Vineyards are blooming in the desert of Coahuila state, but vintners must make do with increasingly scarce water
From the patio of his winery high in the north Mexican desert, David Mendel surveys vineyards spread across a bowl-shaped valley under a scorching afternoon sun.
Related: Salud! Spain’s female winemakers use their intuition to rise to the top
Continue reading...The ‘no-plough’ regenerative methods adopted in small vineyards have spread to olive groves and leading wine producers – boosting biodiversity and profits
They call it the sea of olives, 70 million olive trees that stretch to the horizon in every direction in the province of Jaén in southern Spain. It’s a spectacular landscape and yet, olives aside, the land is virtually dead, with scarcely a flower, bird or butterfly to be seen.
All this could be about to change following the remarkable success of a project that is raising new life from the dust of Andalucía.
Continue reading...The industry has a growing number of women earning plaudits at its renowned bodegas. But are they really better than men?
“I think of my wines as barefoot children that need love and care,” says winemaker Marta Casas, holding her glass up to the light. Below her, the vineyards of Penedès roll away almost to the sea, but she could be virtually anywhere in Spain.
Just as they fought their way into the male domain of haute cuisine, a growing number of Spanish women are seeking a career in winemaking, with three times as many taking courses in oenology compared with 10 years ago. This was given an added boost in 2018 when Almudena Alberca was made Spain’s first female master of wine, one of only 149 in the world.
Continue reading...Italy tries for second time to block Croatia’s efforts to win special EU recognition for its dessert wine
Croatian winemakers have leapt to the defence of their centuries-old dessert wine, prošek, amid a renewed prosecco identity war sparked by Italy.
Italy said it would defend prosecco at all costs after Croatia applied to the European Commission for special recognition of prošek.
Continue reading...Unseasonal frost is ‘agricultural disaster of 21st century’ as ice after warm weather decimates grape harvests
At least a third of French wine production worth almost €2bn (£1.7bn) in sales will be lost this year after rare freezing temperatures devastated many vines and fruit crops across France, raising concerns over the climate crisis.
“This is probably the greatest agricultural catastrophe of the beginning of the 21st century,” the French agriculture minister, Julien Denormandie, said this week as the government declared an “agricultural disaster” and began preparing emergency financial measures.
Continue reading...Government prepares rescue package as rare freezing temperatures damage crops and vines
Winemakers across France are counting the cost of several nights of frost this week that threaten to decimate grape harvests in some of the country’s best-known and prestigious wine-producing regions.
The government is readying an emergency rescue package after rare freezing temperatures that could cause some of the worst damage in decades to crops and vines.
Continue reading...After bottles were recovered in top shape from a first world war shipwreck, winemakers have started to exploit the sea’s cool, dark environment
Slipping into the chilly waters of the Baltic sea, the divers descended more than 60 metres to where the masts of the Jönköping lay strewn across the seabed. They glided past the wounds left when the Swedish schooner was sunk by a German U-boat in 1916 to home in on the rare treasure they had come for: thousands of bottles of 1907 Heidsieck champagne.
Related: Champagne found at sea turns out to be world's oldest vintage
Continue reading...Readers explain whether they looked, felt and slept better – or if they turned back to alcohol to cheer up a miserable month
I don’t drink every day, but I do drink every weekend and I usually drink a fair amount. I did dry January (and February) two years ago when my wife was eight months pregnant with our son, but I’m finding it much easier this year because I don’t have the opportunity to go out and socialise. The thing I miss most about drinking is visiting the pub with some friends – without that it’s certainly easier. Duncan Ward, operational resilience manager, West Sussex
Continue reading...From finally seeing the back of Donald Trump to being in a football stadium – the new year is full of promise
You probably found a few things to enjoy about last year: you rediscovered your bicycle, perhaps, or your family, or even both, and learned to love trees. And don’t forget the clapping. Plus some brilliant scientists figured out how to make a safe and effective vaccine for a brand new virus in record time.
Continue reading...Changes in composition and production of saliva as people grow older appears to intensify perception of aromas
Just as a bottle of wine improves with age, so may our ability to pick out the subtleties of its scent. Changes in the composition of our saliva and how much of it we produce appears to intensify our perception of smokey and peppery aromas in red wine, new research suggests.
The findings could lead to the development of wines that are more tailored toward specific groups of consumers. “We could diversify winemaking production to make more enjoyable wines based on consumers’ physiologies,” said Maria Ángeles del Pozo Bayón, of the Spanish Research Council’s Institute of Food Science and Research in Madrid, who led the research.
Continue reading...The Glass fire is sweeping through the famous wine regions of Napa and Sonoma in northern California. The wildfire, which erupted on 27 September, has damaged numerous wineries and vineyards, charring grapes and incinerating inventory. Tasting rooms and restaurants have also been hit. The effect on the industry has been described as “catastrophic”. Several Napa Valley growers have said they will forgo a 2020 vintage altogether due to smoke contamination of their crop.
The Glass fire has torched more than 50,000 acres and firefighters are battling to bring it under control. It has also destroyed dozens of homes and thousands of people remain under evacuation orders.
Continue reading...Thousands of people will attempt to give up alcohol next month and for many it will be the hour after work that ruins their plans. Here’s how to relax without reaching for alcohol
With Sober October just around the corner, thousands of us will again be attempting to give up booze for a month. But what are the best ways to wind down at the end of the day when alcohol is off the menu? Here are 17 ideas to get you started.
1 Find a new ritual to switch off. “It is important to mark the change in the day – where work ends and your life starts – especially if you are working at home,” says Laura Willoughby, the co-founder of the mindful drinking community Club Soda. “But that does not have to mean an alcoholic drink. Often it has become the time where we do most of our incidental drinking – we open the fridge at the end of the day without really realising.”
Continue reading...Bloc sources say Britain is trying to water down EU geographical protections
The UK government has renewed its attempt to reopen the chapter of the Brexit divorce treaty protecting specialty food and drink, such as Parma ham, roquefort cheese and champagne, in a move that left the EU chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, “a little bit flabbergasted”.
The British proposal on protected status for food and drink was included in a draft free-trade agreement handed to Barnier by his opposite number, David Frost, last week, according to two EU sources.
Continue reading...Region’s producers were angry that redrawn map would stop them using prestigious name
Furious French winemakers have forced officials to back down over controversial plans to ban a number of prestigious wines from calling themselves “burgundy”.
The region’s producers saw red over proposed changes relating to which bottles can be labelled as coming from the region.
Continue reading...Star chef says he is ‘obsessed with selling wine’ and wants to diners to drink more, not less
French chef Alain Ducasse, an outspoken opponent of Dry January, has launched an initiative to entice patrons of his restaurants to drink more during the first month of the year, not less.
“I like swimming against the tide,” he told AFP on Tuesday, announcing plans to proffer top bottles of Burgundy and Bordeaux at knockdown prices to encourage diners to order wine by the bottle rather than by the glass.
Continue reading...Tributes paid to wine producer who ‘raised the Beaujolais flag around the world’
Tributes have been paid to the wine merchant Georges Duboeuf, known in France as the “king of Beaujolais” for his production and promotion of the famous wine variety.
Duboeuf, who has died aged 86, founded Les Vins Georges Duboeuf, one of the largest wine companies in France, and was almost single-handedly responsible for making Beaujolais nouveau popular.
Continue reading...Law kept mining projects out of Argentina province – now water for wine-growers will be threatened in drought-stricken area
Argentina’s wine-growing province of Mendoza, renown for its inky red Malbec varietal, has erupted in protest against the surprise overturning of a 2007 water protection law that had successfully kept water-intensive mining projects out of the province.
Thousands of people joined demonstrations on Monday outside the office of provincial governor Rodolfo Suarez in the capital city, also called Mendoza, after he overturned the law, known as 7722 late last week.
The peaceful protest turned violent on Monday afternoon, as police fired rubber bullets and tear gas into the crowd in response to stone-throwing by angry demonstrators.
Continue reading...Trump has threatened high tariffs on French wine in response to Macron’s tech tax
French wine-makers are increasingly concerned about Donald Trump’s threats to introduce high tariffs on French wine in retaliation for Emmanuel Macron’s tax on global technology companies, as world leaders gather for the Biarritz G7 summit this weekend.
A new front in Trump’s international trade wars could open up across France’s vineyards, damaging the livelihoods and jobs of small producers, if the US president decides to substantially increase tariffs on French wine as punishment for what he has called the “foolishness” of the new levy on the annual revenues of technology companies.
Continue reading...The Swiss town of Vevey has staged a once-in-a-generation celebration of its winemakers, with fancy dress, alpine horns, cows and dancers kicking off a festival that dates back to the 18th century. The three-week Fête des Vignerons, which began in 1797, is held roughly every 20 years and on Thursday 5,500 locals donned costumes, wigs and makeup to take part in the gala opening
Continue reading...It’s all sweet, it’s only for summer or ought to be cheap ... the prejudices about rosé wine endure, but we really should know better
Red wine gives you headaches; white wine tastes of nothing, unless it’s sauvignon blanc; all Aussie wines are fruit bombs; the world will end if the flow of prosecco falters – the world of wine is full of ridiculous prejudices. Yet no style gets discriminated against quite like rosé. It’s all sweet, we’re told, or it’s only for women, or for summer, or for women in summer …
For a long time, rosé was disregarded because good winemakers didn’t make it: star California winemaker Rajat Parr, who was a San Francisco sommelier in the 1990s, once said: “No one cared about it, no one thought about it, no one drank it.” That, thank goodness, has changed – yet the prejudices remain. So let’s bust a few persistent myths.
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