Columnists

It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of local wines and I plan on enjoying them a lot this holiday season.My guess is that many of you who enjoy wine may not be all that familiar with our local wineries and the fact that there are over 30 of them right in our backyard. I sit in on the Wineries of Santa Clara Valley wine association’s marketing meetings and that’s not lost on them. There has been good progress made promoting the local wine region with events like the WSCV Passport Weekend and the installation of the Wine Trail signage. But it has always felt like more could be done.The WSCV is now stepping up their game and brought in a top notch wine marketing consultant to match their goals. This firm is out of the winemaking mecca of Napa, and at first blush I was thinking, “Uh oh, are we going to be molded into something else and be like some other place?” Well, I needn’t worry because the marketing consultant gave a wonderful seminar that emphasized our local wineries should continue doing what they do best: making great wines and being personable and approachable.That marketing consultant really clicked with me because he was saying that winery visitors were looking to have a good time and not get an undergraduate degree in winemaking. Traditionally many wineries seemingly wanted to impress you with talk about things like brix readings, the effect of fermenting or barrel ageing in oak (must always ask if it is French), stirring the lees and malolactic fermentation. All the stuff I want to learn about but not feel obligated to do so.Now, instead of encouraging the wineries to talk about how many months the wine spent ageing in an oak barrel, etc., the winemakers have been encouraged to just talk about what they like to eat with a particular wine or maybe tell you a funny or touching story about how a wine or their winery came about, and maybe talk about their dog. Halleluiah.This was comforting to me since I was always a little self-conscious about my wine knowledge and I can only imagine others felt that way too. So often I’ve walked into a winery and felt like I had to earn a sample by proving I was worthy. I felt like I should taste a hint of this or that and was disappointed if I couldn’t.It turns out that I never should have felt that way in our local wineries. No one was ever testing me—that was my own preconceived notion. Many of our local wineries were already practicing the fun approach to winery visits and they just wanted to see me enjoying their wine.Our local wineries are mostly small and family operated. They love the personal touch of sharing their stories and just talking about wine. And for those wine aficionados who want to get technical, most of these folks are still wine geeks at heart so chat it up.So in between the shopping, gatherings with family and friends, and generally celebrating the holidays head out to a winery for a local wine experience that’ll make you feel right at home.John McKay is president of the Morgan Hill Downtown Association, a city planning commissioner and co-founder of the Morgan Hill Tourism Alliance.

What an election year this has been. Locally, we’ve seen a noticeable change in the climate of political discourse.There is so much intentional, and I hope unintentional, misinformation out there that it can get difficult for some to a get a handle on the issues.Measure S is the poster child for many of the ills I see in modern Morgan Hill politics (not meaning to diminish other areas of ills). Creating a population cap and how we might get there is tough to do.One thing almost universal is concern for the future. Also universal is the inability to get everyone in a small room to agree, nonetheless an entire community—especially when it comes to our future.We all care about the future of this community. We all care and we put together Measure S to the best of our abilities after what was hundreds of hours of education and discussion for many.The voter initiative that is Measure S may not be perfect but I believe that, except for a few areas where you have to consider the entire document as a whole, it is very well written. Please take it as a whole.What I am now seeing in so many cases regarding Measure S is just a few people saying the same negative thing repeatedly.Much of this discussion is fueled by emotion and misinformation. I don’t usually do this, but I must cite one gross example where a commenter said that Measure S allows 300 units to be developed in agricultural lands. Actually, it states that the development of 300 units in a special “set-aside” can take place within Morgan Hill’s developable areas if there is an equal area protected by an agricultural conservation easement on prime agricultural lands within a specified area.There is a lot of this kind of thing going on so we must be careful about what we hear and verify it for ourselves. Please remember that no matter how comfortable we feel trusting others that they have done their research on an issue, do the hard work of researching important issues and protect your vote; it is your vote, after all.A dear friend once told me you can’t change the minds of those who’ve already made them up, so focus on the ones who agree with you to keep a strong base and accurately inform the undecided.For those that believe Measure S is the right document to help us continue our path into what I think is an incredibly bright future, please speak up and support your discussions liberally with facts.We all care about the future. Guess how I’m voting on Measure S.John McKay is a Morgan Hill resident, city planning commissioner and co-founder of the Morgan Hill Tourism Alliance.

On June 6, the drive-in theater will celebrate its 79th birthday. Yeah, I know. Most people don’t care and there aren’t many drive ins still around. Honestly? That’s a shame. I love the drive in. And I’m sure I’m not alone in my fondness for outdoor movie theaters … right?

Here’s a sobering statistic: 46 percent of workers surveyed had little or no confidence that they will have enough money to live comfortably throughout their retirement years, according to the 2010 Retirement Confidence Survey, issued by the Employee Benefit Research Institute. So you may want to explore all possible retirement savings vehicles – including a variable annuity.

Meetings galore – not just the regularly scheduled meetings, but cooperative meetings alive with the energy of new faces and fresh ideas – the kind of meetings you don’t want to take a break from because you’ll miss something.