The flavor of plastic in wine

The small island of Gorgona, just off the coast of Livorno, isn’t your run-of-the-mill viticultural area – its main purpose is to serve as a penal colony. Not just any prisoner can reside on Gorgona, however. Up to 90 incarcerated men live on the island at a time, alongside 17 residents and a handful of police officers. Prisoners on the island are allowed to stay for a maximum of five years, which must conclude the end of their sentence. After Gorgona, the men are set free. Scroll down to see ta ...

UK-based Berry Bros & Rudd said it will start selling capsule-free wine this month, beginning with its ‘Own Selection’ Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2019, produced for the company by Château La Nerthe. The fine wine and spirits merchant said it also planned to remove capsules from other Own Selection products in a phased initiative that aims to reduce packaging, preserve materials and avoid waste. While some wines for longer-term ageing are considered to benefit from capsules, Berry Bros & ...

According to lifestyle and happiness guru Gretchen Rubin, you ‘bring your own weather to a picnic’. Ms Rubin, I’d suggest, has never shivered under a tree watching raindrops turn her fish-paste sandwich to mush because the weather forecast was wrong. There are, it’s safe to say, picnics and Picnics. It’s a term that takes in everything from a rubber baguette in a French ‘Aire’ off the Autoroute du Soleil to a four-course spread while listening to opera at Glyndebourne. What’s definitely true is ...