Goodbye dry January, hello breakfast wines. What to quaff with your croissant

Goodbye dry January, hello breakfast wines. What to quaff with your croissant

A good meal paired with the right wine is like icing on a cake. But would you start the day with wine? While some frown upon alcohol before 5pm, others take a more relaxed view, especially when it comes to brunch. Wine, or woi as it is called in the central German state of Hesse, … Read more

‘We tried Champagne and sparkling wine with a £12 bottle near perfect’

‘We tried Champagne and sparkling wine with a £12 bottle near perfect’

Christmas is a time when shoppers like to splurge out and treat themselves to a bottle. Whether it is on Christmas or on New Year’s Eve there is always a reason to celebrate. While some people tend to go for the pricier option of Champagne, there are also some great choices when it comes to … Read more

How Japanese chef of 3-Michelin-star restaurant Ta Vie in Hong Kong fell for French food

How Japanese chef of 3-Michelin-star restaurant Ta Vie in Hong Kong fell for French food

This summer, Hideaki Sato closed his fine-dining restaurant Ta Vie in Hong Kong, which received its third Michelin star in 2023, for several weeks, reopening it only at the beginning of September. While done primarily for renovations and redecoration following nine years of almost non-stop operation, another reason for the pause was for the chef … Read more

English sparkling wine’s rise shown in French champagne house opening UK vineyard

English sparkling wine’s rise shown in French champagne house opening UK vineyard

Far from its native Champagne, prestigious French wine house Taittinger last week inaugurated its new vineyard in southeast England, where climate change is making it increasingly easy to grow grapes. The grand opening of the 60-hectare Domaine Evremond vineyard, on a quiet hillside in Kent, received the royal seal of approval, with Sophie Duchess of … Read more

Burgundy without pinot noir grapes? Climate change pushes the boundaries of winemaking

Burgundy without pinot noir grapes? Climate change pushes the boundaries of winemaking

What is the first industry to fall victim to climate change? There is a decent argument that it already happened – more than 600 years ago. In 1066, the Normans installed a feudal aristocracy in the British Isles, and the invaders brought with them a love of winemaking. Those skills flourished in the conditions of … Read more

Wine expert gives honest verdict on Idris Elba’s £99 Champagne

Wine expert gives honest verdict on Idris Elba’s £99 Champagne

A wine expert has given an honest review of Idris Elba’s Champagne – which costs £99 for a bottle. Tom Gilbey has more than 150,000 followers on TikTok, where he shares videos reviewing all sorts of wine – from cheap Aldi bottles to the really expensive stuff. And he recently managed to get his hands … Read more

‘Give us $600 and also we hate you’: WestJet’s new UltraBasic fare gets roasted online

‘Give us 0 and also we hate you’: WestJet’s new UltraBasic fare gets roasted online

If there’s anything people can agree on these days, it’s that flying sucks. And between the delays and cancellations, extreme turbulence, and jets literally falling apart in the sky, it seems that some people have had about enough of flying experiences getting ostensibly worse instead of better. Which may partially explain the online roasting of WestJet’s new UltraBasic fare, where … Read more

Why is everyone arguing about Drake and Kendrick Lamar?

Why is everyone arguing about Drake and Kendrick Lamar?

Hip-hop heavyweights Drake and Kendrick Lamar are sparring in an exchange of diss tracks that has sent music fans into furious debates on social media.  The feud has roped in a slew of hip-hop stars, almost all of whom seem to be coming for Toronto native Drake.  “Hip-hop hasn’t seen a beef like this since Nas … Read more

Davos party secrets: Caviar, magic mushrooms, champagne

Davos party secrets: Caviar, magic mushrooms, champagne

Forget the fondue. Caviar, magic mushrooms, gold-leaf desserts, A-list selfies, $2,500-per-night hookers and secret dinners are likely to be on the menu as scores of private jets touch down in Switzerland as soon as Sunday to bring the world’s elite to the small Alpine resort town of Davos for what’s officially known as The World … Read more

A love letter to US Route 50, America’s loneliest highway

A love letter to US Route 50, America’s loneliest highway

The essence of lonely is embodied after peeling off Highway 50 into a dusty parking lot at Middlegate Station, a pit stop in the Nevada desert about an hour from any cities in both directions.  There’s a small wooden building that appears to have been standing for at least 100 years and near the front … Read more