Donate

wine

A drought in Spain has dried up all the bubbly

Business, Economics and Jobs

One of the world’s most well-known and prestigious makers of sparkling wine — or cava, as it’s called in Catalan — is laying off 80% of its workforce. There’s plenty of demand for Spanish-German Freixenet’s bottled beverage, just not enough water to get the grapes to grow. They have shriveled on the vine as the lack of rain and restrictions on water use combine. The World’s Gerry Hadden reports from Sant Sadurní d’Ainoa, Spain.

Out of Eden Walk: Walking Tbilisi

Out of Eden Walk
Hazel Bethel is a Manischewitz wine devotee. She's originally from Trinidad and was introduced to the wine by friends who worked in Jewish homes in New York.

Is that Manischewitz? The Kosher wine is a hit in some Caribbean communities.

Food
Grapes at the the Château Luchey-Halde vineyard in Merignac, southwestern France.

Tons of grapes are stolen during France’s wine harvest

Business
This is a view of vineyards on Seneca Lake in New York.

The war over wine, water and fuel in New York’s Finger Lakes

Economics
Experts say that color and other sensory phenomena can prime our brains to expect certain flavors when we drink wine.

How does a wine’s color affect what we think of its flavor?

Food

We make snap judgments about our drinks before they ever reach our lips, which can change the way we perceive taste.

An agricultural worker holds a handful of Greek grapes

How a German wine seller ended up in Greece — and why he’s optimistic about unity in Europe

Business

Markus Stolz says his passport is German, but his his heart and mind are Greek

John Wurdeman, co-founder of Pheasant’s Tears winery in the eastern Georgian province of Kiziqi. He was born in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and became fascinated by Georgia after stumbling onto a CD of folk music from the country.

How a CD in the state of Virginia led to a wine rebirth in the country of Georgia

Food

Almost 25 years ago, John Wurdeman stumbled onto a CD of traditional Georgian music at a record store in Virginia. Now he lives in the tiny former Soviet republic and is involved in its wine renaissance.

A worker pours manzanilla wine into a wine taster from a oak barrel in the wine cellar "La Guita" in Sanlucar de Barrameda, southern Spain

For this wine expert, sherry is a ‘celebration of leisure’

Food

Talia Baiocchi used to hate sherry — now, she’s an expert on what she says is the most underrepresented variety of wine.

New York sommelier and chef Paul Lang

This New York sommelier makes Italian wines personal with their stories

Food

Paul Lang lives in New York City, but his first love is Italy. He spends most of him time meeting Italian wine makers and exploring their creations. It’s the stories he collects about them that help make the wines special for his clients in the United States.