2008 London International Wine Fair TOP 100

now is the time to start planning your visit to the LIWF, which this year will feature extended visitor space, a focus on organics and environmental issues, and new wine countries. And this year there is an entirely new show, Distil, dedicated solely to the spirits arena The Countdown has begun.


The 2008 London International Wine Fair will once again host theTop 100 Tasting. The focus of the tasting, which is now in its fourth year, will be on organic and biodynamic wines, following last year’s tasting dedicated to rosé wines.
This year’s selection panel comprises: Beverley Blanning MW, Sally Easton MW, Rosemary George MW, Jamie Goode and Max Allen.
James Murray, exhibition director at Brintex, organisers for the LIWF, comments: “Building on the success of last year’s tasting, we are delighted to turn our attention to another key trend in the wine trade. We are very pleased by the diverse and exciting range of organic and biodynamic wines selected by our panel of experts.”
The Top 100 Tasting will be located at the east end of the South Hall, throughout the 2008 LIWF, which takes place from 20-22 May 2008.

LIWF at a glance
Dates: 20-22 May 2008
Opening Times: Tues 20 May: 9.30am-6pm/Wed 21 May 9.30am-6pm/Thur 22 May 9.30am-5pm
Venue: ExCeL London, Victoria Docks, London E16 1XL
Number of exhibitors: 1,250 individual stands. 50-50% Old World and New World. 20,000+ wines
Number of visitors: 14,000 net. 27% of visitors are from outside the UK
Website: http://www.londonwinefair.com/

See you ..
L.

Building Trust

Whenever I meet new people with whom I would like to work
I often say lets find a small project on which we can work together
so we can build mutual trust.
The process is simple.
We work on something small and build trust.
Having built trust we work together more and the trust grows.
Its an iterative process:
work together; build trust;
work together build trust ...
but this is key -
it always starts by working together.

If at any time either of us lets the other down badly or abuses the relationship
then the trust is pretty much destroyed and
its unlikely that we will ever work together again.
Dave Snowden sums it up well in this post
on Confusing symptoms with cause.

Trust is an emergent property of the process of engagement not a precondition.

Credit: Dave Snowden.

The trust question is a classic confusion of symptoms with cause,
just as creativity is a symptom of innovation not its cause,
so trust is the symptom of interaction over time.
If that interaction is not testing, then the trust is fragile.
If the trust is simply the result of few contextual exercises
(throwing yourself backwards off a brick wall is the classic)
then it is temporary.
Focus on the process, rather than trying to preset emergent outcomes
and you get a more sustainable solution.

Credit: Dave Snowden.

And note his point creativity being a symptom of innovation and not its cause!!
Dave is so right we often confuse symptoms with cause.

(personal copy of the April 2008 Gurteen Knowledge Letter)

L.

Organic and Biodynamic Wines

"
This is a vast subject growing in importance.

Although an increasing proportion of wine producers follow organic methods,

there are no universally agreed rules for organic winemaking, or oenology.

However there are several certification schemes for organic vine-growing, or viticulture.

It is quite a commitment of time (years), effort and money

to be officially certified organic and any producers,

however enthusiastic about the general principles, cannot be bothered to go through the necessary hoops.

Organic viticulture involves finding more natural alternatives to pesticides, insectcides and herbicides.

There is no doubt that fewer and fewer agrochemicals are being used in viticulture, just as in agriculture generally.

Some wine drinkers report that they feel much better after drinking organic wine than those produced using agrochemicals.

Biodynamic viticulture is something much more extreme.

Following the teachings of Rudolf Steiner,

it involves administering homeopathic doses of often bizarre-sounding substances

prepared by, for example, burying manure-filled cow horns fro six months,

according to the cosmic calendar.

Scientific explanations for all this are thin on the ground

but in many cases the vines look much healthier and

resulting fruit tastes much more intense.

Some argue that this is simply because biodynamic growers pay such close attention to each vine ather than as a specific result of the techniques.
"

© Copyright 2000-2008 Jancis Robinson

Low-calorie wine..?

"
Wine is not slimming.

The two components which contribute to its calorific value are alcohol and sugar,
so the most fattening wines are strong reds from hot countries,
plus dessert wines.

The least calorific are dry whites and light reds from cool climates.
It is by no means the case that white wine is less fattening than red,
nor that dry wines are necessarily low in calories.

The least calorific wines are bone dry and low in alcohol.
Unchaptalised Dutch, Belgian, Danish, English
and Luxembourgish perhaps?
"

© Copyright 2000-2008 Jancis Robinson

WYSIWYG

Sempre tive uma mania.. querer saber o porque das coisas
Menina perguntadeira..
Garota curiosa..
Não foram muitas as respostas convincentes que recebi

É preciso encontrar outro perguntador para descobrir algo interessante
Alguém tão chato quanto eu..
Alguém tão inquieto quanto eu..
Alguém tão intenso de alma quanto eu..
Parece assustador haver mais de um de nós..
mas acredite .. há vários seres pensantes por aí.

Parece ultrapassado pensar, questionar..
Não mais se escuta atentamente..
Não mais se percebe o que há nas palavras..
Atual é ler e repetir ..parafrasiar

É tão absurdo assim ter algo próprio em mente..??
É tão surpreendente falar algo original..??
É tão sur-real ver o que está claro e nítido..??

Oras! ..Se vejo algo e me parece claro
..por que duvidar, calar..??
Oras! ..Se ninguém pensou nisso antes
..por que falar parece louco..??
Mas é louco!! .. e muito louco mesmo!!

Tenho idéias ..sou louca..??
Falo o que penso ..sou louca..??
Escutam o que falo ..são loucos..??
Sim, estão loucos, todos !!
..Porque são, todos, o que fazem questão de esconder
..de não dizer ..de não fazer

Pior que não poder..
Pior que não querer..
Pior que morrer.. .. não ser O ser..

não me importo..
.. sou outro, sempre.

L.