A TRUE CHAMPAGNE HOUSE
SOME PEOPLE fantasize of living in a house filled with bottles of Champagne. For Eldar Ilchibayev, a builder from western Russia’s Ural Mountains, the dream was to build a house entirely out of bottles and he has now completed his mission. Ilchibayev recently finished construction of a house made from... Read More
THE MOËT & CHANDON CHAMPAGNE VENDING MACHINE
A VENDING MACHINE that dispenses bubbly? That’s a dream come true! Of course, you have to go to Vegas for this experience (naturally!). The Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Vegas opened a Moët & Chandon vending machine in its 23rd floor Sky Lobby. The adults-only machine dispenses splits – mini-bottles of... Read More
COLLECTING? PUT THOSE PENNIES INTO WINE
MOVE OVER CARS, wine’s back! When it comes to collectibles, the best place to invest in 2O16 was (literally) in liquid assets. For the first time in at least five years, wine surpassed classic cars as the best-performing collectible asset class, according to The Wealth Report, an annual publication by... Read More
ROYAL BUBBLY
IN CASE YOU’VE BEEN living under a rock . . . British bubbly is a big deal. It’s so big that even the Queen of England has latched onto the craze by producing 3OOO bottles of sparkling wine from vines grown on her estate. Don’t get out your credit card... Read More
CAMERON HUGHES WINE SOLD
PERHAPS IT WAS SIMPLY a case of too much growth too fast. Cameron Hughes Wines was sold in January by a bankruptcy court receiver to Vintage Wine Estates. Hughes was quickly successful more than a decade ago when he began offering low priced wines from prestigious regions packaged under his... Read More
SINGIN’ THE BLUE WINE BLUES
IT’S GENERATED QUITE a buzz with the Millennial set and been highly visible throughout all social media outlets but Spanish authorities have told the makers of Gik “blue wine” that they can no longer label it as wine. Gik has sold close to 1OO,OOO bottles in 25 countries, but a... Read More
LAPOSTOLLE WINERY SOLD
GRUPPO CAMPARI has sold its Lapostolle wine and Pisco business “ì acquired as part of its takeover of Grand Marnier’s parent company “ì back to the Marnier family for $31 million. In 2O16 Campari took control of the French liqueur brand as part of its friendly takeover of parent company... Read More
WINE & CHEESE SHOTS
WINE IS GOOD and cheese is good but a wine and cheese shooter? Somehow that seems not so good. In late December PopSugar Food created a video showing how to make wine and cheese shots. It’s both fascinating and repellant at the same time. They’re made by melting cheese into... Read More
BANANA WINE, A RWANDAN SUCCESS STORY
BANANA WINE is probably not something you’ve ever considered but it happens to be a best-selling product in Rwanda. And it just may be coming to America. Winemaker Christine Murebwayire has turned her fermented banana juice into a national brand, but she has her sights set on expansion beyond the... Read More
THE 2O16 CLASS OF MASTERS OF WINE
THE INSTITUTE OF MASTERS OF WINE (IMW) has inducted 18 new Masters of Wine to its prestigious roster. A ceremony at the institute’s annual awards in London took place in November to formally induct the new members, bringing the total number of MWs up to 354 across 28 different countries.... Read More