Vintages: C'est Bon!

Americans are always looking for something new, the next big thing, the undiscovered star, designer, iPhone app or whatever. So it might seem strange to look to France - the stodgy, hidebound homeland of fine wine, with its rigid classifications and appellation laws - as a source of innovation in wine.

Languedoc wines to try

Mas Laval 2006

***

Vin de Pays de l'Herault, France, $37

Perfumed with evening air, this gorgeous wine offers rich texture that coats the palate like fine silk. New oak is evident but content to play a supporting role. It ranked 20th on La Revue du Vin de France's list of the best 100 reds from Languedoc.

Ermitage du Pic St. Loup, Cuvee Sainte Agnes 2005

Gardener's Checklist

Get started on planting spring-flowering bulbs. Keep in mind that bulbs cannot tolerate poorly drained soils; plant bulbs only in well-drained sites. Spring bulbs prefer a sunny location but most can take light shade or partial shade.

On the Menu

ELMER'S STORE

396 Main St.

Ashfield

628-4003

www.elmersstore.com

In business since: 1835; in our most recent incarnation, since 2005

Hours: Breakfast Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to noon; Saturday, 8 a.m. to noon; Sunday, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.; dinner Thursday, 5 to 8 p.m., Friday, 5 to 9 p.m.

Putting the plastic away: Amherst author shows how penny pinching is a path to freedom

When Barbara Dafoe Whitehead of Amherst was growing up in Appleton, Wis., in the 1950s, union jobs provided a good standard of living, children had passbooks at banks, families bought furniture on layaway plans, and there were few credit cards. Now, when she and her husband return to her hometown for family reunions, they notice that many people are struggling -- and that signs of a debt culture all around. Whitehead, a social scientist, has co-edited a recently released book, "Franklin's Thrift: The
History of a Lost American Virtue," for which she contributed an essay
on Benjamin Franklin and his prudent approach to handling money. It's
an approach she's now advocating to help get the economy back on track.

Allowance teaches kids how to manage money

There's a children's book about the Berenstain Bears having a case of the "gimmies." They want what they want and they want it now.

If there is a sequel, my daughter would win, hands down.

I took her to a store with the intention of buying her school uniforms. She had her eye on a pair of hideous, white sandals with a small heel.

Bruce Watson: Cats and dogs provide lessons in getting along for Congress

With Congress back in session, Republicans and Democrats are going at it like cats and dogs. Growling, hissing or sometimes just sniffing around, politicians from rival parties are proving themselves natural enemies, feral and rabid.