Free Republic

(Camas, Washington) The ugly demise of the beached and broken Davy Crockett, now the subject of a multimillion-dollar federal recovery effort, unfolded only after years of neglect. The former Liberty ship has languished for almost two decades along the north bank of the Columbia River between Vancouver and Camas. At one point, a former owner warned the U.S. Coast Guard that the 431-foot vessel appeared to be at risk of coming loose from its mooring and careening into the nearby shipping channel. However, little changed except the vessel’s ownership. By the end of last year, benign neglect evolved to active...

Riesling was planted in Oregon vineyards as our industry developed at the end of the sixties. It was an easy grape to grow here, but the wines produced pleased the unsophisticated consumer and turned more worldly types away with their tendency to sweetness without the benefit of the acidity transmitted by rocky slopes as in Germany.A majority of Oregon winemakers soon abandoned riesling production and moved to Chardonnay plantings. However, the Oregon industry has now realized that northern Oregon growing conditions are ideal for the white "cousins" of our popular Pinot Noir...Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc. These varietals as produced...