wine – News Stories About wine - Page 1

World Wine Production
Drops to 62-Year Low

Nov 9, 2023 7:15 PM CST

World Wine Production Drops to 62-Year Low

Bad weather in both hemispheres is to blame

(Newser) - In some places, it was drought and wildfires, in others, it was heavy rains and flooding, but the result was the same: A drop in wine production that has led to the lowest annual output since 1961, according to the International Organization of Vine and Wine . The OIV says information...

Top Wine-Producing Nation
Is About to Be Dethroned

Top Wine-Producing Nation Is About to Be Dethroned

France to overtake Italy after a growing season marked by intense heat, mildew

(Newser) - After a growing season disrupted by intense storms and blistering summer heat, the world's top wine-producing nation is about to be dethroned. Experts from the European Commission, French Ministry of Agriculture, and Italy's Institute of Services for the Agricultural and Food Market predict Italy will produce 12% less...

In This Tiny European Town,
an 'Alcoholic Flash Flood'

Sep 12, 2023 11:00 AM CDT

In This Tiny European Town, an 'Alcoholic Flash Flood'

Distillery's storage tanks burst, sending 600K gallons of red wine into streets of Portuguese town

(Newser) - There's too much wine in Europe, if that can be believed—and some of that excess ended up flowing through the roads of a Portuguese town over the weekend. NBC News reports on the "alcoholic flash flood" on Sunday in Sao Lourenco do Bairro, where a river of...

France Is Spending
a Lot of Money
to Destroy Wine

Aug 26, 2023 7:57 AM CDT

France Is Spending a Lot of Money to Destroy Wine

$215M is being spent to convert surplus into products like hand sanitizer

(Newser) - Craft beer is a lot more popular than it used to be in France, and the change in drinking habits is among the factors that have left the country with a massive surplus of wine. Some $215 million is being spent to destroy surplus wine and turn the alcohol into...

Influencer's Rant Over French
Wine Tour Costs Her

Influencer's Rant Over French Wine Tour Costs Her

'I absolutely want her dead,' Tana Mongeau griped about international wine expert who led tour

(Newser) - A YouTube influencer is finding out the hard way that publicly slamming a French wine tour, including by calling for a wine expert's death, isn't the way to hold onto sponsors. On her Aug. 6 Cancelled podcast , Tana Mongeau got into the weeds on her recent visit to...

Feds Destroy 2K Bottles of Illegal, Ocean-Aged Wine

Winemaker's 'Perfect' Site to
Age Wine Wasn't So Perfect

Aug 17, 2023 10:10 AM CDT

Winemaker's 'Perfect' Site to Age Wine Wasn't So Perfect

Feds destroy 2K bottles of Ocean Fathoms' illegally made wine, though founders vow they'll be back

(Newser) - Ocean Fathoms claims the ocean floor about a mile off Santa Barbara is the "perfect" place to age wine. And perhaps it would be, if the winemaker had any authority to ferment its wines in the Santa Barbara Channel for a year. In 2021, the California Coastal Commission ordered...

The Thief Cut a Hole in the Roof. Pricey Wine Sat Below

Wine Theft Was Like
'Something Out of
Ocean's Eleven'

Jul 6, 2023 11:27 AM CDT

Wine Theft Was Like 'Something Out of Ocean's Eleven'

Some $600K of fine wine was stolen from Lincoln Fine Wines in Venice, California

(Newser) - Nazmul Haque Helal had gotten burglary alarm notifications on his phone before, but they had all been false alarms. The alerts that came in on June 30 weren't, and what he found when he arrived at his wine shop in Venice, California, just before 5am chilled him: Some 600...

Stranded for 5 Days,
She Survived on Bottle
of Wine, Lollipops

May 8, 2023 11:52 AM CDT

Stranded for 5 Days, She Survived on Bottle of Wine, Lollipops

Teetotaler had to drink the bottle meant for mom to survive

(Newser) - "The only liquid Lillian, who doesn't drink, had with her was a bottle of wine she had bought as a gift for her mother, so that got her through," says Australia's Wodonga Police Station Sgt. Martin Torpey. As the BBC reports, so describes the tale of...

Alcohol's
'Health Halo'
Is Losing
Its Luster

longform

Apr 24, 2023 10:30 AM CDT

Alcohol's 'Health Halo' Is Losing Its Luster

Slate digs into the shifting sentiment, offers context for those who imbibe

(Newser) - Those who drink alcohol might well be "feeling a fair bit of whiplash" these days, writes Tim Requarth at Slate . Starting in the 1990s, the consensus of health studies suggested that moderate drinking—a glass of red wine at dinner, say—was good for you. But now the consensus...

Man 'Shocked'
by Value of Old
Wine Bottle in
His Basement

Apr 6, 2023 11:10 AM CDT

Man 'Shocked' by Value of Old Wine Bottle in His Basement

The jeroboam of pinot noir, purchased for $250 in the late 1970s, could fetch $80K at auction

(Newser) - For Mark Paulson, $250 seemed like a lot of money to pay for a bottle of wine in the late 1970s—even a big bottle of some of the finest wine in the world. But he didn't hesitate and he certainly doesn't regret the purchase now that the...

Couple Sentenced
in $1.7M Wine Heist

UPDATED

Mar 6, 2023 4:41 PM CST

Couple Sentenced in $1.7M Wine Heist

They made off with 45 bottles from luxury hotel in Spain

(Newser) - A former Mexican beauty queen and her Romanian-Dutch partner have been sentenced to four years in prison for stealing wine worth $1.7 million from a luxury hotel in Spain—but the fate of the wine is still a mystery. Prosecutors said Priscila Guevara and Constantín Dumitru made off...

Founder of
Two Buck Chuck Dies

OBITUARY

Sep 14, 2022 6:21 AM CDT

Founder of Two Buck Chuck Dies

'At the end, we all have an expiration date,' said Fred Franzia, who died at 79

(Newser) - The man who turned "Two Buck Chuck" into an American phenomenon is dead. Fred Franzia, co-founder of Bronco Wine Company, died early Tuesday at his home in California with family by his side, according to a letter sent to Bronco employees, per Wine Spectator . A cause of death wasn'...

Cheers if You're Over 40.
Not So Fast if You're Younger

NEW STUDY

Jul 15, 2022 1:54 PM CDT

Cheers if You're Over 40. Not So Fast if You're Younger

New analysis finds there's no benefit and only increased health risks for young adults who drink

(Newser) - First scientists told us that young adults shouldn't drink alone ; now they're saying they shouldn't drink at all. At least, that's the conclusion of new research out of Seattle's University of Washington, which is part of the ongoing "Global Burden of Diseases" study carried...

If You Get a Call From
'Elliot Stewart,' Be Wary

Jun 21, 2022 11:55 AM CDT

If You Get a Call From 'Elliot Stewart,' Be Wary

$13M has been stolen from the elderly in a rare-wine scam

(Newser) - The world of fine wine and whiskey continues to be a magnet for thieves and frauds . The Washington Post reports on allegations that three England-based companies claiming huge returns on investments in rare booze actually stole more than $13 million from at least 150 Americans—many of them elderly. Representatives...

Girl, 7, Shows Off
Her Communion
Wine Chugging Skills

VIRAL VIDEO

May 4, 2022 9:25 AM CDT

Girl, 7, Shows Off Her Communion Wine Chugging Skills

Watch the priest's face as Brynley Heidebrink goes to town on that chalice

(Newser) - You're not usually supposed to throw back Holy Communion wine like it's last call at the local watering hole, especially if you're only 7, but Brynley Heidebrink just broke the mold. The Sioux Falls Argus Leader reports that the little girl celebrated her first communion on April...

Wine Columnist's Lament:
She's Priced Out of Napa

OPINION

Apr 24, 2022 9:05 AM CDT

Wine Columnist's Lament: She's Priced Out of Napa

Lettie Teague of the 'Wall Street Journal' thinks California region's 'main crop is cash, not grapes'

(Newser) - As a wine columnist, Lettie Teague of the Wall Street Journal has long been a fan of California's Napa Valley region. But in a column that details sky-high prices on everything from lodging to tastings, Teague offers a damning assessment: "I can’t help feeling that the region’...

2 Men Indicted in $99M
'Wine-Based Ponzi Scheme'

Mar 2, 2022 2:44 PM CST

2 Men Indicted in $99M 'Wine-Based Ponzi Scheme'

They allegedly told investors fine wine would be used as collateral for loans

(Newser) - Two British men told investors that they brokered loans for wealthy wine collectors using fine wines as collateral—but the collectors didn't exist, and neither did most of the wine, prosecutors in New York say. Stephen Burton and James Wellesley are accused of scamming investors out of almost $100...

California Wildfires
Ruined a Winery's
Grapes. It Had a Plan

Dec 9, 2021 1:36 PM CST

California Wildfires Ruined a Winery's Grapes. It Had a Plan

Napa Valley's Pine Ridge Vineyards is now producing vodka made from the smoke-tainted fruit

(Newser) - When life hands you lemons, make lemonade. When it hands you ruined grapes, make ... vodka? That's what Napa Valley's Pine Ridge Vineyards opted to do when its grape crops were sullied by smoke from last year's California wildfires, thanks in part to a partnership with an Almeda...

Freak Winemaking Accident
Kills 4 Family Members

Oct 4, 2021 4:37 PM CDT

Freak Winemaking Accident Kills 4 Family Members

A father, son, and pair of brothers were overcome by carbon dioxide in Italy

(Newser) - Four men from the same family all died in a freak winemaking accident in Paola, Italy, Saturday as one went in after another trying to save each other. The men had gathered to transfer vats of grape juice fermenting into oak barrels. The fermentation process produces a lot of carbon...

Paper Debunks 'Urban Myth'
About Ordering Wine

new study

May 22, 2021 3:20 PM CDT

Paper Debunks 'Urban Myth' About Ordering Wine

Go ahead and get the second-cheapest bottle, or even the cheapest

(Newser) - Homer Simpson, in a celebratory mood, once asked a waiter to bring over a bottle "of your second-least expensive champagne." The same buying principle is a well-known one in the world of wine—see this skewering at College Humor . The idea is simple enough. A novice poring over...