Illinois Wine Country Illinois has a wine-growing history dating back to 1691, and in 1900 was the fourth largest wine producer in the country until Prohibition wiped out the industry, as it did elsewhere. The modern industry was stimulated by a 1976 law allowing onsite sales at wineries, with both Lynfred and Galena wineries opening … Read more
Idaho Wine Country With a rich history, ideal wine growing conditions, and a recent surge in wineries, Idaho has been emerging from the shadows of its larger neighbors, Oregon and Washington, to claim a place of its own on the world’s wine map. Actually, grapes were planted there (1864, in Lewiston) before either of the … Read more
Shutdown Showdown: Tuesday Night Our government runs out of money at midnight Tuesday, meaning it shuts down. And what is Congress doing about it? Staying home until Monday, October 6. What we learned in civics class was pure fantasy—the noble concept “of the people, by the people, for the people”–unless by “people” you just mean … Read more
Hawai’i Wine Country Thanks to the Aloha State, we have direct interstate wine shipping in America today. If you go back almost 40 years, to 1984, the U.S. Supreme Court’s Bacchus decision ruled that giving Hawaiian pineapple wine favorable treatment in terms of excise taxes would be unfair discrimination under the Commerce Clause. That same … Read more
Shutdown Showdown?: If it’s September, it’s time for this annual Washington drama, a manufactured crisis of political theater that typically lasts right up until the deadline (midnight, September 30), That’s when the government would run out of money unless Congress passes (and the President signs) a “Continuing Resolution” (CR, in DC lingo) that extends the … Read more