Alcohol and Drugs History Society

Low prices hurt Australian wine makers

Australian wine makers are suffering from over-production, low prices, and an image problem.  For too long, Australian wine has been identified with shiraz from South Australia which now has gone out of fashion.  For more, see here.

Le sandwich versus French cafe (with wine and espresso)

The new French habit of eating a sandwich at lunch (sometimes at one's desk) is another blow at the French cafe and a slow-paced lunch there, complete with wine and espresso.  Compared with a half million cafes fifty years ago, France now has only 38,600.  For more, see here.

Kentucky's bourbon trail hopes to attract tourists as Napa valley wineries do

Kentucky hopes that its bourbon trail will attract tourists as successfully as do Napa valley wineries, the second leading tourist attracts (after Disneyworld) in California.  For more, see here.

Whiskey and wine (books)

Elizabeth Downer briefly reviews Kate Hopkins, 99 Drams of Whiskey:The Accidental Hedonist's Quest for a Perfect Shot and the History of the Drink (St. Martin's) and Vivienne Sosnowski, When the River Ran Red: An Angry Story of Courage and Triumph in America's Wine Country (Palgrave Macmillan). The latter book deals with northern California winemakers during National Prohibition.  For more, see here.

History of wine words (book)

Charles Hodgson, History of Wine Words: An Intoxicating Dictionary of Etymology and Word Histories from the Vineyard, Glass, and Bottle (Ottawa: P2Peak Press, 2009).

7 New Emerging Wine Regions

Global warming is partly responsible for emerging grape growing regions according to an article by Simon Majumdar at AskMen.com - here is the link.

The Credit freeze traps 130,000 cases of North Coast wine

New Vine Logistics, a wine storage and shipping business, ran out of cash, ceased operations, and isn't returning phone calls.  Here is the link to the story.

Obama's Supreme Court Nominee ruled against Out-of-State Wine Shippers and got overturned

Click here for the article on Tom Wark's Fermentation, The Daily Wine Blog.

Wine, beer, and other alcoholic beverages (book)

Patrick E. McGovern, Uncorking the Past: The Quest for Wine, Beer, and Other Alcoholic Beverages (University of California Press, forthcoming 2009).  By an anthropologist who is an authority on ancient alcoholic drinks.

Desperate Parisians pawn expensive wines

During the current economic crisis desperate Parisians have resorted to pawnshops.  For instance, wine collectors pawn bottles of superior wines for needed cash.  For more, see here.