Chardonnay is America’s most popular white wine. It’s also the most maligned. Many wine drinkers, even those with more educated palates, have come to shun the wine as inelegant and just plain bad.
Chardonnay is a victim of its own success. It’s one of the more easily grown wine grapes, easy to drink and very versatile. And once the varietal became popular in California, demand grew exponentially. As such things go, when there is demand, someone will provide the supply. The chardonnay market became saturated with cheap, inferior product.
However, true oenophiles know there are many wonderful chardonnays to be found, and a good chardonnay can be transcendent.
We asked Tulsa wine educator Gary Vance to recommend a chardonnay that might redeem the wine for those who’ve been turned off.
The recommendation: Vance says Martin Ray Russian River Valley Chardonnay changed his mind about chardonnay. Coming in under $16, the well-balanced, oak-aged wine is also a real bargain.
If you like this, try:
The fruit forward Kim Crawford Marlboro Unoaked Chardonnay ($15) is hard to beat.
If you can find it, Auntsfield Estate Unoaked Chardonnay ($25) is a winner.
For a special occasion, consider Newton Unfiltered Chardonnay ($55).
Wine Notes
Plan For Your Pet
Deciding to own a pet is a big decision. You will be welcoming a new family member who depends on you for food, water, shelter and medical care, in return for unconditional love.
A few simple guidelines provided by Dr. Dan Danner of the Animal Medical & Surgical Hospital and Darrin Hough, general manager at Tulsa’s Southern Agriculture, can help make sure that you and your pet will share many healthy, happy and loving years together.
What should I expect when bringing home a pet?
It will take some time for your new pet to feel comfortable in your home, says Danner. Your new dog or cat is in a strange place with unfamiliar people, and may have just been taken away from its mother and litter mates.
That said, he notes that it is very important to set the rules starting on day one, beginning with potty training.
So what kind of pet is best for me?
Hough says there are many factors in finding just the right pet.
First of all, know your space. A large breed dog may not be happy in a small apartment, while a smaller breed dog or cat will be perfectly content.
Danner says people should also think about their activity level. Daily joggers who want to take their dogs with them won’t be able to do so with a chihuahua, he notes.
“A pet should get the same dedication and consideration as when bringing a child home,” Danner says.
What about food?
Is there really a difference between pet food brands? Both Hough and Danner say you get what you pay for when it comes to pet foods.
“You can‘t get a quality cut of meat for 39 cents,” Danner says.
“There is a huge difference between some of the cheap grocery store brands and the super premium diets,” Hough says. “A lot of it is what you don’t want in the ingredients. We tell people to stay away from corn, wheat and soy. You want to see more meat in ingredients.”
“There’s a big difference between ‘nutritionally complete’ and ‘completely nutritious,’” Danner says. “It’s a word game the manufacturers play.”
Danner recommends consulting with your veterinarian to find a quality diet for your pet.
To insure or not?
Most people have health insurance to cover medical costs, so why not our pets?
Just like human insurance companies, there’s a huge difference between insurance plans available for pets, Danner says. Some do well, some do not. Check out the company and talk to your veterinarian, Danner says.
What type of health care should I expect to provide my pet?
The plan is to live a long, happy, healthy life with your pet. Just like with people, regular checkups are vital as your pet gets older, Hough says.
“Preventative care for animals is the key to catching (potential problems),” he says.
Nutritional requirements can change as your pet ages, Danner says. Concerns can shift from urinary tract requirements to osteoporosis. A proper balance of diet and exercise can help your pet live a long, happy time.
Hough and Danner both say pet owners should check with professionals and veterinarians about proper care for their animals.
“The more you understand your pet, the better lifestyle you’re going to have with it,” Danner says.
Lead Teacher
Karl Springer has served almost three years as the Superintendent of Oklahoma City Public Schools. For the past decade, that’s a record. For years the position was a revolving door, with superintendents being ousted at amazing speeds, one even resigning in the face of a corruption scandal. But Springer must have the touch, because his name is still on the door. In his short time as superintendent, he’s introduced a number of progressive and new ideas to Oklahoma City schools, including the continuous learning calendar. He refers to himself as “Lead Teacher for the Oklahoma City Public School District.”
Oklahoma Magazine: Everyone has opinions about education: why it works, why it doesn’t; what needs to be fixed, what doesn’t. What’s your big deal with Oklahoma City Public Schools? What does Karl Springer see as priorities?
Karl Springer: What we need to do first is change the culture of the school district and also the expectations of the community about how our students are going to perform academically. There’s nothing wrong with the students. We need to work to provide a structured environment and create expectations for our students and help them to be successful.
OM: If a student travels from start to finish through our public school system, what are some of the things he should have when he leaves and goes out into the real world?
KS: Our students should be ready for careers and colleges when they graduate from our comprehensive high schools. I think that they need to be critical thinkers. They need to have very developed abilities to communicate – in writing and verbally. They need to be able to solve problems with groups of people. They should be good citizens that make good decisions for the future of this country. They should have a well-rounded education so that when they graduate from high school, their potential is up to them.
OM: Were you ever suspended or expelled from high school?
KS: Not in high school, but in elementary school I was suspended five times.
OM: An early troublemaker?
KS: Actually, in high school, too, now that I think about it. I really liked school. But I had a tendency to pull pranks that weren’t good.
OM: I won’t ask you to elaborate.
KS: I hope you don’t ask me to elaborate.
OM: You’ve been superintendent for almost three years now. Looking back, what are some of the district’s biggest accomplishments during that time?
KS: I feel that the culture of our district is changing. We’re implementing a continuous learning calendar, where we’re going to shrink the length of the summer and give children more opportunities to be remediated.
The expansion of our pre-K program this fall is also a good sign. We now have 100 percent of our students in full-day kindergarten. Our movement to make our secondary programs more rigorous, making our students more into subject mastery and problem solving and less into skill and drill behavior. Those are the kinds of things that are going to have a long-lasting effect on schools.
OM: How long will it take before we start seeing a serious impact from Oklahoma City’s new continuous learning program?
KS: I would hope this next school year. The idea is to take the summer and spread it out over the school year. During those new breaks or intercessions, we’ll bring in students that need to be remediated. We’ll give them the help that they need early in the school year, not waiting until the end of the school year when it’s really too late for them. We’re giving them a just-in-time remediation. I’m hoping this has an effect, but I think it’ll snowball, too, as we use it year after year. We’re one of the only school districts in the U.S. where the whole district is on the continuous learning calendar all year. It’s going to be more of a continuous calendar with opportunities for children all year round to learn and grow.
Trainspotting
When the Oklahoma Department of Transportation awarded a bid in March to replace Interstate 244’s westbound Arkansas River bridge with a double-decker structure, many hailed the planned $64 million project. After all, the bridge had been constructed in 1967, is considered structurally deficient, and with its eastbound twin, still carries more than 50,000 cars on average per day.
But perhaps fewer noted the details of the composition of the bottom lane of the bridge, slated for completion in 2013. Rail infrastructure for both high-speed rail and commuter light rail is included in the plans.
“We’re designing for the next 75 years so why not be ready for high-speed rail?” says ODOT director of engineering David Streb.
“That bridge is anticipated to be part of a high-speed system. It will also be ready in case light rail (is ever developed in Tulsa).”
The introduction of high-speed rail to Oklahoma, though, remains elusive. After missing out on a piece of a huge cash pie made available by the federal government, the state is taking baby steps in the process of long-term planning.
“In 2001, 10 high-speed corridors were designated nationally including the south-central corridor (connecting Texas and Oklahoma),” Streb explains. “But after the designation, nothing happened. There was no funding, and even though Oklahoma conducted some studies, nothing else was done.”
However, the Obama administration announced plans for a national high-speed rail program and made funds available to state governments.
“Oklahoma submitted a proposal for its part of the south central rail corridor,” Streb says.
The proposal called for billions of dollars in operational improvements on the Heartland Flyer – Amtrak’s Oklahoma City to Fort Worth route – as well as creation of a true high-speed line connecting Tulsa and Oklahoma City.
Streb explains the difference between emerging high-speed rail and the true high-speed rail coveted by many today.
“Emerging means trains run on existing rail that is shared with cargo rail,” he says. “For example, the Heartland Flyer’s top speed is 79 miles per hour. True high-speed rail, such as was proposed to connect Tulsa and Oklahoma City would be on new rail, wouldn’t be shared with cargo and would have a top speed of 150 miles per hour.”
Oklahoma appears to be a logical market for rail if the success of the Heartland Flyer is any gauge.
“Ridership on the Flyer continues to grow and to be strong,” says Marc Magliari, Chicago-based spokesman for Amtrak.
“Our last full one-year period for which we have statistics shows ridership up 11 percent over the previous year. From October 2010 to February 2011, there has also been an 8.8 percent increase in ridership for the period.”
Magliari explains that the Heartland Flyer is funded by the states of Oklahoma and Texas, but that another state government might end up participating as well.
“Kansas is studying a plan to extend the Flyer to Newton, Kan., or to Kansas City,” he says. “Or they might look at separate trains connecting. The three states are talking about it.”
Unfortunately, despite the increasing popularity of Oklahoma’s existing passenger rail route, the state’s proposal for federal high-speed rail development funds was denied and the money went to other states, Streb says.
Efforts to raise smaller sums of federal money for specific efforts were more successful.
“We applied for funding to do an environmental impact study and research the impact of an Oklahoma City to Tulsa route and also to do a services development plan – basically a feasibility study,” Streb says.
The proposal was approved and the state awaits receipt of the funds.
Secondly, Oklahoma was also awarded $1 million for minor switch improvements to the Heartland Flyer route that will improve travel time slightly. Texas, meanwhile, was also awarded funding for its side of Heartland Flyer, and planned improvements there are expected to take a full 15 minutes off the route time.
Third, and arguably most importantly, Oklahoma has just launched its effort to create a comprehensive state rail plan.
“States are actually required to do it and we have just completed our first outreach meetings,” Streb says.
The state rail study is expected to take approximately 36 months and is not specifically focused on high-speed rail.
“Passenger rail is just one component of the state rail plan,” Streb says.
He adds that the state is likely to get a consulting engineer on board for the Oklahoma City to Tulsa route study, and that there will be a series of meetings in communities around the state.
“We’ve done a lot of engineering but we haven’t looked yet at the environmental impact and we haven’t really looked at the impact on communities,” he says.
Streb adds that residents should expect to hear about public meetings as Oklahoma forges ahead with its master rail plan preparation and also with its now-funded study of a potential Oklahoma City-Tulsa high-speed connection.
What Oklahomans shouldn’t expect is high-speed rail tracks to be set in the earth any time soon.
“We’re still a long way from having high-speed rail,” Streb says. “There has been a lot of talk about it and many states are pursuing it because the federal government had money available for it.”
He adds that he doesn’t know if Washington will offer another round of funding for high-speed rail in the future.
“We think it is in our best interest to be prepared so if federal funds become available again, we’re ready to move forward in the best interest of the state,” he says.
Amtrak isn’t making any predictions either.
“The president said his goal is to have 80 percent of the population (serviced) by high-speed rail, but I don’t think the map looks like that will be the case as it stands now,” Magliari says.
Accessorize
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Dark Lady
Left hand: David Yurman diamond and quartz ring, $1,495, Saks Fifth Avenue; Kara Ross bar ring, $185, Miss Jackson’s; David Yurman sterling silver and gold cuff, $2,100, Bruce G. Weber Precious Jewels; silver bangles, $15, Bella Dames; Sibilia multi-chain bracelet, $130, Miss Jackson’s; Black vinyl and silver cuff, $12.99, Target; Sibilia patina cuff with chains, $148, Miss Jackson’s.
Right hand: Elyssa Bass gold cuff with charm, $451, Miss Jackson’s; John Hardy silver and black sapphire cuff, $2,495, Bruce G. Weber Precious Jewels; John Hardy silver and black sapphire cuff, $1,995, Saks Fifth Avenue; Melissa Joy Manning black sterling silver and gold bracelets with white opal and black druzy agate stones, $295 each, Nattie Bleu; Stephen Dweck bronze chain bracelet, $680, Miss Jackson’s; Lisa Karen “caterpillar” bracelet, $250, Miss Jackson’s; gold and gemstone ring, $1,025, Saks Fifth Avenue; Kendra Scott faceted chalcedony ring, $70, Miss Jackson’s.
Badgley Mischa black handbag with gold chain, $455, Saks Fifth Avenue. Claudia Lobao silver micro-disc necklace, $389, Miss Jackson’s; David Yurman sterling silver ball necklace, $975, and sterling silver and black onyx necklace, $875, Bruce G. Weber Precious Jewels; David Yurman black onyx necklace, $650, and sterling silver ball necklace, $995, Saks Fifth Avenue; multi-chain necklace, $24.99, Target.
Strike Gold
Right hand: John Hardy bangle, $850; Alexis Bittar acrylic and gold bangle, $250; John Hardy coil bracelet, $850; Alexis Bittar acrylic and gold cuff, $350; Roberto Coin gold link bracelet, $2,480, all from Saks Fifth Avenue. Ippolita white acrylic ring, $95, Saks Fifth Avenue; Claudia Lobao zebra jasper and wood ring, $152, Miss Jackson’s; Kendra Scott turquoise dome ring $80, Miss Jackson’s; Susan Shaw gold coin ring, $24, J. Cole.
Left hand: Stephen Dweck bronze ring with pearl, $595; Kendra Scott large stone coral ring, $70; Lisa Karen olive branch ring, $100, all from Miss Jackson’s. Ippolita white and gold bracelet, $695, Bruce G. Weber Precious Jewels; Ippolita black and white bangle, $195, Saks Fifth Avenue; Ippolita knife-edge bracelets in white, $595, and black, $595 and $495, and black and gold bracelet, $695, all from Bruce G. Weber Precious Jewels .
Kotur leather snakeskin print clutch, $595, Saks Fifth Avenue. Roberto Coin gold link necklace, $8,740, Saks Fifth Avenue; Claudia Lobao five-strand gold rope necklace, $370; Claudia Lobao rose gold flattened-link chain necklace, $360, both from Miss Jackson’s.
J. Terrell Siegfried
An attorney at Hall Estill, Terrell specializes in corporate and commercial transactions, tax law and trusts and estates. It’s a far cry from his first job, as a ranch hand at Stone Bluff Ranch. Terrell attended the University of Tulsa as an undergraduate and was elected captain of the TU football team by his teammates; following graduation, Terrell postponed attending law school to spend time with his father, who was ill at the time. He enjoys spending time with his wife and two children, hunting with his siblings and rooting for his alma maters: Cascia Hall, TU and Notre Dame.
Scott Chapman
Growing up on a ranch in rural Oklahoma instilled a small-town spirit in Scott. After spending time in Dallas, Scott moved back to Oklahoma, settling in Ardmore with his wife, Adisha. He currently oversees multiple family businesses, managing oil and gas interests and negotiating leases, pipelines and surface damage agreements. He also manages lease hunting operations in Oklahoma and Texas, commercial real estate holdings in and around Ardmore and an ice vending business. When Scott needs to relieve stress, he heads to the great outdoors and his hunting cabin.
Kim Haywood
Though science was always her first love, Kim could never quite shake the film bug. After graduating from the University of Oklahoma with a degree in film studies, she took to producing commercials in the Oklahoma City metro. After volunteering for a few years for the deadCENTER Film Festival, held annually in Oklahoma City, she was hired as the festival’s first staff member in 2006. She has since helped in the transformation of the film festival from a small, volunteer-run festival into a year round, internationally recognized event. In addition, Kim is an independent film producer and has worked on several Oklahoma-based films, including Sweethearts of the Prison Rodeo, Okie Noodling 2 and Rainbow Around The Sun.
Charla Vardeman
Charla’s deep roots in Bartlesville eventually brought her back to the community in which she grew up. She began her career with Schlumberger six years ago and was able to be involved with organizations and meet people that helped foster her passion for service for her community. Through volunteerism, Charla supports the Bartlesville Regional United Way, Oklahoma Indian Summer Festival, Young Professionals of Bartlesville and Ray of Hope Advocacy Center and Elder Care. Charla encourages anyone wishing to achieve professional success to remain diligent in his or her goal.
“Hard work and determination always pay off, even if the success you find is not what you had planned on,” she shares.
Ginny Albert Bullock
Ginny’s role as a landman means that she is primarily responsible for negotiation and administering agreements and analyzing and securing title for the development and exploration of oil and gas minerals. A lifelong Tulsan, her roots in the community have allowed her opportunities to support causes such as Family and Children’s Services and the Laura Dester Shelter. Ginny stays busy with juggling her career, volunteer work and a young family, but she still manages to find time to bake. In fact, she says her claim to fame is her excessive cookie baking and subsequent sharing.
