne while we get ready for the evenings fireworks.  When the fireworks finally arrive, we’ll most likely be with family and friends contributing to the choir of fireworks with our ooh’s and ahhh’s.

If you are in the mood for traveling, or nearby, you should probably set your sites on one of these cities, as they we’re recently ranked The Top 10 Places to Celebrate July 4th:

1. Boston
2. Cape Cod, Nantucket, and Martha’s Vineyard
3. Chicago
4. Mount Rushmore
5. Philadelphia
6. Queen Mary 2
7. San Diego
8. San Juan Islands
9. US Virgin Islands
10. Washington, DC

Enjoy a safe 4th of July and Happy Birthday America!

Read the rest of this entry »

Well my time here in Paris is over and what better may to go than with sparkling wine, a Cremant d’Alsace. Cremant goes through the same process, as Champagne except there is one difference, location. In France and all of Europe for that matter, wine cannot be legally called Champagne unless it is in fact from Champagne. Sparkling wines from outside Champagne in France will usually go by Cremant. Of course there are going to be slight differences in taste due to the terrior. Sparkling wine is popped during times of celebration. This is the end of a great three months and the start of something new as I move to Long Island’s wine country.

I chose this wine because with the unofficial start of summer Alsace is perfect. The white wines here are well known with the Rieslings and Gewurztraminers, and their sparkling wines prosper as well. Another key point is these wines are not expensive at all. Alsace is respected but it doesn’t have the same prestige as Champagne, Burgundy, or Bordeaux. This is great for you. In the US a typical bottle will be between $12 to $20.

Read the rest of this entry »

With my stay in Paris coming to an end I decided it was time to revisit old favorites. Relaxing in parks and gardens that took complete control of my senses, walking the streets that I fell in love with, going to that local café or creperie that made me feel at home, and of course drinking the wine that expanded my palate. Taking chances is what wine is about. You won’t know unless you try it once. I can certainly say that there are wines I would be reluctant to try again, but of course I will because who knows, I might have caught it on a bad day. A bad day can happen to even the best wine…

Read the rest of this entry »