2007-03 Vital Source Mag – March 2007
South America’s outstanding wine oddities
By Nate Norfolk There is a glut of inexpensive South American wine and just about every other grape-growing region in the world. The best thing about this is that consumers have wider access to inexpensive wine. The down side is that a lot of the inexpensive wine is either just plain bad or redundant and boring. The bulk of South American wine coming in to the U.S. is definitely on the cheap side, but if you are a little adventurous you can find some truly unique bargain wines. Chile and Argentina are good places to find them. Although these two countries are regarded as relative newcomers to our retailers’ shelves, they have been producing wine for hundreds of years. A brief version of a long history The grape vines of Chile and Argentina were planted by missionaries who came from Spain with the conquistadors in the mid-sixteenth century. As the country’s population expanded, wine production moved from the church to European plantation owners. It was so successful by the early 1800s that the North and South American wines imported to Europe began to affect the Spanish wineries. The Spanish government took action to protect the wine industry there. All across Mexico and South America, vineyards were uprooted and heavy taxes were placed on those remaining. This all but destroyed the wine industry in Mexico, but Chile and Argentina continued to produce wines commercially. Argentina Argentina is the fifth largest wine producer in the world, and its star red grape is called Malbec. Originally from southwestern France, it is used in small amounts in the red wines of Bordeaux and as the main component of a rather obscure French wine called Cahors. Although many will argue that Malbec is Argentina’s finest grape varietal, other reds and whites are being successfully introduced, notably Cabernet Sauvignon and the mysteriously floral, yet dry white grape Torrontes. Malbec wines from Argentina taste a lot like Merlot wines made elsewhere, though with the current Merlot backlash that may not be a great selling point. When you taste a Malbec wine for yourself, you will likely encounter a full-bodied wine with a soft mouth feel full of soft silky tannins and dried fruit flavors. There will be plenty of black currant, cassis and red fruit flavors like plums and berries as well as hints of black pepper and other spicy notes. A really good Malbec wine is something to behold. Chile In Chile, almost half the grapes planted are Cabernet Sauvignon, but other reds and whites are grown there, the most important being the red Carmenere. The history of Carmenere wines is similar to that of Malbec. Both were once prominent in France, both were brought to South America in the mid 1800s by the French and both have become a very important part of South American wine-making. They also have both fallen out of favor in their native country of France and are only produced in extremely small quantities anywhere outside of South America. That’s where […]
Mar 1st, 2007 by Vital Archives
Paula Frazer & Tarnation
Not having thoroughly kicked all her baggage to the curb with 2005’s Leave the Sad Things Behind, San Francisco singer-songwriter Paula Frazer follows up with another album about moving on. Her fourth solo release, Now It’s Time, also revives her former band, Tarnation, as support. Frazer soups up alt-country standbys with jangly honky-tonk piano on “Bitter Rose” and flamenco tambourine on “Another Day.” “Pretend” features a childlike yodeling reminiscent of a wooden train whistle. Effectively simple string arrangements flesh out many of the tracks. If Frazer’s lyrics mirrored her eclectic instrumentation, Now It’s Time would be perfection, but she constantly recycles the same stale imagery (the sun, darkness, fire). But while the album would benefit if the storytelling were on par with the songwriting, the lack of lyrical originality is not necessarily detracting to Frazer, whose voice could draw listeners singing about…well…the sun, darkness and fire. Like Joni Mitchell meets Morrissey, Frazer’s soulful voice turns, trills and glides effortlessly from track to track. It’s sunken yet confident, parallel to the music it narrates. Though overtly melancholy, these barbiturate-drenched songs find a way to float. Now It’s Time touches on relationships’ gray areas: when to stay and when to go, when to speak up and when to hold your tongue. Not uncertain, however, is Frazer’s ability to deliver a plush, relistenable disc for fans of the heavier-hyped (and less authentic) Neko Case and Jenny Lewis. VS
Mar 1st, 2007 by Amber Herzog
Strong medicine for the healthcare access crisis?
By Ted Bobrow When Governor Jim Doyle laid out his health care proposal during his State of the State address in January, he dramatically transformed the debate about health care in Wisconsin. He summed it up succinctly: “The simple truth is, the time has come for the wealthiest nation in the world to provide access to affordable, comprehensive health insurance for its citizens – and Wisconsin can lead the way.” It’s an attractive scenario and perhaps very timely. Health care in today’s United States is truly Dickensian: the best of worlds and the worst of worlds. For the very wealthy and for people with good health insurance, there is practically no limit to the quality of available care. Double, even quadruple bypass surgeries are routine. Many cancers can be detected early enough to be treated completely. And promising new treatments are in the works for neurological disorders like epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease and depression. What a wonderful world we live in, eh? Well, some of us do. In reality, the U.S. is a nation of haves and have-nots, where 47 million people, including 9 million children, have no health insurance. For many in this group, paying out-of-pocket for a routine mammogram or even going to an emergency room at the onset of chest pains is not an option. And the problem is only likely to get worse. With the cost of health care and the insurance to pay for it escalating at twice the rate of inflation and the primary U.S. employment base shifting from large companies to small (less than 100 employees), fewer and fewer employers are able to offer decent health coverage. Early innovations in our own state served as the model for the nation’s current system of unemployment insurance. The time may be right to turn Wisconsin’s progressive tradition towards the problem of the uninsured. The Clinton plan: a costly lesson While access to basic medical care would seem to be a need most appropriately addressed at the federal level, neither the President nor Congress have shown much interest in comprehensive health care reform since Bill and Hillary Clinton’s ill-fated attempt in the early 90s. When President Clinton took office in 1993, he identified health care as the first big challenge of his presidency and he appointed his wife to head a task force to come up with a solution. First Lady Hillary Clinton, now a senator from New York and the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination for president in 2008, assembled a group of the nation’s leading thinkers on health care and got to work. The Clinton task force eventually put forth a proposal that sank like a stone. There were many reasons for this failure, but the most instructive of all was that the Clintons did not build adequate support for the proposal among several key stakeholders including, incredibly, Congress and the American people. The Clinton proposal was complicated, and it became an easy target for opponents, most notably health insurance companies and small businesses, who […]
Mar 1st, 2007 by Vital Archives
Out of the shower and up to the mic
By Brian Jacobson + Photos By Kat Berger It is a bitterly cold night in Milwaukee, and the idea of staying home and huddling around the warmth of a television set is alluring. Yet many brave souls venture out into the sub-zero darkness this Saturday evening. They’ve come to Frank’s Power Plant in Bay View to engage in the ancient Japanese practice of performing songs for a gathered audience. Until recently, karaoke (literally translated as “empty orchestra” ) fans in the greater Milwaukee area were hard-pressed to find more than a dozen weekly events. Developed in its present form in Japan around 1970 and imported to the states in the 1980s, the U.S. karaoke craze seemed to hit its zenith in the mid-1990s before going the way of the dinosaur and disco. But in the last few years, some funny things have happened involving consumer technology and pop culture, and karaoke has reared its sparkly head again. Now devotees can find a dozen events per night or more in Milwaukee alone, with midweek action of sometimes 20-25. Don’t blame it entirely on American Idol. Yes, the uber-popular contest show may have made people believe that stardom could be found with some colored spotlights, a stage and a wireless mic. But the current scene rarely involves contests for money. Hardly any even use a stage and spotlight. Nobody expects to become a star. HOPELESSLY DEVOTED The popularity of websites like singshot.com and video games like Karaoke Revolution certainly gave the genre a new shot in the arm. But let’s face it; it’s just not the same without a roomful of strangers and a slight tremble in the hand that holds the microphone. Karaoke’s new-found affection seems to be more about sentimental love for popular music from all decades and styles. Singers carry around that certain tune that speaks to them until they find themselves sharing with others. They bring their voices out of the shower or car seat and into the saloon. “I don’t know if it’s really more popular than ever,” says Moonlight Karaoke host Lee Seeber. “But I have been busier lately.” Seeber reflects on his craft as he sets up at Mo’na’s on a Tuesday night. He distributes piles of songbooks to the gathering score of patrons, who set upon them, scribbling out catalog numbers – mostly for country and ‘80s tunes. He got his start as a karaoke enthusiast at a local bar some seven years ago. One night, he was given a chance to take over the hosting gig. Nowadays he packs up his minivan as many as four or five nights a week and takes his own show on the road. Needless to say, he’s seen his share of performances. “Some people think they’re great…and while they’re not bad, they’re not good,” states Seeber. “[But] some are actually incredibly great. They’re usually the ones that don’t care and don’t flaunt it.” Far to the south in Wind Lake, super-sports bar Kelly’s Bleachers II is packed […]
Mar 1st, 2007 by Brian Jacobson
