May, 09, 2011 US: Alabama's small wineries want law changed to allow self-distribution

MONTGOMERY — Alabama's small wineries hope 2011 will be a good year for legislation allowing them to self-distribute wine so they can compete against big vintners. Small wineries are supporting a bill by Rep. Becky Nordgren, R-Gadsden, that would allow them to self-distribute up to 24,000 gallo...

May, 08, 2011 Bordeaux wine prices to increase up to 15 per cent on back of exceptional vintage, surge in demand from China

THE PRICE of a bottle of the very finest Bordeaux is about to soar higher than ever, driven up by a second successive exceptional vintage - and by China's insatiable thirst for an investment. "The chateaux are saying to themselves: 'We'd like to ask just a little bit more than last year,'" Miguel...

May, 07, 2011 Wine culture starting to take hold in China

HONG KONG -- The scene stopped me in my tracks. There, on the street in the middle of the bustling market, stalls filled with fake Longchamp bags and knockoff Ralph Lauren, was a young Chinese man standing behind a table wearing a portable microphone and hawking vacuum-powered wine-pump openers. ...

May, 07, 2011 Cheers! English wine challenges champagne with sparkling results

It's been a tremendous year for English wine with our vineyards producing an amazing 4m bottles, a record. And it turns out that the Queen is going to start making her own wine at Windsor, though you won't be able to buy it for three years and will, of course, have to wear a ridiculous hat while dri...

May, 07, 2011 Putin's party to drink only Russia-made wine, tea

(IANS)- Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, leader of the United Russia party, has said his party members would drink only Russian-made wine and tea. 'Certainly United Russia will eat only homegrown produce,' Putin said at a party conference in Volgograd city when asked by a member from a tea ...

May, 06, 2011 UK: Royal family to set up vineyard in Windsor Great Park

The royal family is setting up a vineyard in Windsor Great Park to produce English wine. More than 16,500 vines bearing champagne grape varieties will be planted in 3 hectares (7.4 acres) of the park, owned by the Crown Estate. Laithwaites Wine, tenant farmers on the royal estates, said they w...

May, 06, 2011 US: Mixed News for Virginia Wine Industry

Madison,VA.—After weeks of media fascination with the Kluge Estate and Winery auction in Virginia, magnified by Donald Trump’s ultimate purchase for cents on the dollar, the state’s industry is generating more news, some not so good, but some much more hopeful....

May, 06, 2011 Red wine and chocolate are good for the mind and even better when consumed together, scientists claim

It is the perfect excuse to round off a meal with an after-dinner mint and one last glass of Merlot.Research suggests that red wine and chocolate are good for the mind. It is thought that polyphenols - plant chemicals abundant in dark chocolate and wines - widen blood vessels, speeding the supply o...