Opening Wine ‘MacGyver’-Style; France Freaks Out About Its Harvest
by Admin on Sep.15, 2011, under San Francisco Resturaunts
“I can open a bottle with no hands!”
• Can’t find a corkscrew? A “lady MacGyver” at Jezebel offers several tips for opening a wine bottle without one. [Jezebel]
• Due to an archaic law in Canada, it’s still illegal to ship wine across provincial lines, but a new policy change might allow residents of Ontario to carry in one case of wine with them, by hand, from another province. [Vancouver Sun]
• Meanwhile, hybrid red grape varieties, which were bred to be hardy in cold climates — like those in Canada — continue to face prejudice for having “foxy” or herbaceous flavors. [Montreal Gazette]
• Strange weather during this growing season has created a divide among French winemakers about how early to start the grape harvest. And, critics say that some have started too early. [Reuters/NYT]
• This week’s obscure choice of grape from the NYT tasting panel: Blaufränkisch, a native of Austria, which “makes a spicy red wine that can be graceful yet intense.” [NYT]
• Someone in China just paid 0,000 for 25 cases of Chateau Lafite-Rothschild. [WSJ]
• A new book, Naked Wine, and a new documentary, Wine From Here, shed light on the growing natural-wine movement in California, which emphasizes the use of native yeasts for fermentation and a more restrained use of sulfur. [SF Bay Guardian, PR Newswire]
• Noted cookbook author and PBS chef Joanne Weir is launching a wine label: Joanne Weir Wines. [Grub Street]
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Filed Under: oeno-file, joanne weir