Influential United States wine critic Robert Parker has drawn long faces in Bordeaux, handing out a series of low scores, and telling buyers not to bother with the 2007 vintage unless chateaux owners cut prices substantially. ”There is unquestionably little need to buy these wines as futures, unless dramatic price reductions occur,” said Parker.
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/ 18 December 2007
Special edition high-end cognacs are common enough, but until now priced in a — relatively speaking — affordable bracket of anywhere from €3 000 to €33 000 ( 300 to 500) a bottle. Now Hennessy has gone the extra mile — while other companies are turning cognac into scent.
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/ 30 September 2007
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After pacing the sidelines for two weeks, Schalk Burger gets another chance to wreak havoc for South Africa at the World Cup. The bustling blonde backrower was switched from the flank to number eight in a strong Springboks lineup unveiled by coach Jake White for Sunday’s match against the winless United States in Montpellier.
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/ 29 September 2007
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Wallabies winger Drew Mitchell continued his try-scoring feast at the World Cup with a double in Australia’s 37-6 victory over Canada on Saturday. Mitchell crossed twice in the second half to lift his tally for the tournament to seven tries from just four games, breaking David Campese’s Australian record for the most tries in a single World Cup with his six in 1991.
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/ 27 September 2007
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Ireland prop Simon Best was hospitalised on Wednesday night after feeling unwell and complaining of a loss of feeling down his right side, a team spokesperson said. The symptoms began on Wednesday on a day off for the team from its Rugby World Cup campaign, said team spokesperson Karl Richardson.
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/ 25 September 2007
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Japan scored a last-gasp converted try to earn a dramatic 12-12 draw against Canada in their final World Cup pool-B match in Bordeaux on Tuesday. Substitute Koji Taira crossed in the right-hand corner after sustained late Japanese pressure and then Shotaro Onishi held his nerve to slot over the conversion.
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/ 25 September 2007
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Japan’s players have earned respect for their fast-paced running game at the Rugby World Cup. Now they want a win. Their last chance comes on Tuesday at the Stade Chaban-Delmas in Bordeaux, where they take on a Canada team equally desperate not to go home empty handed.
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/ 15 September 2007
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Ireland barely withstood a late onslaught to scramble over the line against a dogged Georgia by 14-10 on Saturday. Despite fielding a second-string side, Georgia stayed with their lauded opponents all the way and never tired in the second half as they did in their 33-3 defeat to Argentina in midweek.
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/ 10 September 2007
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Namibian rugby union president Dirk Conradie and his entire executive committee have been barred from attending the World Cup in France, organisers confirmed on Sunday. Conradie has been accused of complicity in the irregular sale of World Cup tickets, a charge he denies.
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/ 9 September 2007
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Brian O’Driscoll scored a try four minutes into his return from injury on Sunday but it proved to be a rare highlight for Ireland as they opened their World Cup campaign with a scrappy 32-17 victory over Namibia. O’Driscoll scored the first of his team’s five tries that earned his team a bonus point to leapfrog Argentina.
To lovers of fine wine there is no more satisfying sound then the pop of a cork as a favourite vintage is opened. The twist of a screw cap just doesn’t carry the same hint of promise. But the metal top is moving up market. "We are convinced about screw caps. They are better, certainly for white wine," said Veronique Bouffard, communications manager at Andre Lurton.
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/ 6 December 2005
Driven by an infernal spiral of shrinking markets and falling prices at home and abroad, Bordeaux’s wine producers are searching, sometimes desperately, for new ways to bring their fabled product to market. For many — including more than a few venerable chateaux — there is no margin of error: they must adapt or die.
France’s first gay marriage — performed last month in the southwest city of Bordeaux — was officially declared void by a court on Tuesday. The judge sided with the conservative government by ruling that the June 5 wedding between a shopkeeper and a male nurse was not allowed under French law.
The August heatwave kindled the love light in the beds of southwest France. Oyster beds, that is, and the result is an unprecedented baby boom of 100-billion larvae. ”This record explosion is the result of the summer’s exceptional weather conditions. Reproduction has been especially abundant,” said an official.
Little more than a curiosity not so long ago, bio-dynamic wines were all the talk this week at the world’s top international wine trade fair, Vinexpo.