Bordeaux Bust

(Newser) - Tough times have turned some wine-growers in southwestern France to "wine terrorism," Time reports. Guerrilla grape-growers have bombed supermarkets and government buildings, hijacked trucks carrying foreign wine, and drained tanks. The growers want the French government to protect them from the cheap imports they say are threatening their survival. More »

(Newser) - It almost sounds contradictory: exquisite white wine hails from Bordeaux, the unofficial home of red. But the whites produced in Pessac-Léognan—the heart of the Bordeaux region in France—include "some of the most thrilling, underappreciated white wines in the world,” Eric Asimov raves in the New York Times . Historically popular in Britain, the whites are now gaining traction in Belgium, Russia, and Japan. More »

(Newser) - When wine lovers say they taste notes of cherries or hints of tobacco, “usually all I can detect is a whole lot of jackass,” Joel Stein writes in the LA Times . Wine dialogue has devolved into a meaningless string of obscure scents, Stein says. It’s boring—too boring even to make fun of—and it says virtually nothing about the wine. More »

(Newser) - French winemakers are increasingly worried about fizzling sales of futures from the 2007 Bordeaux harvest, AFP reports. Investors and drinkers are skipping the vintage because they expect little increase in price by the time it's ready to drink in 2009; one merchant says reluctance to trim prices shows "avarice and arrogance" from producers of France's flagship wines. More »

(Newser) - Researchers have found new signs that the fountain of youth could be filled with red wine, the New York Times reports. Resveratrol, an ingredient in grape skins, has been found to slow the effects of aging by triggering a change in the body—making it switch resources from fertility to tissue maintenance. Some scientists are so impressed by the findings that they're already taking resveratrol capsules. More »

(Newser) - The thirtysomething neurotic character Bridget Jones is getting the blame for plummeting sales of chardonnay in the UK, the Independent reports. The fictional publishing assistant miserably pours herself a tall glass after each one of her attempts at landing a husband fails—not exactly a great marketing tool. "Chardonnay has made some of the world's greatest wines," says a top wine critic. "Everyone appreciated it—until Bridget Jones." More »

(Newser) - A screw-top Bordeaux? The once-laughable notion is bubbling up in France these days as wine makers try to reverse decades of sour sales, the AP reports. Even snazzy labels and boxed-wine-with-a-straw are fair game, after French wineries exported a record $15 billion last year with "New World"-style packaging.