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• Bordeaux reaches out to top-class tourists

  - 2008-08-02

  BORDEAUX, France AFP — Known for its high-end wines, sumptuous chateaux and aristocrat vineyard-owners, Bordeaux has been strangely short of luxury tourist activities, but times finally are a-changing. "Not enough is done at the very top end of the tourist market," said billionaire Bordeaux wine producer Bernard Magrez who,...

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• US ambassador vouches for Italy's scandal-hit Brunello wine

  - 2008-07-03

  MONTALCINO, Italy AFP — US Ambassador to Italy Ronald Spogli on Thursday vouched for the purity of the famous Tuscan wine Brunello di Montalcino, hit by suspicions of tampering to please the American palate. Brunello di Montalcino "will continue to be a symbol of excellence in the world" despite...

  Tags: Agence France-Presse, Italy, suspicion, wine

• Japan PM's life tough, but no vodka please

  - 2008-06-17

  TOKYO AFP — Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda admits his job is tough and says a glass of wine can relieve the stress. But he draws the line at vodka. Fukuda was slapped earlier this month with an unprecedented censure motion amid slumping approval ratings, weeks before he hosts...

  Tags: Agence France-Presse, job, vodka, wine

• New Zealand restaurant in trouble for poisoning drinkers

  - 2008-06-16

  WELLINGTON AFP — A restaurant in New Zealand's tourist hub of Queenstown was convicted Monday for accidentally serving dishwashing liquid as mulled wine. A customer and a barmaid were hospitalised after drinking the liquid in July last year. The barmaid may suffer health problems after the inside of...

  Tags: Agence France-Presse, liquid, wine

• Jolie and Pitt move into their new Provence home

  - 2008-05-30

  MARSEILLE AFP — Hollywood's enigmatic power couple, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, are in the throes of domesticity and relocating to a chateau in France's famed Provence region, a local official told AFP. The couple are moving their furniture into the Miraval area property, in the heart of the...

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• Online 'toast' to late wine-making legend Robert Mondavi

  - 2008-05-19

  SAN FRANCISCO AFP — Vintners in California's renowned Napa Valley on Monday launched an Internet tribute to pioneering US wine-maker Robert Mondavi, who died three days earlier in his home in the region. The Napa Valley Vintners Association created an online "toast" to Mondavi on its website at www.napavintners.com,...

  Tags: Agence France-Presse, INTERNET, Robert, wine, winery

• Olympic skater finds date rape drug in drink

  - 2008-04-22

  LOS ANGELES AFP — A mysterious substance that Russian Olympic medalist Oksana Grishuk found in her drink during a business meeting in California tested positive for the date rape drug GHB, police said Tuesday. The skater, who won Olympic gold for ice-dancing in 1994 and 1998 while performing under...

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• Swiss village blasts 'French imperialism' for Champagne name ban

  - 2008-04-10

  GENEVA AFP — The tiny Swiss village of Champagne on Thursday blasted "French imperialism" after a Paris court ruled they could not use the name of their village for locally-produced wine and biscuits. Local wine-makers have been banned from labelling their wine "vin de Champagne" since 2004, after a...

  Tags: Agence France-Presse, Paris, wine

• Mafia blamed for 70 million litres of tainted Italian wine: report

  - 2008-04-04

  ROME AFP — Italy produced and sold at least 70 million litres of cheap wine containing acid, manure and fertiliser, Italian weekly L'Espresso said on Friday, largely blaming organised crime in the south. It said bottles sold at less than two euros around three dollars a litre contained very...

  Tags: Agence France-Presse, bottle, Italy, wine

• Top US chefs knead dough for needy dogs

  - 2008-01-28

  WASHINGTON AFP — In a country where people throw 'pupperware' parties for dogs or book them in for spa treatment, it should come as no surprise to learn that gourmet chefs have got in on the animal welfare act. For the sixth year running, pastry chefs from some of...

  Tags: Agence France-Presse, Washington, wine