Bob Vanderheiden

To start on a sad note: I no longer can drink; I discovered about10 years ago that I have a genetic disease called Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency Syndrome. It reportedly is more common than Sickle Cell, and is the cause behind the majority of liver, lung, and heart-lung transplants. I'll post later about who's most susceptible and where to learn more.

Back to chardonnays: Driving up the Napa road, on the right was Sam Sebastiani's Viansa winery, which they since sold. It's back in family hands (see viansa.com). Our choice was Cento Percento (100 percent) chard. Check out the tasting room and gift/gourmet shops.

We also liked La Crema (lacrimal.com), which now has tons of different chards -- but because the buttery style has lost favor to "crisp and fruity," that's how most are described. Maybe they can tell you. Neither Viansa nor La Crema are inexpensive.

As for genetics: Anyone whose heritage is of northwestern European descent should go to www.alpha1.org to learn more.

I'll post more about the syndrome soon. It's deadly and severely life-altering. Think about informing all of your relatives, too.

Good luck with your search for the next great chard.

Bob ... your "buttery chardonnay comment in Dennis' Disney discussion caught my interest. I haven't found one since the 80's when I stopped at one of the Napa vineyard tasting houses...so long ago I cannot remember the vintner's name .. just the butter. I think the market for the truly buttery stuff has waned .... you have any recommendation for truly buttery chardonnay still being made?

Posted on: May 14, 2022 at 1:33 AM

Best wishes, happy birthday, hope you had a nice Easter, find me another beautiful bird photo, and stay well! (Sorry I'm late with my greeting.)

Posted on: Nov 11, 2020 at 1:18 PM

Today, Veteran's Day, I'd like to honor fellow students who served. I spoke with two before the reunion -- it was the first time I'd seen them in 50 years. Bruce Balent, who was our ROTC student commander and the "city colonel," or top cadet in Long Beach. He went on to the Air Force academy and served with distinction both in the cockpit of gigantic cargo transports and classrooms of the academy, where he was, to keep it simple, a computer instructor. Jeff Poe is a Naval Academy grad and became a submarine officer and later a civilian nuclear scientist. A third, Carl Harmon, became an Army master sergeant. He didn't attend.

Most importantly, I'd like to honor Sergeant First Class Elmer W. Stringfellow, who I think was Millikan's first African American teacher; he was one of our two ROTC instructors. "Sarge" first saw combat on Guadalcanal. After the Marines made their famous landing and captured the island against incredible resistance, the Army was sent in to mop up. Sarge was, then, a second lieutenant, a "90-day wonder" trained to command a Negro platoon. He was eventually promoted to major, but because he was a reserve officer, when the war ended he was offered this ultimatum: In the troop drawdown, either accept a BIG cut in rank or take a hike. He stayed, and lost his commission. He served as a Sergeant but, because he held the temporary commission as major, he retired at that pay level. He later taught "military science" at Poly before being moved to Millikan to help Master Sergeant David McMahon run the ROTC program. It was, in its second year, larger than Jordan's or Poly's unit -- and that, of course, was before girls were allowed to enroll.

Please join me on this Veteran's Day in saluting Sergeant First Class Elmer W. Stringfellow and the dozens of other Millikan teachers who served our country in its times of need and occasional moments of peace.

Posted on: Aug 04, 2020 at 9:09 PM

I just noticed the date: August 4 is the Coast Guard's 230th birthday -- so for the very few special among you who were also in the Coast Guard, happy anniversary.