The opponents and proponents of placing heavy restrictions on the operations and promotional activities of Virginia's growing wine industry would be well to bear in mind the late Rodney King's plea for us all to do our best to "get along."

We like wine.

We much prefer vineyards to strip malls; green to concrete; and blossoms to hillside condos.

We like the tax revenue wineries represent and the payrolls they create.

We don't like pesticide pollution, or big noisy parties that last 'til all hours, or light pollution, or giant tour buses, or any number of other things all too sadly necessary to keep grapes growing and make wineries successful businesses.

Somehow, we must find a way to work together, in an open and honest way, to optimize the mix.

Perhaps a start would be for the most active and dedicated organizations of preservationists to meet with their counterparts among the wine growers to talk and plan . . maybe over a glass of wine.