The Winery Veer of Snake River Valley of Idaho

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 ...

It’s easy to forget that the southern Rhône’s four most prevalent red varieties aren’t indigenous. Grenache, Carignan and Mourvèdre all appear to originate from Spain; Syrah made its way down the river from the northern Rhône. Of the long tail of other grapes, most have their roots closer to home. Plantings have dwindled in recent years, but today local varieties are experiencing renewed interest. One that’s finding a lot of fans – both in the Rhône and further afield – is Counoise. Scroll down ...

Low and no alcohol drinks are becoming increasingly popular in the UK, according to a new YouGov survey commissioned by The Portman Group, the industry self-regulatory body. Nearly one third of respondents said they chose low or no alcohol drinks on a ‘semi-regular’ basis, up from one in four in a similar survey a year earlier. Its results fit with analysis that consumer demand for ‘low and no’ drinks is growing strongly in several developed countries. Portman Group and YouGov define ...