Can you hear me now?

In the ever expanding web that is the cell phone network in this country, it should come as no surprise that there would eventually be an effect on the wine country of California.

Cellular tower OK'd for vineyard

At first, you think - 'Damnit! Is there nowhere that is sacred?'. Of course, the reality is that the people coming to Sonoma to buy the juice and stay in the B&B's are going to want to talk to their peeps while doing all of that. It may not be the end of the world...

"The green pole in which the six panel antennas are mounted will be 24 inches in diameter and is designed to look like the windmills that already exist in the vineyard. The company has a similar model in use in Healdsburg."

I had a wine rep tell me yesterday about a cell tower that was built alongside GA. 400 in Atlanta. As it was going up he thought 'How ugly can this thing get?' A few days later, the crew had painted it and strapped a bunch of branches to it, thus disguising its true purpose.

You know, along time ago, there used to be a wind mill in Beaujolais. From what I understand, it's long gone but everyone still refers to this place as 'Moulin-à-Vent'. Maybe this is a start for California. In 50 years, they can name the AVA - AT&T Heights or some such thing. AT&T would probably even throw a few bones in for the financing.

Think about it.