Wine, Meet Your Future: Plastics

Award-winning German winegrower ruined

(NEWSER) - An award-winning German winegrower has lost his crop of grapes to a band of brazen thieves just before harvest time. Almost three tons of high-quality red grapes destined to become wine were stolen overnight by bandits who brought their own harvest machine, reports Der Spiegel . Wine experts believe the theft was carried out by a desperate winegrower who lost his own crop to frost or hail, and the culprit will be found when a winemaker not known for quality produces a superb product this year. More»

Seriously, nobody is happy about it

(NEWSER) - One from the Bad Taste Hall of Fame: A Long Island winery is getting slammed for its decision to release two new wines ... in honor of 9/11. Almost every detail about the wine, as reported by the LA Times , is cringeworthy. The price? $19.11 a bottle. What to expect from Lieb Family Cellars ' 9/11 Memorial Commemorative Chardonnay? It finishes "with a toasty vanilla flavor." The marketing? The grapes were grown "90 miles from the site of the World Trade Center"! The chunk of the proceeds that will be donated to the National September 11 Memorial and Museum? Just 6% to 10%. More»

Climate change could take the 'wine' out of wine country in next 30 years

(NEWSER) - A new report warns that climate change could drastically shake up California’s wine country in the next 30 years. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts that Napa Valley will eventually see 10 more days with grape-scorching temperatures of at least 95 degrees, the Los Angeles Times reports. If the weather pattern holds, that means trouble for Napa's Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon varietals, which don't do well in the heat. More»

Vintners often use animal products in production

(NEWSER) - Just because it's made from grapes doesn't mean a glass of wine is OK for committed vegetarians. Many vintners use animal products made from bones or even fish bladders in the final clarifying stages, explains Steven Kolpan. The good news is that only minuscule amounts of the so-called fining agents remain, so those who practice vegetarianism or veganism on dietary grounds can safely drink up. More»

(NEWSER) - A falloff in demand and an end to subsidies has tobacco farmers across the country turning to the vino, the Wall Street Journal reports—farming grapes and making wine, that is. “The small-plot tobacco farmer is a thing of the past,” says a North Carolina wine official, who notes that wine production is one of the few ways small, family-run farms can eek out a profit on their land. But the transition to vineyard isn’t cheap: Every acre cost $10,000 to $17,000 to develop, compared to $3,000 for tobacco. More»