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Some drinks to choo-choo choose on Valentine’s Day

If you write a drinks column and it falls on Feb. 14, you are pretty much legally obligated to expound on drinks for Valentine’s Day … drinks to share with your sweetie, tipples to try with chocolate, pink wines and so on and so forth.

With that in mind, I hit the shops to track down some drinks that fit the bill — and if you don’t celebrate Valentine’s Day, well, here some long-weekend libations for your consideration.

If wine’s not your valentine’s proverbial cup of tea, why not pop the cork on a sharing-sized beer — perhaps the 3 Monts Blonde Bière de Flandre (Saint Sylvestre Cappal, France — $8.53/750ml bottle, Liquor Marts and beer vendors)? Deep gold in appearance and with a frothy white head, this French strong beer brings deep malt notes along with cracked oat, bread dough, earthy and red apple aromas. It’s medium-plus bodied and dry, with fresh malt, cracked oat, herbal and bread dough flavours, with a subtle peppery note, modest hops and, at 8.5 per cent alcohol, a long and warm finish. Pop the cork (yes, it’s bottled under cork) and enjoy. 4/5

One can’t do Valentine’s Day drinks without some bubbly, and this one has a twist — it’s a sparkling red. The Cantina Settecani NV Lambrusco Grasparossa di Castelvetro (Emilia Romagna, Italy — $23, Ellement Wine + Spirits) is deep garnet in colour with modest effervescence, offering plum, blackberry, violet and black cherry aromas. It’s medium-bodied and dry, with just a hint of residual sugar, and brings big blackberry, plum, dark chocolate and raspberry flavours with light tannin, medium acidity and, at 10.5 per cent alcohol, a modest finish. Chill for 20 minutes and surprise your sweetie with a fizzy red. This one’s available at Ellement Wine + Spirits, but most private wine stores should have a few lambruscos on hand — it’s a style of wine that’s definitely worth a try. 4/5

Let courts focus on important cases

There’s something wrong with Manitoba’s legal system when the overloaded court dockets include breaches of bail conditions that are relatively puny.

Perhaps it’s a person who missed her bus and therefore missed an appointment with her probation officer. Perhaps it’s someone who was spotted drinking beer despite the alcohol ban on his probation order. Perhaps it’s someone who communicated with a friend despite a no-contact order.

In some places, such minor violations are handled sensibly; probation officers and prosecutors have discretion to treat relatively trivial violations with relatively trivial consequences, freeing up resources to target the highest-risk offenders.

But Manitoba is infamous for its zero-tolerance policy on alleged court-order violations. This is the province where the weighty and expensive court system — judges, lawyers and support staff — gather to hear the case of a guy who was late coming home and missed his court-ordered curfew.

After tragic year, Bode Miller heads to Montana's mountains

HELENA, Mont. - Retired U.S. downhill skier Bode Miller decided a change of scenery was needed after a tumultuous year in which he experienced the tragic death of his toddler daughter, the birth of a son and now the expected arrival of twin boys this fall.

So the 41-year-old six-medal Olympic champion and his pregnant wife, Morgan, headed to the Montana mountains with four children in tow to settle into a new home at Big Sky Resort north of Yellowstone National Park. There, he plans to give his California-raised children a modernized taste of his childhood in northern New Hampshire, where he and his hippie parents lived in a home without running water or electricity.

"After losing Emmie, we definitely reflected on how we were raising our kids," Miller told The Associated Press in a recent interview. "We felt like there was enough missing from our experience and their upbringing in Southern California that we needed to look at other options."

Emeline Miller drowned in a backyard pool in June 2018 after she slipped out the back door of a neighbour's house that the 19-month-old girl and her mother were visiting outside Los Angeles. Four months later, as Bode and Morgan Miller dealt with their grief, their son Easton was born and joined the family that already included another girl and two boys.

Councillor demands better sidewalk clearing

A City of Winnipeg councillor is pushing to make the clearing of sidewalks right down to pavement the same priority as removing snow on the busiest streets.

“People are getting hurt,” said Coun. Matt Allard, who introduced a motion at council’s meeting Thursday.

It calls for snow and ice to be cleared from sidewalks at the same level as Priority 1 streets, regardless of whether the sidewalk or active transportation path is on a Priority 1, 2, or 3 (residential) street.

The motion also calls for plow operators and contractors to be subject to fines if they push snow onto sidewalks and don’t remove it, and for the city to establish a reserve fund for snow-clearing operations.

Jets appear to be on course for continued mediocrity

When the going got tough last season for the Winnipeg Jets, it was often Paul Stastny who stood in front of the microphones to deliver a healthy dose of truth serum.