Va. winemaker's painstakingly-built empire crumbled in months amid recession . By Annie Gowen, Washington Post Staff Writer, February 24, 2011 . Interesting article, Ms. Gowen, and very well written. A practical way to avoid the errors noted is to try the past tense verb first and if it works - says what you mean - use it without the 'had', which saves the 'had's for when you need them, when they mean something. She and her ex-husband <had spent> spent four years during the '80s building the 23,000-square-foot home, modeled on an English country manor. Kluge <had moved> moved to Charlottesville with her then-husband, John Kluge, the billionaire founder of Metromedia, a chain of media properties later sold to Rupert Murdoch. Kluge <had met> met the comely young divorcee at a dinner party in New York and was instantly attracted to her. He wasn't bothered by the fact that she <had once posed> once posed nude in the pages of a racy London magazine, called Knave, owned by her first husband. After a series of late payments and dismal sales - the vineyard <had sold> sold only 13,000 of its 30,000 cases of wine in its last years - they defaulted on a $35 million Farm Credit loan. Later, other banks moved to foreclose on Albermarle House and the housing development across the road, where where Kluge <had planned> planned to build 24 luxury homes. After a while the bank called a halt to the bidding because the prices <had reached> reached levels so low they were less than the state liquor tax. To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list" Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/