Burst your bubbly: Uncorking the origins of Champagne and sparkling wine

Is there a more misunderstood and utterly disorganized style of wine than “sparkling”? (Alright, maybe Riesling, but that’s another discussion entirely—stay tuned!) Sparkling wine is, by all accounts, the patron wine of “special occasions” and celebration, and has thus been cast about, bastardized, and otherwise abused to the point of utter confusion and caricature. Let’s […]

A counter point: Wes Carter wants to top off your kitchen

After years of working with toxic chemicals in his bath tub repair and refinishing business, Wes Carter decided he wanted “a cleaner, less harmful occupation,” so he focused his attention on stone. “It could provide me not only with those options, but also a rewarding finished product,” he said. He opened Albemarle Countertop Company in […]

Mr. Fix It: Spotlight on Winston Yancey

An old, rusty fan sat in a building for 30 years before, thanks to Winston Yancey Jr., it got a second chance. The fan, which once belonged to Yancey’s grandfather, had withstood winter’s cold and summer’s heat before Yancey rescued it and brought it back to life with 10 hours of elbow grease, no tools, […]

Learn as you go: One Albemarle homesteader does it himself

Ryan Williamson had never used a chainsaw when he began logging his own Earlysville homesite in 2005. And he was “always kind of scared of power tools,” but that didn’t stop him from building his own house and workshop the next year. To say Williamson has a can-do spirit doesn’t quite do him justice. He’s […]