Wine Wednesday: Texas Hill Country

For today?s?#WineWednesday, TPG contributor?Kristine Hansen takes us to one of the USA?s under-the-radar wine regions, the Texas Hill Country between San Antonio and Austin to try some wines you might not have heard of, all served with signature Texas hospitality.

Think of Texas and wineries might not immediately come to mind. Instead, you?re envisioning country music, cowboy boots and miles of tumbleweed. Maybe even a platter of Tex-Mex fajitas. But everything is bigger in Texas, including wine consumption and the state is one that distributors and importers clamor to grab a piece of, year after year, so what better region to engage in wine production?

There are over 35 wineries in the Texas Hill Country.

For a trek to wine country that?s interwoven with Southern hospitality, and has an affordable bent, the Texas Hill Country?in Central Texas is poised to deliver. As a bonus, it?s rare to find wines from this region distributed outside of the state, which means you?re going to want to sip like there?s no tomorrow while at tasting rooms. And don?t be surprised if you?re bumping elbows at the counters: about 5 million people visit this relatively new wine region each year, a combination of day-trippers and oenophiles on the hunt for something different than a well-worn path to Napa, Sonoma or even New York State?s Finger Lakes region.

Not only that, but Texas is producing styles of wine as diverse as sherry (Alamosa Wine Cellars, in Bend) and Aglianico (Grape Creek Vineyards, in Fredericksburg), as well as those that are as popular as Cabernet Sauvignon and Chenin Blanc. In most cases this means working with Texas fruit, proving once again the depth of this state?s agriculture.

Getting There

Southwest has the largest presence at both San Antonio and Austin, Texas.

From San Antonio, it?s about a 45-minute drive to the Texas Hill Country?s Texas Wine Trail, a wine region with 35 wineries that is quickly coming into its own. The largest carrier at San Antonio International Airport is Southwest Airlines.

Another option is to fly into Austin, Texas.?After Southwest, the largest carrier here is American Airlines. The airport is also served by most of the domestic carriers as well, including Alaska, Delta, JetBlue, United and US Airways.

Texas Hill Country is defined as a swatch of land stretching from Fredericksburg to Austin, and Lampasas to New Braunfels, so you?ve got a lot of potential ground to cover.

Where to Stay

Bed & Brew above Fredericksburg Brewing Company.

Fredericksburg is a good place to base camp as its Main Street is lined with adorable boutiques and restaurants (many reflecting the region?s German heritage (it?s not uncommon to hear German spoken), and on the side streets are guesthouses. Book through the Fredericksburg Lodging?where you can?also book a few nights in a former Pullman car, or at Bed & Brew above Fredericksburg Brewing Company. With a guesthouse as your accommodations, it?s nice to have a ?home away from home? after a day of wine touring, especially when you have a full-size fridge to stock the bottles you picked up during the day, perfect when paired with cheese picked up at a local grocery store or artisan chocolates scored from Chocolat on Main Street. (Founder Lecia Duke apprenticed under a Swiss master chocolatier.)

Visit Becker Vineyards, in Stonewall in late April/early May and you just might catch a whiff of lavender from the three-acre fields out back, where a charming guest cottage is available for overnight stays. It?s beautiful at all times, of course, but especially fragrant in spring.

Cellar Doors

Becker Vineyards ? a boutique winery run by a husband-wife team, Richard and Bunny Becker, who are often spotted flitting around the tasting room with smiles on their faces ? jump-started wine tourism in this part of the country when it opened a tasting room in 1996, four years after the winery debuted. Its Rhone- and Burgundian-style wines are so popular they?ve even been served at the White House. Live music is hosted on the veranda on select Saturday afternoons. Try and visit on a Saturday around 1:00 pm to take part in a reserve tasting of single-vineyard Cabernet Sauvignons ($60, but definitely worth it), plus wine-and-cheese pairings, in the underground cellar. Note that this is also a sweet place to pick up lavender-accented gifts such as handmade soaps, lotions and sachets.

Torre di Pietra Vineyards.

Ten miles east of Fredericksburg, Torre di Pietra Vineyards?is run by Ken Maxwell, who spent 25 years in the semiconductor industry before returning to his family?s winemaking roots in 2004 to open this winery. Italian and Portuguese varietals are planted and harvested, then made into award-winning wines such as Super Tuscan, Midnight Nymph (including Touriga Nacional) and Sangiovese. Like Becker Vineyards, this winery hosts live music on weekends. Didn?t bring a picnic? No worries. An on-site market sells goat cheese, crackers and the winery?s own wine-infused chocolates.

Rancho Ponte Vineyard is one of the newer wineries in the area.

One of the newer wineries is Rancho Ponte Vineyard, five miles east of Fredericksburg. Drawing upon five generations of winemaking that traces back to Northern Italy, the line-up of wines at this family-run winery draws from grapes like Semillon (blended with Pinot Grigio in the Caliche Cuvee) and Roussanne (with Cortese in a Port).

The Westin La Cantera Hill Country Resort.

Quite a few San Antonio area restaurants have added Texas wines to their lists in recent years. These include the Westin La Cantera Hill County Resort, a posh property near major attractions like Fiesta Texas and Seaworld but also near the region?s most luxurious outdoor mall, The Shops at La Cantera. Simply hop on a shuttle from the hotel?s lobby and you?re there in minutes. Glasses of Texas wine are poured at the hotel?s fine-dining restaurant, Francesca?s at Sunset. This is a Starwood Category 5 property where rates in May start at $239, 12,000 points or 6,000 points + $110.

This content is not provided or commissioned by the company whose products are featured on this site. Any opinions, analyses, reviews or evaluations provided here are those of the author's alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the Advertiser. This site may be compensated through the Advertiser's affiliate programs.

Source: http://thepointsguy.com/2013/05/wine-wednesday-texas-hill-country/

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German Court Rules Apple Cannot Request 'Global Consent' for Use of Customer Data

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Source: http://www.iclarified.com/29860/german-court-rules-apple-cannot-request-global-consent-for-use-of-customer-data

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Italy's ex-premier Giulio Andreotti dies at 94

OBIT - In this photo fro files taken at the senate in Rome on Oct. 15 2004, Italian life senator Giulio Andreotti talks to journalists during a press conference. Italian state television says Giulio Andreotti, Italy's former seven-time premier, has died at age 94. At his prime, Andreotti was one of Italy's most powerful men: he helped draft the country's constitution after World War II, sat in parliament for 60 years and served as premier seven times. Andreotti was hospitalized last year with heart problems stemming from a respiratory infection. (AP Photo/Plinio Lepri)

OBIT - In this photo fro files taken at the senate in Rome on Oct. 15 2004, Italian life senator Giulio Andreotti talks to journalists during a press conference. Italian state television says Giulio Andreotti, Italy's former seven-time premier, has died at age 94. At his prime, Andreotti was one of Italy's most powerful men: he helped draft the country's constitution after World War II, sat in parliament for 60 years and served as premier seven times. Andreotti was hospitalized last year with heart problems stemming from a respiratory infection. (AP Photo/Plinio Lepri)

FILE - In this Dec. 8, 2001 file photo Italian life senator Giulio Andreotti gestures during a press conference. Italian state television says Giulio Andreotti, Italy's former seven-time premier, has died at age 94. At his prime, Andreotti was one of Italy's most powerful men: he helped draft the country's constitution after World War II, sat in parliament for 60 years and served as premier seven times. Andreotti was hospitalized last year with heart problems stemming from a respiratory infection. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno/Files)

FILE - In this Saturday April 29, 2006 file photo, former Italian Premier and center right candidate to the Senate presidency Giulio Andreotti sits at the Senate in Rome.Italian state television says Giulio Andreotti, Italy's former seven-time premier, has died at age 94. At his prime, Andreotti was one of Italy's most powerful men: he helped draft the country's constitution after World War II, sat in parliament for 60 years and served as premier seven times. Andreotti was hospitalized last year with heart problems stemming from a respiratory infection. (AP Photo/Plinio Lepri, File)

FILE - In this file photo taken on April 29 2006, Italian former Premier Giulio Andreotti walks at the Senate in Rome. Italian state television says Giulio Andreotti, Italy's former seven-time premier, has died at age 94. At his prime, Andreotti was one of Italy's most powerful men: he helped draft the country's constitution after World War II, sat in parliament for 60 years and served as premier seven times. Andreotti was hospitalized last year with heart problems stemming from a respiratory infection. (AP Photo/Plinio Lepri, file)

ROME (AP) ? Giulio Andreotti was one of postwar Italy's most powerful men: He helped draft the country's constitution after World War II, served as its premier seven times and spent 60 years in parliament.

But the Christian Democrat who was friends with popes and cardinals was also a controversial figure who survived corruption scandals and allegations of aiding the Mafia.

Andreotti was accused of exchanging a "kiss of honor" with the mob's longtime No. 1 boss and indicted in what was called "the trial of the century" in Palermo. He was eventually cleared.

Still a senator-for-life, Andreotti died Monday at age 94 after being in poor health recently.

He was hospitalized a year ago for a heart condition. As Italy's eldest senator, he would have presided over the inaugural session of the new Senate in March, but was not well enough to attend.

In announcing the death, Rome Mayor Gianni Alemanno called Andreotti "the most representative politician" Italy had known in its recent history. Pier Ferdinando Casini, a centrist political leader, said he was certain that "history will give this statesman a more sober and serious opinion than his detractors made during his life."

President Giorgio Napolitano, at 87 a contemporary of Andreotti, said history would judge his career but he wanted to extend a national salute to a man who represented Italy overseas and in Europe with "exceptional" skill.

Andreotti's political career was as varied as it was long, with posts covering everything from cinema to sports. Born in 1919, he once noted that he had outlived two other Italian phenomena that developed that same year: Fascism and the precursor of his Christian Democrats, the Italian Popular Party.

"Of all three, only I remain," he said.

Andreotti was well-known for his political acumen, subtle humor and witty allusions. With sharp eyes, thin lips and a stooped figure, he was immediately recognizable to generations of Italians. Friends and foes alike admired his intellectual agility and his grasp of the issues.

Andreotti's rise in the Italian political scene mirrored the rise of Italy, which was emerging from two decades of Fascist dictatorship under Benito Mussolini. He joined the conservative Christian Democrats, was part of the Constituent Assembly that wrote the constitution and was elected to parliament in 1948.

He remained there ever since.

He held a series of Cabinet positions after World War II until he became premier for the first time in 1972. Twenty years later, he finished his last stint as premier.

Although staunchly pro-American and a firm supporter of Italy's NATO membership, Andreotti was the first Christian Democrat to accept Communist support, even if indirect, in one of his governments. The Cabinet that was formed after big Communist gains in the 1976 election needed the Communists and other leftists to abstain ? rather than cast "no" votes ? during parliamentary votes.

By the early 1990s, a vast corruption drive led by Italian prosecutors ? the "Clean Hands" probe ? swept through parliament and hobbled most political parties. Andreotti's Christian Democrats were among them, but the scandal did not touch him personally and he managed to stay on as premier until an election in 1992.

Soon, however, an even more damaging accusation would hit Andreotti. In 1993, a Mafia informer told prosecutors that Andreotti had been involved in the 1979 slaying of Mino Pecorelli, a muckraking journalist killed in a mob-style execution in Rome by four shots from a pistol with a silencer.

Pecorelli's articles had often targeted Andreotti, along with a range of public figures. Andreotti was sometimes referred to in print as "The Godfather."

The prosecution argued that the Mafia killed Pecorelli at the behest of Andreotti, who allegedly feared the reporter had dug up compromising information. Andreotti has always denied the charges, saying he was targeted by mobsters who were trying to get even for his crackdowns on organized crime.

The lengthy case ? dubbed by the Italian press "the trial of the century" ? resulted in an acquittal in 1999; a shock conviction and a sentence of 24 years in prison by an appeals court in November 2002; and, in the third and final judgment a year later, another acquittal.

"Some might have hoped I wouldn't get here. But here I am, thanks to God," Andreotti, then 84, said at the time of the final ruling.

In a separate case during the same years, Andreotti stood trial in Palermo on charges that he colluded with the Mafia. But he was cleared in that case too.

Palermo prosecutors relied heavily on accounts by Mafia turncoats, including a mobster who testified that Andreotti had once exchanged a "kiss of honor" with Salvatore Riina, the "boss of all bosses" and a longtime fugitive captured in 1993. They alleged that Andreotti granted favors for the mob in exchange for their delivering Sicilian votes for his party.

Andreotti always denied the charges, again maintaining he was a victim of mobsters intent on taking revenge for his fight against the Mafia.

Andreotti was born to schoolteachers in Rome on Jan. 14, 1919. He earned a law degree at Rome University and became a journalist after graduation.

During World War II he worked as a librarian in the Vatican, and it was there that he met several politicians, including Alcide De Gasperi, later one of Italy's foremost postwar statesman.

At age 35, Andreotti became Italy's youngest interior minister. It was the beginning of a career during which he navigated the Byzantine world of Italian politics like no other, accumulating power, honors and enemies along the way.

Such was his reach that he was sometimes called "Divo Giulio" ? a play on his name Giulio and the latin "Divus Iulius" (or Divine Julius), which was used for Julius Caesar. His critics called him Beelzebub for what they considered his diabolical skills.

The one political prize he never achieved was to become president of the republic, a largely ceremonial but highly regarded office. He came closest in 1992, but his efforts failed amid the "Clean Hands" corruption scandals.

A devout Roman Catholic, Andreotti maintained solid ties to the Vatican throughout his political career. His Rome address was close to the centers of political power but also just across the Tiber from St. Peter's Square.

He wrote numerous books, some of them best-sellers, wrote articles for Italian publications and edited the monthly Catholic magazine 30 Giorni. He was courted on TV shows for his deep knowledge of Italian and world affairs as well as for his humor.

A probing portrait of him in the film "Il Divo" was honored with the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 2008. He even made a guest appearance as himself in the movie, "Il Tassinaro" ("The Taxi Driver") with the late comedian Alberto Sordi.

In tribute to him, the Italian Olympic Committee CONI said a moment of silence would be held at all sporting events this week.

Andreotti was married to Livia Danese. He is survived by his wife, their four children and grandchildren.

___

Barry reported from Milan

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-05-06-Italy-Obit-Andreotti/id-09462ad86ebb4d079a08662b49b6de56

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NASA's Spitzer puts planets in a petri dish

May 6, 2013 ? Our galaxy is teeming with a wild variety of planets. In addition to our solar system's eight near-and-dear planets, there are more than 800 so-called exoplanets known to circle stars beyond our sun. One of the first "species" of exoplanets to be discovered is the hot Jupiters, also known as roasters. These are gas giants like Jupiters, but they orbit closely to their stars, blistering under the heat.

Thanks to NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, researchers are beginning to dissect this exotic class of planets, revealing raging winds and other aspects of their turbulent nature. A twist to come out of the recent research is the planets' wide range of climates. Some are covered with a haze, while others are clear. Their temperature profiles, chemistries and densities differ as well.

"The hot Jupiters are beasts to handle. They are not fitting neatly into our models and are more diverse than we thought," said Nikole Lewis of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, lead author of a new Spitzer paper in the Astrophysical Journal examining one such hot Jupiter called HAT-P-2b. "We are just starting to put together the puzzle pieces of what's happening with these planets, and we still don't know what the final picture will be."

The very first exoplanet discovered around a sun-like star was, in fact, a hot Jupiter, called 51 Pegasi b. It was detected in 1995 by Swiss astronomers using the radial velocity technique, which measures the wobble of a star caused by the tug of a planet. Because hot Jupiters are heavy and whip around their stars quickly, they are the easiest to find using this strategy. Dozens of hot Jupiter discoveries soon followed. At first, researchers thought they might represent a more common configuration for other planetary systems in our galaxy beyond our own solar system. But new research, including that from NASA's Kepler space telescope, has shown that they are relatively rare.

In 2005, scientists were thrilled when Spitzer became the first telescope to detect light emitted by an exoplanet. Spitzer monitored the infrared light coming from a star and its planet -- a hot Jupiter -- as the planet disappeared behind the star in an event known as a secondary eclipse. Once again, this technique works best for hot Jupiters, because they are the biggest and hottest planets.

In addition to watching hot Jupiters slip behind their stars, researchers also use Spitzer to monitor the planets as they orbit all the way around a star. This allows them to create global climate maps, revealing how the planets' atmospheres vary from their hot, sun-facing sides to their cooler, night sides, due in part to fierce winds. (Hot Jupiters are frequently tidally locked, with one side always facing the star, just as our moon is locked to Earth.)

Since that first observation, Spitzer has probed the atmospheres of dozens of hot Jupiters, and some even smaller planets, uncovering clues about their composition and climate.

"When Spitzer launched in 2003, we had no idea it would prove to be a giant in the field of exoplanet science," said Michael Werner, the Spitzer project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "Now, we're moving farther into the field of comparative planetary science, where we can look at these objects as a class, and not just as individuals."

In the new study, Lewis and colleagues made the longest Spitzer observation yet of a hot Jupiter. The infrared telescope stared at the HAT-P-2 system continuously for six days, watching it cross in front of its star, slip behind, and then reappear on the other side, making a full orbit. What makes the observation even more exciting to scientists is that the planet has a comet-like eccentric orbit, carrying it as close as 2.8 million miles (4.5 million kilometers) to the star and out to as far as 9.3 million miles (15 million kilometers). For reference, Mercury is about 28.5 million miles from our sun.

"It's as if nature has given us a perfect lab experiment with this system," said Heather Knutson, a co-author of the new paper at the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, Calif. "Because the planet's distance to the sun changes, we can watch how fast it takes to heat up and cool down. It's as though we're turning the heat knob up on our planet and watching what happens." Knutson led the first team to create a global "weather" map of a hot Jupiter, called HD 189733 b, in 2007.

The new HAT-P-2b study is also one of the first to use multiple wavelengths of infrared light, instead of just one, while watching a full orbit of a hot Jupiter. This enables the scientists to peer down into different layers of the planet.

The results reveal that HAT-P-2b takes about a day to heat up as it approaches the hottest part of its orbit, and four to five days to cool down as it swings away. It also exhibits a temperature inversion -- a hotter, upper layer of gas -- when it is closest to its star. What's more, the carbon chemistry of the planet seems to be behaving in unexpected ways, which the astronomers are still trying to understand.

"These planets are much hotter and more dynamic than our own Jupiter, which is sluggish by comparison. Strong winds are churning material up from below, and the chemistry is always changing," said Lewis.

Another challenge in understanding hot Jupiters lies in parsing through the data. Lewis said her team's six-day Spitzer observation left them with 2 million data points to map out while carefully removing instrument noise.

"Theories are being shot down right and left," said Nick Cowan of Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill., a co-author of the HAT-P-2b study. "Right now, it's like the wild, wild west."

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., manages the Spitzer Space Telescope mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Science operations are conducted at the Spitzer Science Center at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Data are archived at the Infrared Science Archive housed at the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center at Caltech. Caltech manages JPL for NASA. For more information about Spitzer, visit http://spitzer.caltech.edu and http://www.nasa.gov/spitzer .

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/space_time/nasa/~3/xc2vc-C-lV8/130506161049.htm

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Fitbit Flex review

More Info

• Jawbone Up review (2012)
• Fitbit announces the Flex wristband, a $100 fitness tracker
• Fitbit updates Android app with wireless syncing

We have truly entered the era of the quantified self. Editorials are shouting it from the rooftops, technologists are snickering "I told you so" and you, dear consumers, are just eating it up. If there's some sort of personal metric you'd like to monitor and view in a pretty little chart, there's a product out there to help you do it. Now, that doesn't necessarily reflect a mature market rather than a fleeting fad. But we'll say this: companies both big and small are offering a number of products for this growing niche and some have built their entire portfolio around a lineup of personal tracking devices. Fitbit is obviously one of those companies and, with the One, Zip and Aria WiFi scale already on the shelves, it's got a pretty robust set of options for those looking to turn their entire lives into a collection of infographics. With the Flex, though, it truly rounds out its offerings with a wearable band in the style of the Jawbone Up and Nike FuelBand.

There are, of course, a number of differences between all of these products -- not the least of which is price. At $100, the Flex undercuts its most direct competitors by at least $30. There's also support for Bluetooth 4.0, which delivers wireless syncing on both Android and iOS. The question is, does the Flex deliver enough at that price point to make it a clear choice?

Gallery: FitBit Flex review

Filed under: Wearables

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/O3Fv75GnKzM/

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Air France-KLM losses mount in Q1

PARIS (AP) ? Air France-KLM said Friday its losses mounted sharply in the first quarter compared to a year earlier, when earnings were boosted by a gain in the value of oil price hedging contracts the airline uses to manage its fuel costs.

Air France-KLM said in a statement it lost 630 million euros ($821 million) in the January-March quarter, compared to a loss of 379 million euros a year earlier. Last year's result benefited from a 220 million euros gain on the airline's hedging contracts.

The airline, in the midst of a three-year turnaround plan, said it hopes to strengthen its position by paying down debt and reducing staff costs further.

Air France-KLM is struggling to compete against low-cost carriers and has said it expects to cut about 5,000 people in its workforce of 49,000. It said the plan is on track despite "a difficult and uncertain environment."

The company saw passenger activity rise 0.8 percent in the quarter while capacity was held nearly steady. Passenger revenue rose 1.4 percent to 4.5 billion euros.

Shares in the Franco-Dutch holding company dropped 4.3 percent to 7.65 euros a share as of midday Friday.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/air-france-klm-losses-mount-q1-064329838.html

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Bangladesh building collapse toll rises to 450

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) ? More bodies were found overnight in a collapsed building in Bangladesh, raising the toll to 450 as workers carefully used cranes Friday to remove the concrete rubble.

"We are still proceeding cautiously so that we get the bodies intact," said Maj. Gen. Chowdhury Hassan Suhwardy, the commander of the area's army garrison supervising the rescue operation.

The official number of missing was still at 149 though unofficial estimates are higher.

The collapse of the eight-story building housing five garment factories on its upper floors has become the deadliest disaster for Bangladesh's $20 billion-a-year garment industry that supplies global retailers.

Building owner Mohammed Sohel Rana is under arrest and expected to be charged with negligence, illegal construction and forcing workers to join work, which are punishable by a maximum of seven years in jail. Authorities have not said if more serious crimes will be added.

The Bangladesh High Court has ordered the government to confiscate Rana's property and freeze the assets of the owners of the factories in Rana Plaza so the money can be used to pay the salaries of their workers.

Rana had a construction permit to build five stories but added three more illegally. After cracks appeared in the building, witnesses say Rana told people it was safe to go inside even though police ordered an evacuation. A bank and some shops refused to open, but garment factory managers told their workers to go back in. Hours later the building came down in a heap of concrete.

Among the garment makers in the building were Phantom Apparels, Phantom Tac, Ether Tex, New Wave Style and New Wave Bottoms.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bangladesh-building-collapse-toll-rises-450-030833788.html

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