Slicing the price of wine
The price of alcohol is all over the news this week in the UK, with the wine trade – and the average wine drinker – feeling rather embattled by the rise in prices. On Wednesday, the budget was announced, with the government adding 5% to alcohol duty and taking the level of duty paid on...
Poetry on a bottle
Through history, wine has certainly inspired plenty of poetry, and Robert Louis Stevenson even said that ”wine is bottled poetry”, but it’s worth noting when a new piece of poetry is written about wine itself. Carol Ann Duffy, the Poet Laureate – effectively the UK’s official poet to the nation – has been visiting the...
Wine Cams
Sitting at your office desk on a rainy Monday morning, what could be better than seeing how the day looks in a few vineyards around the world? Here’s a list of winery and vineyard webcams, so you can see for yourself what the weather’s doing, how the vines are growing, or just for a few...
Wine Cams: Weingut Stockingerhof, Wachau, Austria
This webcam looks out at the village of Duernstein in the heart of the Wachau Valley, from the hotel of Weingut Stockingerhof. Website: www.stockingerhof.com Webcam location: View Larger Map
Wine Cams: Oberkirch, Wurttemberg, Germany
This webcam looks across at the ruins of Schauenburg Castle, near the town of Oberkirch in the Wurttemberg region of Germany, and the neat vineyard terraces that radiate down the hill below. Website: www.oberkirch.de Webcam location: View Larger Map
Scotland: Multibuy drinks deals banned
On October 1st, new legal measures on the sale of alcohol came into force in Scotland. Consumers and retailers now have to adjust to legislation that bans multi-buy discounts, places strict limitations on the promotion of alcohol in and around stores, and imposes a ‘Challenge 25′ age verification policy as a minimum. The measures in...
Wine Cams: Bonair Winery, Yakima Valley, Washington State
The Yakima Valley looking Northwest toward Elephant Mountain. The east-west rows are Chardonnay. The field beyond is Cabernet Sauvignon and Riesling. Website: www.bonairwine.com Webcam location: View Larger Map
Wine Cams: Laibach Vineyards, Stellenbosch, South Africa
This cam is in Stellenbosch, on the Simonsberg slopes. It’s just 10 kilometres from the town of Stellenbosch. The cam looks out over parts of the estate and on to Table Mountain. I’ve watched some great sunsets on this webcam. Website: www.laibachwines.com Webcam location: View Larger Map
Wine Cams: Napa Valley, California, USA
This view in St. Helena looks across a vineyard growing cabernet sauvignon grapes. Trees in the distance surround the town of St. Helena while the 1,000 foot Vaca Mountains rise in the distance. Website: www.wineviews.com/webcam (NB – The webcam image below disappears completely in the hours of Napa darkness) Webcam location: View Larger Map...
Wine Cams: Tuki Vineyards, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand
This view is facing north, from Havelock North across Hawke’s Bay to the Kaweka Forest mountains approximately 50km away. This page updates automatically every couple of minutes from dawn until dusk NZ time. Website: www.tuki.co.nz Webcam location: View Larger Map
Brescia-bound: Wine & Classic Cars
An enthusiasm for wine and a love of classic cars may not at first appear to have much in common, but for me they embody many of the same qualities. Next month, I’m travelling to Brescia in Northern Italy for the European Wine Bloggers Conference. I’m much looking forward to it, for the chance to...
Phylloxera – the English connection
In the middle of the nineteenth century, a tiny insect arrived in Europe, uninvited and unnoticed, transported alongside shipments of American grape vines from the eastern United States. Soon it was to receive a name: Phylloxera vastatrix. It devastated a huge proportion of the world’s vineyards in the decades to follow, but its first sightings...
