On sweat equity and indie business upward striving.

Looking over my notes these past few weeks, I detect a pattern. It might embrace those wishing to be a rock and roll star chef.

Chef Mark Mendez: Open letter to a culinary student

In beer terms ...

So You Think You Want to Open a Brewery

Gary Humphrey might chime in from the basement of RCW:

Opinion: Wanna Start a Winery? Get Ready to Sweat

And then there's Nathan and the folks behind Quills.

Living The Coffee Shop Dream

The common themes are steep learning curves and plain hard work, as exist somewhere off to the side of the red carpet. The encouraging part is that when they're present and clicking, as with restaurants, a brewery, a winery and a coffee roaster in downtown New Albany, there's the chance (just a chance, not a certainty) of getting somewhere ... of making it happen.

I was having an e-mail conversation with an old friend, who wrote something striking about the typical disconnect between local government and the indie grassroots.

The only way it stops if for a new nonprofit is organized by the community's business owners and that group begins exercising its political power. No city money, no city representation, just business persons at the local level. It would take years to start up and I doubt that it would actually function in NA but that's the only way I see anything working to the advantage of the business community.

We're working on it.

What these various restaurant, brewery, winery and coffee people (me included) are coming to realize is that starting a non-profit in this fashion takes the same learning curve and work ethic as getting their own businesses off the ground. We don't have a lot of spare time, but we can do it. And we are.

Specifically, a wine dinner. Generally, about local and regional wines.

Over at my Potable Curmudgeon blog, I've posted a review by Shane Campbell of last week's wine dinner at Bank Street Brewhouse, which we staged along with our friends at the Huber Winery.

Shane Campbell reviews the Huber Winery/Bank Street Brewhouse dinner on November 13.

Yes, I'm the beer guy around here, and yet in recent years, I've become re-acquainted with the joys of the fermented grape -- not by means of vineyards in California, Chile or France, but through visiting Starlight, Bloomington, Madison and downtown New Albany, and asking questions, listening and sampling. Our regional wineries are crafting wines for all tastes, and stereotypical sweet fruit wines no longer are the norm (they're still available if that's your gig).

Maybe it's ironic to use the craft brewhouse to make this point, although if so, the conclusion is no less valid. There are a couple dozen wineries or more within an easy drive of New Albany and environs. They're fun places. Visit with open minds and palates, and enjoy. End of sermon.

Saturday wine trek to Turtle Run and Grateful Goat.

The top three photos were taken at Turtle Run Winery, located just west of Lanesville. The grape harvest is underway, and the press was going full tilt when we peeked out the winery door.

The bottom two photos were taken at Grateful Goat Vineyard & Winery, located north of Palmyra. As you can see, there are goats ... and New Albany's Kevin Rees playing afternoon sipping music.