Wine News

Grapes on Mars? Georgia winemakers aiming high

By AFP

Tbili - Georgia is immensely proud of its ancient wine-making tradition, claiming to have been the first nation to make wine. Now it wants to be the first to grow grapes on Mars.

In Lebanon's hills, Carlos Ghosn winery presses on

By AFP

Batro - Nestled in green hills north of Lebanon's capital Beirut just a few kilometres from the Mediterranean coastline, a winery co-founded by detained tycoon Carlos Ghosn presses on with trade.

Essential Science: Why does wine smell bad?

By Tim Sandle

With many wines, laying them down for a long period improves them and this is a factor in good wines becoming great wines. However, sometimes wines go off and develop a bad smell. New research reveals why.

From Biblical to revival: Jordan's desert winemakers

By AFP

Apo - Two Jordanian families aim to put wine from their desert land on the world viticultural map, reviving an age-old tradition that some suggest has Biblical heritage.

World wine output rises 13 percent after disastrous year

By AFP

Paris - Global wine production rose 13 percent this year, after a catastrophic 2017 which was marked by heatwaves, frosts and hailstorms, the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) said Monday.

Fact-check: Does France put steep tariffs on US wine?

By AFP

Washington - President Donald Trump accused France on Tuesday of unfairly hindering US wine exports by imposing higher tariffs on the American product than those the United States places on imports of French wine.

Blue wine? A tea-infused vintage? Spain startup shakes things up

By AFP

Portugalete - Five years ago, a group of university students in Spain's Basque Country decided they wanted to shake up a sector -- any sector -- but preferably one to do with food or drink.

Fine French wine fetches record-smashing $558,000 at auction

By AFP

New York - A bottle of 1945 Romanee-Conti wine fetched a record-smashing $558,000 at an auction held at Sotheby's in New York Saturday, which saw two bottles break the previous record.

French winemakers cheer vintage year

By AFP

Paris - 2018 is shaping up to be a vintage year for French wine -- the best for almost a decade.The near perfect combination of a wet spring followed by a long hot summer has left winemakers rubbing their hands with glee.

From vine to seabed, Spain's winemakers dive in

By AFP

Plentzia - With the aid of a small crane, Borja Saracho lowers five cages loaded with 2,500 bottles of white wine from a fishing boat into the Cantabrian Sea.

Outcry as Japanese winemakers ordered to quit France

By AFP

Banyuls-sur-mer - French wine lovers have risen up in revolt after a Japanese couple who make "outstanding" wine in southern France were threatened with deportation.

French police seize 10 Chinese-owned vineyards in fraud inquiry

By AFP

Bordeaux - French financial police have seized 10 wineries in the Bordeaux area which are owned by Chinese conglomerate Haichang over suspicions of tax fraud, a police source told AFP on Friday.

Last of the Jayer wine sold for 30 mln euros

By AFP

Geneva - The last batch of late legendary winemaker Henri Jayer's Burgundies -- which include some of the world's most expensive wines -- was sold for a mouth-watering 30 million euros ($35 million) in Geneva on Sunday, well in excess of the estimated price.

Last of the Jayer wine to go on sale in Geneva

By AFP

Geneva - The last batch of late legendary winemaker Henri Jayer's Burgundies -- which include some of the world's most expensive wines -- go on auction in Geneva Sunday and could rake in up to $13 million.

Britain goes wild for Burgundy wine served at royal wedding

By AFP

Dijon - A Chardonnay from a small vineyard in France's Burgundy region been flying off the shelves in Britain after wine lovers learned that it was served at last month's wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

Last of the Jayer wine to go on sale in Geneva

By AFP

Geneva - The last batch of late legendary winemaker Henri Jayer's Burgundies -- which include some of the world's most expensive wines -- will go on auction in Geneva next month and could rake in up to $13 million.

Cheers! French chef hails police after stolen wine found

By AFP

Lyon - Bottles of fine wine worth hundreds of thousands of euros have been returned to a top French chef, police said on Thursday.

Bordeaux's 'magnificent' lost vintage pushes small growers to the edge

By AFP

Barsac - Surveying a nearly empty cellar, Frederic Nivelle of Bordeaux's prestigious Chateau Climens, reflects on what might have been an outstanding year for the sweet white Sauternes wine.

Frost-bitten Bordeaux wine harvest down 40% in 2017

By AFP

Paris - Wine production in the French region of Bordeaux shrank by 40 percent in 2017, the Bordeaux wine council said Wednesday, with severe frost sapping yields in a year that nonetheless produced a good vintage."The total harvest in 2017 was 3.

French wine country unveils its answer to kobe beef

By AFP

Dijon - As the unofficial capital of France's Burgundy region, Beaune is a town that thrives on wine -- and now even its cows are going to taste like grapes.

World's earliest evidence of wine-making found in Georgia

By AFP

Miami - The world's earliest evidence of grape wine-making has been detected in 8,000-year-old pottery jars unearthed in Georgia, making the tradition almost 1,000 years older than previously thought, researchers said Monday.

Global wine output hits 50-year low: OIV

By AFP

Paris - Worldwide wine production tumbled 8.2 percent this year to hit a 50-year low due to unfavourable climate conditions, the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) said Tuesday.The total output of 246.

Turning weed into wine in Lebanon

By AFP

- Sitting among the vines of Sauvignon Blanc and Tempranillo growing on his spectacular farm in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, Michel Emad remembers the not-so-distant time when he opted to cultivate cannabis.

Despite strains, Turkey's wine industry refuses to wither

By AFP

- On the verdant, fertile Gallipoli peninsula in northwest Turkey, headscarf-clad women in colourful clothes harvest grapes in the blistering late summer heat.

France's champagne harvest weather-hit but 'promising'

By AFP

Lille - Bad weather caused a severe decrease in this year's grape harvest in the Champagne region, but growers predicted Friday that quality would trump quantity in this year's bubbly.

World's oldest wine may have been Italian

By AFP

Rome - Researchers have discovered that the oldest wine in the world may have been Italian, after finding traces of 6,000-year-old fermented grapes off the west coast of Sicily.

French grape harvest shrivels to record low

By AFP

Paris - Knocked off course by a cold spring snap, French wine production this year slid to a record low, falling 17 percent on 2016, initial ministry of agriculture projections show."At 37.6 million hectolitres (993.

Growers at Bordeaux winefest unite against climate change

By AFP

Bordeaux - This is the wine industry's new normal: heavy rains, floods, hailstones, drought and sometimes even frost.

Bordeaux's world winefest has WOW! factor

By AFP

Bordeaux - The world's wine industry will converge Sunday when the prestigious Vinexpo kicks off in Bordeaux, the capital of French viticulture, with Chinese visitors leading the pack of foreign punters.

Fungal contamination changes the aroma of wine

By Tim Sandle

Geisenheim - There's been a long-running dispute about the extent that fungi which infect vines influence the flavor and aroma of wines. A new study shows this to be the case. Interestingly there are both positive and negative effects.