Maybe the best place to drink wine is going to be Hong Kong. With wine duties across India still extremely high, it might be better to drink your wine while holidaying in Hong Kong. In an imaginative move, the Hong Kong government abolished duties on wine and beer. This makes Hong Kong one of the few places in the world in which wine is not taxed at all. Last year taxes on wine were as high as 80%.

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France's wine and spirit industry had a record 2007 with triple digit surges in the Chinese market and extraordinary sales from the Champagne region. Nearly $13.8 billion worth of wine and spirits was exported in 2007 marking a 7 percent increase over the previous year. Sales into China more than doubled to nearly $365 million largely because French wines are considered the most prestigious by the Chinese. Pictured is a map of France with the Champagne region coloured in red.

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The New York Times is reporting that a large number of Russian and Indian buyers are scouting around for small Bordeaux vineyards. With wine consumption in France dropping, midrange wines are hurt the most. The Bordeaux region of Entre-Deux-Mers is particularly affected by this. A 150 acre tract of land along with a 6,500 square foot chateau can be purchased for as little as $3 million.

Michel Rolland, Bruno Prats and other Bordeaux notables claim climate change will positively affect the Bordeaux region says Decanter magazine. Speaking at the recent 2008 Climate Change and Wine Conference in Barcelona, they argued that global warming offered new possibilities. Citing Cos d'Estournel as an example, Bruno Prats said that its last 10 vintages have been the best ever.

But not everyone at the conference was as excited about global warming. Some speakers were worried that it could lead to coarser wine with higher alcohol levels and lower acidity. Not surprisingly, countries like New Zealand which has the most to benefit from global warming is upbeat about the climatic changes.

The UK Circle of Wine Writers and Pavilion Books, new publishers of Oz Clarke and Decanter contributing editor Michael Broadbent, have selected Ray O'Connor as Young Wine Writer 2007 for his entry on 'Exploring Wine's New Frontiers - India' according to Decanter Magazine. The award was presented by Steven Spurrier who said that he had learnt a thing or two from the winning essay which described India as a vibrant wine producing country with a great deal of potential.

The Award includes a cheque for £1000 and a two-week wine exploring trip to Australia, courtesy of Wine Australia and Qantas. Maybe its time for an Indian airline to sponsor an award.

A nearly 10,000-strong global crowd Thursday feted the launch of the 2007 vintage Beaujolais Nouveau, a light young French wine which has become a world brand since its introduction in 1970. The uncorking ceremony held at the stroke of midnight in the small French town of Beaujeu -- the self-proclaimed "historic capital" of Beaujolais wine -- was attended by aficionados from Japan, South Korea, Britain and China says AFP.

What makes Beaujolais special is that it is drunk in the same year as it is harvested. It is one of France's most popular wines though this year exports to its largest foreign market, Japan are expected to be lower than usual. For more on Beaujolais read the Telegraph's coverage and the AFP announcement.

Just what the doctor ordered for wine newbies confused about which wine to buy or what they really like. Mini 25 cl taster bottles. UK supermarket Asda has launched a range of 25cl mini taster bottles, nominally allowing customers to sample wines for free before buying a full bottle, reports Lucy Shaw on Decanter.com on the net. Asda Tasters, priced between £1.50 and £2 enable consumers to sample a range of red, white, rosé and sparkling wines.

After sampling the Taster, buyers can bring their receipt back to Asda and pick up a 75cl bottle of the wine, from which the price of the Taster will be deducted. The supermarket also claims that if customers don't like the wine, they can obtain a full refund on presentation of the receipt.

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An Indian-born Australian, Paramdeep Ghumman is making his mark on the wine scene down under in the Mornington Peninsula region of Victoria. Nazaaray Estate is a self-professed unique micro boutique winery with an Indian twist. We tried the wines at the Wine for Asia show last year and thought an Australian wine called Nazaarey would make a wonderful addition to a Diwali hamper, if only they were available here!

James Halliday, one of Australia’s most respected wine writers and most senior wine judges, has given them a thumbs-up, too. Read on... Read more...

Did you know that much of the modern wine culture derives from the practices of the ancient Greeks? Wine was known to both the Minoan and Mycenaean cultures. Dionysos was the Greek god of wine and revelry, and wine was frequently referred to in the works of Homer and Aesop. Dionysos not only represented the intoxicating power of wine, but also its social and beneficial influences. Dionysos was commonly known as Bacchus. In Homeric myths wine is usually served in "mixing bowls"; it was not traditionally drunk straight. It was thought to be referred to as "Juice of the Gods."

Today many of the grapes grown in Greece are grown nowhere else, and are similar or identical to varieties grown in ancient times. In addition, the popular modern Greek wine, retsina, is believed to be a carryover from when wine jugs were lined with tree resin and imparted a distinct flavor to the wine. Pictured above is Bacchus by the artist Caravaggio.

Sotheby's London has sold a 12-bottle case of 1967 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti for £58,650 ($119,259), making it the most expensive case of wine ever sold in their saleroom according to Decanter magazine. The case had a high estimate of £22,000 and was sold to an American private collector. Domaine de la Romanée-Conti (DRC) is an estate in Burgundy, France that produces white and red wine.

It was established in 1232. Its flagship wine is produced from the Romanée-Conti vineyard. Describing the vineyard, eminent wine critic, Clive Coates says,

The scarcest, most expensive - and frequently the best - wine in the world ... If you can lay your hands on a case - and that is a big 'if' - you would have to pay £5,000 or more for a young vintage, double or treble for a wine in its prime. ... This is the purest, most aristocratic and most intense example of Pinot Noir you could possibly imagine. Not only nectar: a yardstick with which to judge all other Burgundies.

Cork or screw cap? Which is the right closure for wines for the Asian market – or are both equally good? This issue will come under scrutiny at a symposium to be held at Wine for Asia 2007. The Asia Market – Cork or Screw Cap Panel Discussion will be held on 25 October, the opening day of WFA 2007, at Singapore Expo, from 2pm-3.30pm.

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Winemakers in California will benefit from a $50,000 government grant to improve their knowledge of the emerging Indian market according to Drinks International.

California’s Wine Institute will use the funding, cleared under the US Department of Agriculture’s Emerging Markets Program, to conduct a comprehensive study of India’s wine market.

Now an Indian company, Bouvet-Ladubay produces excellent French bubbly in the Loire Valley. In November 2000 UNESCO added the Loire Valley to the World Heritage List as a cultural landscape, in recognition of the quality of the site and the efforts being made for its preservation. And this is also where Vijay Mallya's recent acquisition, Bouvet-Ladubay is situated in the town of Saumur. Read more...

Decanter Magazine is reporting that Stormhoek, the South African label owned by Orbital Wines, has created a wine specifically for Microsoft. Blue Monster Reserve Sauvignon Blanc is named for a cartoon character developed by Hugh MacLeod, Stormhoek's marketing strategist. We're told that the wine has it that the wine has no viruses. Interestingly, most of Stormhoek's marketing efforts are rooted in two blogs Stormhoek.com and Gapingvoid run by MacLead.

The hotbed of Shi'ite militancy in the Bekaa Valley of Lebanon is also a promising wine growing region. Alcohol production might seem out of place in the Middle East but viniculture has a long history in the Bekaa valley. In fact, the Romans built a temple to the wine god Bacchus here thousands of years ago. And it was the Arabs who invented the art of distilling fermented beverages into alcoholic spirits.

Today Lebanon produces 6 million bottles of wine a year. Read about the Table Wines of the Hizballah Heartland.

Christie's International Wine Department has announced its Fall 2007 season of sales in the America's. For the first time, Christie's wine sales will be open to Internet bidding too allowing Indian buyers to participate over the Internet.

Over 3000 lots with an estimated value in excess of $15 million will cross the auction table at the first planned spirits auction to be held in New York since Prohibition. The first of these auctions was held in New York on September 15th, 2007. Continue reading for information on the other events.

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