Celebrations
February 6

Feast of St. Amand (d. 679). Monk. Hermit. Abbot. His association with vintners originates from his preaching and teaching in the beer and wine regions of France, Flanders and Germany.

February 7, 1801

tw-042 Birth of James Busby. Born in Scotland, Busby was a viticulturist, writer and public servant, known as the “Father of the Australian Wine Industry.” Took first collection of vine stock from Spain and France in the 1830s to Australia. Australian Chardonnay and Shiraz trace their origins to his vine imports.

    Swigs
Chateau China

Hong Kong
Wine and prosperity flow along on the same current of joy. A recent Wall Street Journal story by Laura Santini reports that Hong Kong has become an international wine hub, thanks to the growing appreciation of wine and luxury accompanying the new Chinese economy. (Hong Kong is now Sotheby’s leading wine-auction market.) The city has seen an especially large uptick in business because of the elimination of a 40 percent tax on wine imports (it’s 43 percent on the mainland). The preferred bottle to cement and celebrate a business deal? The 1982 Chateau Lafite Rothschild, which sells for roughtly $5,000 in Hong Kong. Although local wine experts suspect a lot of it is counterfeit. 12/5/09.

No CommentsLeave a Comment

Home » Archive by category 'Illustrations'
» Illustrations
"And to All — Good Night!"
"And to All — Good Night!"
I pointed out to Aldo that The Night Before Christmas closes with the line  ”…and to all a good night.” Dropping the “a” leaves Santa’s farewell open to interpretation: He might even be saying, “And to all—the hell with you!” The Santa in this illustration certainly doesn’t look as if he’s full of the milk of Christmas kindness—he’s full of whatever red wine is in that bottle. And I think the elf has a certain poignant look of childlike concern. Aldo says this is simply a portrait of a hard-working man at the end of a long day of dropping down chimneys and shouting orders to reindeer.

» Illustrations
"The Harvest" by Aldo
"The Harvest" by Aldo

Another of Aldo’s drawings of the eternal feminine. Here she gathers up the year’s vintage in such a way that the grapes conceal her bosom. You could argue that she gazes down on them as a mother would on two infants,  or she may have dozed off. As to that bird showing off its profile in the corner, Aldo says it’s a crow, not a pigeon, and functions as a memento mori. He thought a skull would be depressing.

» Illustrations

Rose, Unaccented
Rose, Unaccented

Aldo did this little illustration in celebration of the EU’s decision not to allow—and so cheapen—the definition of rosé  to include blends of white and red grapes. Admittedly, this is a drawing of a rather demurely happy garden-variety rose, which is not the same thing as rosé. But Aldo says he’s tired of drawing bottles, and besides this is a fairly accurate depiction of his emotional state when sharing a good rosé. And I’m not sure I disagree. It seems to be beckoning others to join it.

» Illustrations
"Biodynamic Spring"
"Biodynamic Spring"

I asked Aldo to provide one of his sketches on the theme in the title. I think this is closer to Teletubbies than biodynamism, but Aldo says it is a tribute to the sun and nature in the new season, and what more could you ask for? The moon-like head in the lower right, he says, represents winter, now dormant. Aldo, by the way, loves the Teletubbies.

» Illustrations
Reindeer Gamay

Some people like to draw their own holiday cards—Aldo sketches seasonal labels for wines that exist only in his mind. The reindeer looks as if it were developing a headache from the bulk of its antler vines.

© copyright 2009 billyvivos, all rights reserved