The Good Life.

Editor’s Corner I didn’t mean to start a magazine. Everyone who

knows me knows that I am a real estate agent who is pas-

sionate about his field and his confidence to work any

deal no matter how discombobulated the variables are.

So in starting this magazine, it is sort of a product from

inspiration and passion.

In school I was a graphic design major with another

in French. I had no dreams of becoming what I am now,

an agent, and didn’t have the slightest idea about it.

Life has a way of sending you people and opportu-

nities to look back at yourself and to redefine who you

are, what you can do, and where you want to go. This

magazine, I’ve decided, is just about that. I want it to be a

successful experiment of web space where creativity and

voices of the unrecognized intelligence, and messing up,

can cohabitate within a right relationship.

This magazine is a space where you can spread

your wings before becoming a titled expert on a subject,

have class and sophistication all the while on a budget,

mess up on everything and still smile, redefine you, rede-

fine them, take a chance, slay a giant, ignore the rules,

pay tribute, or just breath an idea out. For me and all

those involved in it, this magazine is all of this…...so

breath, and let the next breath be one that takes you

closer to your good life.

A Salut,

to your Good Life

Editor- Jason @The Good Life

That’s the beauty of it.

Defi

ning

Cha

racte

r...

All You Can Eat Buffet

Kombo Chapfika

Mixed Media on canvas

art.

Inspired………

This image spoke such vol-

umes to me when I saw it, that I had

to review it for our new art. section of

the magazine. Visually it has a grit of

a mixed media on canvas giving us

an urban edge and predictable mes-

sage and/or type of commentary on

the ignored imbalance of the whole

system and the hunger problem.

What really connects the im-

age to the relevance of it all for me is

the title, All You Can Eat Buffet. Now

considering that the McDo doesn’t

have a buffet, the image starts an in-

teresting dialogue between the

viewer and the symbolism apparent

therein. Is this simply a call to action

against world hunger, against hunger

in America, why does he use McDo

with a buffet analogy? Is it because

McDo is one of the largest distribu-

tors of food, a virtual buffet for profit?

Never the less, his work is pro-

voking, interesting, and full of per-

sonal style with a voice speaking a

needed message. If any have not be

turned on to one of the growing artist

of our time, turn your attention then to

one by the name of Komb Chap-

fika…..the real deal.

This is an Ad...

TheCharlotteAgent.com

Thank You.

Lovely Paris .

Beautiful Senegal .

A Taste of Australian Wine 'Rieslings' by Gavin Trott Riesling is the grape most associated with Ger-many, where the best examples of it are stun-ning, world class wines. Here in Australia we are probably the only other country to give this fabu-lous grape the care and attention it deserves. Indeed, for many years it was the most popular Australian white wine, only recently succumbing to the world wide fashion trend of Chardonnay. To me it still produces more good wines, and per-haps more to the point, less bad wines, thanCh-ardonnay. The wine is made to capture the essence of the grape, no oak, few wine maker's tricks, just grape to wine. After picking, the grapes are crushed then generally removed from the skins either im-mediately, or after a brief period, while the rest of the task is to control the speed of fermentation and keep the oxygen away from those fragile flavours. The wine will ferment in stainless steel containers, chilled to control the fermentation speed, and under an inert gas blanket. When finished the wine will be stored for a short period then bottled to keep those primal fruit flavours. In fact, we have been drinking the 1996 Rieslings now for some months, and very good indeed they are.

Best Regions

In Australia Rieslings are grown in many regions,

but only in 3 or 4 areas are the best wines produced.

The regions to watch out for are, in my order of prefer-

ence only, Clare/Watervale, Eden Valley, Great South-

ern, Western Australia and pockets of the Adelaide

Hills and Tasmania. Good wines are produced else-

where, but not with consistency or reliability.

Young Riesling will smell of freshly crushed grape,

lime, citrus, tropical fruit and floral smells. A friend of

mine once described a Riesling as smelling like 'orange

blossom dipped in lime juice”, flowery language, but

that is what the wine smelled like.

They tend to have firm acid finishes, the Clare region

typically producing steely or flinty finishes with tropical

overtones in the young wines. They taste of fruits,

limes, lemons, and passion fruit, often with floral and

even mineral edges to them, are long and zingy on the

finish, and are the perfect accompaniment to a range of

sea food.

Aged Rieslings

Rieslings that taste so fresh and exuberant when young age sur-

prisingly and remarkably well. As the years go by the primary fruit

fades to be replaced by toast, honey, nuts and 'kerosene', that tra-

ditional yet hard to describe smell of good older Rieslings. In fact, it

is often a difficult choice, drink young or cellar.

Many go through closed periods between youth and maturity, so

personally I like to drink them young and fresh, or after 5 years, but

they can become slightly awkward at about 1 to 4 years of age.

Food Matching

These wines are absolutely designed for seafood, especially freshly

grilled fish. It also goes really well with lobster as long as you avoid

heavy sauces, just the delicious lobster flesh, and the zesty limes

and citrus of the wine, a match made in heaven.

Another worthwhile fact is that now is the time to try these wines.

The currently available 2002 vintage is the best of the previous 10

or more years, most are still available, and almost all of them great

wine bargains at $Aud20 or less pb (That’s about $US12 or less per

bottle).

Current Tasting Notes

2002 Hewitson Eden Valley Riesling - In a stelvin closure, well

done Dean! Another spanking good 2002 Riesling, but this one is

from Eden Valley. This is all class, very pale colour with a very

varietal nose of lemon, with almost pea like hints, plus tropical fruits

and floral edged limes. The palate too is all class, powerful but tight

fruits, limes lemons and grapefruit, along with hints of spice on a

long and crisp finish with some lovely natural acid. Yum, and will

cellar!

2002 Petaluma Riesling - "Brian Croser (wine maker) has no

doubts about the 2002 Riesling vintage: “It was the perfect riesling

year,” he says. “Fruit quality was superb. Acid was wonderfully

high. Flavour was excellent – it was a great, great riesling vintage.”

His own riesling release is one of the first off the ranks, and the ver-

dict is: it’s intense. Intensely grapey, intensely minerally, intensely

lemony/powdery, with an acid structure that seems both obvious

and soft – there’s clearly lots of acid here, but it has an Alsatian

super-softness to it. The result of all this is that, unusually, it’s not

overly attractive young – but should cellar magnificently.

Gavin is the manager of the Australian Wine Centre (a large collection of afford-

able, rare and cult Australian wines) and hosts the very popular Auswine Forum (An

online discussion forum about Australian wine) .

Yeah….we use sugar….with a smile : )

Coming soon to a city near you

PerryLevingston watches

The Good Life.