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With its fairytale turrets and a 15th-Century tower, Chateau Latour Laguens is surrounded by vineyards in a region steeped in European tradition. But this chateau, south-east of Bordeaux, is also at the cutting edge of Asia's growing economic might. The staff who tend the vineyards and make the wine are still French, but this is now a Chinese-owned domain. It has been taken over by the Longhai group based in eastern China, which has created a subsidiary to run it called Chateau Latour-Laguens (Qingdao). The Chinese are developing a new taste for French wines these days. And in addition to...

Volunteer harvesters from the United States and Canada, have local Jewish vintners in Samaria, otherwise known as the West Bank, wondering if not just the grapes, but also the times - are ripening. The Hebrew prophet Isaiah predicted that close to the time of the Messiah's coming, the sons of foreigners would be their vinedressers. "Our sages have taught us that during the times of the final redemption, which we are right now in, other nations will come to help build the land of Israel, to help the Jewish nation, to fulfill all of the prophesies," said Yonatan Behar, the...

Remember Linda Chavez? She had to withdraw from consideration for a cabinet post because one of her employees was an illegal alien. So how about Nancy Pelosi, who would be third in line for succession if she becomes Majority Leader? Investors Business Daily brings us the following information about her family—owned vineyard. As Peter Schweizer notes in his best—selling expose of liberal hypocrisy, "Do As I Say (Not As I Do)," part of the fortune of this defender of the working man is a Napa Valley vineyard worth $25 million that she owns with her husband. The vineyard produces expensive...

The battle over direct shipping of wine from producer to consumer has returned to Congress. Last month, Rep. Bill Delahunt (D-Mass.) introduced legislation pushed by beer and wine wholesalers that could make it nearly impossible for consumers to have wine shipped to their door. Delahunt's bill would effectively overturn a U.S. Supreme Court ruling issued five years ago this month in Granholm v. Heald, a case brought by the late Virginia vintner Juanita Swedenburg. The ruling held that states had primary responsibility for regulating the distribution of alcoholic beverages, but that they could not discriminate against out-of-state producers by allowing...

I am a, well, maybe not avid home vineyardist, but at least a guy who tries to grow wine grapes. (If my lazy efforts produce anything drinkable it is usually nothing short of miraculous.) My home state of Missouri is one of the larger winegrowing regions (hovering around tenth largest) in the United States, and Missouri wines are exceptional, garnering innumerable medals at competitions worldwide-including in contests in California. Missouri wines are so good because Missouri is a lousy place to grow good wine grapes, which means that extra care has always been required to produce fine wine. It is...

'We're looking at a scenario where there's no more agriculture in California,' Steven Chu says. He sees education as a means to combat threat. Reporting from Washington -- California's farms and vineyards could vanish by the end of the century, and its major cities could be in jeopardy, if Americans do not act to slow the advance of global warming, Secretary of Energy Steven Chu said Tuesday.

PARIS (AFP) - Scientists in France and Italy have deciphered the complete genetic code for the plant producing wine grapes, according to a study published Sunday. While the findings will do nothing to enhance the mystique of winemaking, they could pave the way for gene-based manipulations to boost flavour and improve resistance against disease. Dozens of researchers analyzing the Pinot Noir varietal of Vitis vinifera, the core species from which virtually all grape wine is made, found twice as many genes contributing to aroma than in other sequenced plants, suggesting that wine flavours could be traced to the genome level....

There's high anxiety in Wine Country as the harvest slowly gets under way. The grape crop is late, yields are down, birds are a terrible problem and there are looming fears there won't be enough laborers to pick the crop. "The 900-pound gorilla in the room is labor," said Fred Buonanno of Brutocao Vineyards & Cellars in Hopland and chairman of the Mendocino Winegrape and Wine Commission. "In the weeks ahead we will be tested." Buonanno was among growers and vintners from Mendocino, Sonoma, Lake and Marin counties gathered Tuesday in Santa Rosa to provide a "state of the harvest"...

Grape glut leaves vineyards facing ruin By Nick Squires in Sydney (Filed: 07/06/2006) Hundreds of Australian vineyards are facing ruin amid a glut of grapes that has left the industry producing far more wine than it can sell at home or overseas. The problem is so severe that the industry said yesterday that it will take a multi-million pound government bail-out to save smaller producers from going out of business. The popularity of Australian wine in Britain and America, coupled with generous government tax breaks, encouraged a craze for establishing vineyards from the late 1990s. The Wine Grape Growers' Council...

In the fog-shrouded forests of California's remote North Coast, winemakers believe they've found the perfect terrain to grow the notoriously fickle pinot noir grape prized by connoisseurs. Vineyard developers are snapping up thousands of acres of redwoods and firs in Sonoma County, with plans to clear the trees and plant the once-obscure varietal made famous by the wine-fueled road trip film "Sideways." Environmentalists and residents in Annapolis, a tiny town about 140 miles north of San Francisco, are trying to rein in the pinot lovers. "If you've seen the movie, you've seen the glassy-eyed stare they have when they talk...

California vineyards flooded as torrential rain causes chaos By Catherine Elsworth in Los Angeles (Filed: 02/01/2006) Northern California's famous wine country suffered widespread flooding yesterday after powerful storms pummelled the region. Rivers overflowed their banks, engulfing homes and triggering mudslides that blocked roads across the area. At least a dozen people were rescued from the rushing waters and, with more rain forecast, emergency officials urged residents in low-lying areas close to rivers to evacuate. The heaviest rain hit the Napa Valley area, just north of San Francisco and home to more than 200 vineyards, including the Robert Mondavi Winery, Francis...

Thousands of marauding racoons, descendents of animals released by Hermann Goering, have overrun vineyards in central Germany. The nocturnal mammals descended on vineyards in the Brandenburg region, west of Berlin, ruining the harvest. Ripening grapes are a favourite snack of the stripy-tailed rodent. 'Raccoons wiped out almost the entire harvest in a matter of days,' winemaker Werner Kothe told Deutsche Presse-Agentur. 'We have 540 vines and they have been stripped bare by these animals.' The raccoon problem is well known in the area and although some residents take them on as pets, many consider the imported species pests. Local authorities...

The origins of Trader Joe's and why Americans don't drink more wine By PAUL FRANSON Register Correspondent At the recent Unified Wine and Grape Symposium in Sacramento, some of us had the pleasure of meeting the real Trader Joe and hearing how he started the cultish chain. To celebrate its 30th Anniversary, the California Association of Winegrape Growers invited Joe Coloumbe to address at its annual meeting. Telling a tale worthy of PBS's "Nova," he enthralled the audience about why the Little Ice Age kept Americans from drinking wine, how the breakdown of an international monetary agreement affects the wine...

Va. online wine leaves Maryland bitter Roger Hughlett Contributor The legal cork that keeps Virginia wineries from peddling their wares over the Internet -- and Virginia residents from buying out-of-state wines online -- is about to pop. But the same cork in Maryland shows no signs of letting go. Beginning July 1, Virginia vineyards can sell wines over the Internet to customers in other states and Virginia residents can buy wines online from out-of-state wineries. This opens up new markets for Virginia wine producers and potentially translates into millions of dollars in revenue for the state's wine industry. "Consumers in...

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - New York wineries announced plans on Thursday for a wine-tasting party to raise funds to clear mines and restore once-flourishing vineyards in the Fizuli region of the former Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan.The July 2 fund-raiser at United Nations headquarters is being organized by the New York Wine and Grape Foundation, representing over 160 vineyards across New York state, and the nonprofit Humpty Dumpty Institute, which has helped arrange private funding for a number of mine-clearance projects.The foundation said it was working with the institute -- whose slogan is "Putting the pieces back together again" -- to...