The news never stops coming, and keeping up with everything is an impossible task. Regrettably, there are too few hours in a day that one can devote to reading, and though I attempt to stay on top of as much as I can, my stacks of newspapers, magazines, and books are always beckoning (and expanding). There’s wine and food, of course, but there’s so much more, from literature and cinema to essays and profiles. Here’s a look at a few things that caught my eye this week.
I like Sylvaner. I first drank it years ago when I lived in Germany, and though it is not overly popular in the United States, I always try keep a few bottles on hand at home and am delighted when I find it at wine bars or restaurants. Marty Mathis, owner of Kathryn Kennedy Winery, is planting an acre of the variety on a hilltop in Santa Cruz County. He calls it “the last planting project of my life.” Esther Mobley has written a fine profile of the 67-year-old Mathis here. I look forward to tasting his Sylvaner.
We’ve all heard far too much about the woeful state of the wine industry. Health warning, the habits of younger generations, restaurant pricing … on and on it goes. According to Jeff Bitter, president of Allied Grape Growers, 2024 was not an easy one for growers. Read more here.
Haiti has long had more than its fair share of troubles, and a dinner that took place last month in Manhattan at The Bazaar did its part to help some people in that beleaguered country. Grapes for Humanity teamed with José Andrés and a number of wine-world luminaries to raise money for Hôpital Albert Schweitzer Haiti, which is the only remaining hospital in a region of 850,000 citizens. Wine to the rescue.
Kash Patel, the director of the FBI, is on a crusade to avenge a slight he received from a judge in Houston. He’s also the man carrying out Donald Trump’s scorched-earth campaign to fire everyone who ever attempted to hold the president accountable. Reading this made me ill.
Eric Texier, a vigneron based in Northern Rhône, is on a mission he calls “a post-modern, global warming compatible dream,” and we might be able to taste the fruit of his efforts in four or five years. He’s attempting to propagate four forgotten grape varieties — Exbrayat, Pougnet, Ribier Gris, and Bourrisquou — from specimens in the Conservatoire de Vassal, a repository based in France. The past, he hopes, is never truly dead.
Headed to Cleveland? If so, here’s a good read about the city’s food and wine scene. La Cave du Vin is on my list of places to visit.
Long ago on a winter morning I was on a train bound for New Haven, “The Stories of John Cheever” in my hands. It was snowing outside and I was lost in Cheever’s imagination. When I looked up I saw a woman sitting in the seat across the aisle. It was Susan Cheever, the author’s daughter. We chatted for a bit, and then went back to our books. Fathers and daughters share a special bond.
William Kennedy, The Bard of Albany, will turn 98 on Jan. 16. But as seen, really seen, in this profile by Dan Barry, he is still the talk of the town. This piece is beautiful.
Considering moving to Portugal? You are not alone. Here’s the tale of one woman who did so. She has no regrets.
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