Happy New Year Better Drink readers! Welcome to the Winter '06 issue of The Better Drink. As we all face a New Year with the resolutions, hopes and good intentions, we grapple with self improvement, goal setting and stand face to face with the fact that we are in the middle of winter (I'm sure that all of our friends down-under can easily extrapolate this notion). The holidays are gone, but for us in more northern climes we still have to face March Madness. Perhaps scrolling through this Winter issue of The Better Drink will give you some diversions and inspirations to wade through the last of the Winter months. Enjoy the quiet while exploring the pages of our new issue.

         Sandy Mitchell is a Cleveland-based freelance writer who wrote both the feature on Ohio wineries and an interview with Tony Debevc, president and winemaker of his family’s Chalet Debonne winery near Madison Ohio in the Ashtabula County wine district. Please check it out. In the Arts & Sciences section esteemed entomologist co-wrote an article on the great vineyard pest phylloxera.

         Rebecca Uhlhorn and J. Blake Gordon return to The Better Drink in HelloGoodbye, respectively. Suzie Sims Fletcher tells us an incredible champagne story in "Under the Goldlight: true tales of drinking champagne". Timothy Smith shares his passions for rivers in Passion Forum, and David L. Sirois looks back into his childhood remembering presents and Christmas time.

         Our fine arts section offers an amazing art show of the paintings of Gilles Mascarell (also featured on the home page). We are honored to present the fiction of writer Becky Mate. Don't miss the poetry of LaVonne Schoneman and Robert Slattery. Anna Luciano, Fritz Voigt, and John Euclid review the movies to enhance your Winter viewing.

          Please enjoy your tour around The Better Drink...and have a great Winter Season...hopefully with a glass of bubbly.

Dr. Timothy Smith

January 22, 2006