The wine world knows that France, Italy and California produce the best red wines.  The top two wine producers switch between Italy and France, with Italy now #1.  #'s 3 and 4 also change, with Spain today producing more than the USA.  Australia is #5.  China is rapidly rising, and is  affecting wine prices in other ways,  too.  Interestingly enough, though  world wine production is dropping , and  is lower than 1961.  Some blame climate warming. Today I will focus on the best red wines.  Some day I'll talk about the finest white wines. France:  Bordeaux and Burgandy. More specifically, there are two blends of Bordeaux, the left bank uses mostly Cabernet Sauvignon and right mostly Merlot. Burgandy is almost always Pinot Noir, although White Burgandy is Chardonnay. Italy:  Piedmont for Barolo and Tuscany for Brunello de Montalcino. California:  Napa Valley and parallel Sonoma Valley, Cabernet Sauvignon and red blends. ...

Yesterday I started out saying I have  no interest in the fate of Hunter Biden .  Today, just having learned that he was  found guilty of three felony counts , that all changes.  Also, today, the  Hamas accepted the U.N.-backed Gaza truce plan , this is  the one President Joe Biden talked about last week .  Both developments are, interestingly enough, positive signs for Joe's re-election campaign. But about Hunter: Is 54 years old. Mother was Joe Biden's first wife, Neila Hunter.  She was driving the car in 1972 with their four children that crashed, killing her and one daughter, seriously injuring Hunter (f ractured skull and severe traumatic brain injuries ) and his older brother Beau. Jill Jacobs Stevenson became their stepmother in 1977.  Jill and Joe had a daughter Ashley in 1981. Hunter got a BA from Georgetown University in 1992. Served as a Jesuit volunteer in Oregon, where he met Kathleen Buhle, got married in 1993, and divorced in 2...

  Local legend Scott Robb won the 2023 Alaska State Fair 27th annual Giant Cabbage Weigh-Off earlier this month.  Only 113.05 pounds I say only because his world record 2012 cabbage weighed 138.25 pounds.  Measured seven feet three inches from outside leaf to outside leaf. Just like those turkeys the President honors on Thanksgiving, these monster cabbages these days get to live a slightly longer life in a wildlife garden refuge.   Did you know that a cabbage plant can live on for a second year if not picked ?  From all reports, these giants taste about the same as the one pounder you buy.  And yes, there are cabbage fairies at the Alaskan State Fair. You ask,  why do vegetables grow so large in Alaska?   The summers stay lighted for 20 hours/day.  Also takes a lot of planning, from the right seed variety to a series of transplanting in pots beginning in January, and finally into the ground in May.  Robb indicated he had an electrif...