Some good, bad vine-brations

Two quickies before I head off to work. Wrote Bert Basignani at BasignaniWinery in Maryland's north Baltimore County a few days ago asking how the vineyard was holding up through this summer. His response? "Things here are pretty good. A lot of rain early when we needed it, but not too much now. A pretty good growing season so far but a lot cooler than last year." No doubt that winery owners from Virginia north will be watching the tropical system move up from Florida through the week. Current Projections at the National Hurricane Center show what's left of the storm to be located in western North Carolina by Saturday.

Another month and a half and my wife and I will be down there picking for the fourth straight year. You can pick there on various Saturday mornings through late September and October. It all wraps up with a homemade lunch and some fruits from the vineyard just after the noon hour. No one puts out a better spread to celebrate the harvest than the lovely Lynne Basignani.

Also, many in the Philly area saw this story in Sunday's Inquirer on the latest hearings for House Bill 2165, the latest bit of legal fallout since a federal judge in 2005 ruled against the state's ban on direct-to-consumer shipments. This new bill would limit direct shipping to wineries that produce 80,000 gallons or less per year. No one we've talked to in this state's wine industry is happy about the bill, including Bob Mazza, the president of the Pennsylvania Winery Association, who talked about the subject in a post a couple of months ago. The most recent hearing was held at Paradocx Vineyards in Chester County.