campus news one of the vineyards of the famous Chateau Margaux in the Bordeaux region of France. intheirwords Thoughts on becoming a terroirist ByK ev in pogue , professor of geology insisted that I cease all contact with a friendly American I had met at my hotel since, according to them, he was widely thought I’m sitting at my kitchen table looking across a sea of wine to be an undercover CIA operative. I had found it interesting that bottles from many of Washington’s top producers. Seated oppo- he was treated as an honored guest when he took me for an im- site me is David Schildknecht, a writer and critic for The Wine promptu visit to the headquarters of one of the factions of the Advocate. Periodically, he poses questions such as: “was this Afghan mujahideen. from the deep silt-loam vineyard?” or “is this from that vineyard In the spring of 1998, I was accompanied by Whitman stu- with the cobblestones?” dentsHeather Wright ’99 andNick Hinz ’98 on what was to be When I began my career as an academic geologist more than my last visit to Pakistan. In the company of an armed escort, we 25 years ago, I would never have imagined that my research collected samples from tribal areas along the Afghan frontier and would lead me to be face to face with one of the world’s most es- had many memorable experiences, including afternoon tea on teemed wine critics. When I started teaching at Whitman in the Khyber Pass with the commander of the Khyber Rifles. un- 1990, my research was focused on the structural geology and fortunately, my Pakistan-based research ended when it was stratigraphy of the Himalayan foothills of northern Pakistan. rendered far too risky by the political upheavals and conflicts From both a geologic and cultural standpoint, it’s hard to imag- sparked by the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001. ine a more fascinating area to conduct field-based studies. During At about this same time, the growth of Washington’s wine in- my early visits to Pakistan, the Sovietunion had troops in Af- dustry was accelerating, and I found that I was frequently ghanistan. Peshawar, the city where I was based, was a nest of interacting with the folks who were moving to Walla Walla to spies and mercenaries. At one point, my Pakistani colleagues plant vineyards and make wine. I began to receive requests for 12 Whitman Magazine
Whitman Magazine July 2012
To see the actual publication please follow the link above