January, 01, 2015 Will 2015 Be a Rosy Year for Wine?

(WSJ) - NOVELIST Alexander McCall Smith tells a wonderfully funny story about a fictitious trip to Italy’s Montalcino. While there, he meets a wine producer whose land is rather unfortunately situated just outside the famous Brunello di Montalcino DOCG boundary, in the less valuable Rosso di ...

January, 01, 2015 Tiger farms stoke Chinese demand for tiger wine and rugs, putting wild cats in peril

(WP) - To the thump of loud dance music, four tigers roll over in succession and then raise themselves on their haunches. A man in a shiny blue shirt waves a metal stick at them, and they lift their front paws to beg. The “show” takes place twice a day in a gloomy 1,000-seat auditori...

December, 31, 2014 Australia's wine 'cheaper than a bottle of water'

(BBC) - It depends what wine you're looking at and where you get your bottled water, but on some big retailers' shelves in Australia it's not too hard today to find water that is more expensive than wine. You may be considering a little-known bottle of red that's sitting in a bargain bucket sell...

December, 31, 2014 The Difference Between Champagne And Sparkling Wine, Explained

(HP) - There's one thing many of us know about Champagne, and it's that we like it. There's something about the bubbles, elegant glasses, and its pale amber color that makes the world feel festive and celebratory. But, that's where most of our knowledge stops. With New Year's Eve right around th...

December, 31, 2014 Napa Valley: Thieves steal over $300,000 worth of wine from French Laundry restaurant

(LATimes) - A Christmas Day robbery at Yountville’s storied French Laundry restaurant netted a king’s collection of fabulous wines worth at least $300,000. The thieves, who jimmied a door at the wine room on the property, obviously knew exactly what they were going for. Most of the 7...

December, 30, 2014 World of Wine: The role oaks play in wine-making

(InfoForum) - As a horticulturist, I’ve always had an appreciation for oak trees, especially the ones I came across in New York state, Georgia and Ohio. There are some 500 species of oak worldwide, and, thank goodness, as students, we did not have to come close to knowing them all, just the ...

December, 29, 2014 Lost in the wine aisle? Winemakers want to know which labels will catch your eye

(TheConversation) - Most wine purchasers are dazed and confused as they wander the aisles of their local wine shop. There are thousands of wine brands and dozens of types of wines lining the shelves. Obviously wineries want purchasers to pick their bottle. So they’ve done a lot of research in...

December, 27, 2014 Will China Dominate The Wine Industry Too?

(Science20) - China’s wine industry has exploded in recent years, with the number of wineries more than doubling over the past decade, propelling the country past Australia to become the world’s 7th-largest producer. What is driving this fast-paced growth and is the quality of Chinese w...