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Wine

Grape breeding PhD student Laise Moreira collects flower tissue for analyzing sex trait in grapevine as part of the VitisGen2 project at the University of Minnesota Horticultural Research Center in Excelsior, MN.

The Quest to Grow the First Great American Wine Grape

Genetics might be the key to creating vineyards that both resist disease and don’t taste like skunk

Your Next Favorite European Wine Region Isn’t in France, Italy or Spain

The wine in this country is so good, they don’t want to export it — keeping 98% for themselves

A Hangover Pill Is Working on Drunk Mice

The new antidote may lower blood alcohol levels, helping a hangover and preventing alcohol overdose deaths

Rumrunner at St. Pierre

This Tiny French Archipelago Became America’s Alcohol Warehouse During Prohibition

Before the 21st amendment was ratified, remote islands off Canada’s Newfoundland province floated on a sea of whiskey and wine

French wine became imperilled in the mid-1800s as twin pests from America swept through European agricultural regions.

How One Mycologist Saved France’s Wine (Among Other Things)

Bordeaux mixture saved many crops besides grapes from fungus

What's your champagne of choice?

Is Your Champagne Good? Listen to the Bubbles for Clues

You may be able to hear a high-quality bubbly

This is base of Neolithic jar being prepared for sampling for residue analysis.

Cool Finds

Oldest Evidence of Wine Making Found in Georgia

The discovery of grape residues on pottery suggest Neolithic people had a taste for wine 8,000 years ago

Wine grapes grow in the shadow of Mount Ararat.

Armenia

How Mobile Wine-Tasting Rooms Could Revolutionize Armenian Wine Country

“Wine Cubes” will be popping up on Armenian vineyards—and building up the country’s enotourism industry

The Fountaingrove Round Barn burned on Monday Oct. 9 in one of the 17 wildfires that erupted across California.

History of Now

As Wildfires Rage Across California Wine Country, a Historical Structure Turns to Ash

The iconic Round Barn was destroyed at Fountaingrove, once home to a Utopian community and one of America’s first Japanese immigrants

6,000-year-old wine storage jars found in a Sicilian cave.

New Research

Researchers Discover Italy’s Oldest Wine in Sicilian Cave

Residue from pots found in a Sicilian cave show grape wine was produced 3,000 years earlier than thought

Byzantine Wine Press Found in Israeli Desert

Its fermentation pool could hold 6,500 liters of the good stuff

Amelia Ceja is breaking boundaries at Ceja Vineyards, which was founded by Amelia, Pedro, Armando and Martha Ceja.

Food, Glorious Food

¡Salud! to the Mexican-American Wine Revolution

Ceja Vineyards breathes new life into Napa Valley’s wine industry

Brewing beer and other fermented beverages was a crucial activity for humans throughout history.

Ancient Humans Liked Getting Tipsy, Too

In a new book on the archaeology and chemistry of alcoholic beverages, Patrick McGovern unravels the history of boozing

Cheers To This Spanish Town’s Annual Wine Battle

The boozy event has its roots in a 13th century land dispute

Is Champagne Still Champagne Without Bubbles?

In a storied part of France, a group of artisan producers is making this beloved wine the old fashioned way—sans fizz

To develop the next big mass-market wine, winemakers first hone flavor using focus groups, then add approved flavoring and coloring additives to make the drink match up with what consumers want.

The Science Behind Your Cheap Wine

How advances in bottling, fermenting and taste-testing are democratizing a once-opaque liquid

American South

This Virginia Winery Once Housed One of WWII’s Most Important Spy Stations

Speakeasies are so 2012—this place has actual secrets

A Silk Road Wine Trail Karas Monument at the entrance of Rind Village in Vayots Dzor, Armenia.

Armenia

Can Ancient Techniques Make Modern Wine Better?

A new generation of wineries are going to painstaking lengths to acquire hundreds of historic clay karases

Atlas of Eating

The Ever Expanding World of Wine Takes Your Palate to Unexpected Places

Never before have so many diverse wines, from so many places, been available to so many people around the globe

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