In the tranquil setting of a spring garden, where the fragrance of blossoms fills the air, a young couple finds themselves immersed in a moment of courtly love. The woman, poised against the sturdy trunk of a flowering tree. Her gaze, momentarily diverted from the pages of a slender manuscript, meets that of her suitor, who kneels before her with a gesture of reverence. The manuscript is filled with verses of love poetry. He offers her a refreshing cup of wine to share, a romantic courtship begins.

This is the big week football lovers, commercial fans and foodies have been waiting for! Whether or not football is the real reason for watching the Super Bowl, it usually instigates a celebration of good party food and drink. Due to the ever-popular Clydesdales, singing frogs, and lovable dogs, the featured drink always seems to center around beer, even though the NFL is now promoting Barefoot Wine as the “Wine of the NFL.” Let us be honest, there could have been a better choice … and while that might be your choice to have at parties where the audience is unknown, now is the chance to sway your audience toward “other” wine, and show them that yes, it is possible to have wine AND football food!

The roots of the Fair Trade movement delve into the 1940s and 1950s, where the impetus came from religious groups and politically oriented NGOs. A pivotal moment arose with the establishment of Ten Thousand Villages, originally known as Self-Help Crafts, offering handmade goods from marginalized communities. By 1946 and 1949, the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) and SERRV International pioneered fair trade supply chains, primarily centered on handicrafts.

With the holidays just around the corner, literally, are you ready with dinner party wines? Do you still need a unique gift for that wine lover, and want something with some character? Do you struggle with the imminent small talk that accompanies holiday gatherings? To help, here are some wines to consider, and a little conversation to go with them. There are wines that not only inspire sonnets on what is going on in the glass, and then there are those that encourage more in-depth conversations on the history and the story of the how, and who, of that wine.