Who can resist the offer of a free coffin?

"warning: contains molluscs”.

Guardian of the Saint Felicien

"Consumers’ brains are like, ‘You’re going to charge me $18 and I’m not even getting alcohol?’ Yeah, because you have no clue what things cost, and you think alcohol should cost more than nonalcohol. It’s actually the opposite.”

"To eat an oyster is to kiss the sea on the mouth"

Guinness undergoing a "branding overhaul" that might just be a pub carpet too far... "only Guinness can boast a collection of luxury fashionwear that includes a £200 T-shirt echoing vintage Guinness bottle tops."

Sorry, can't hang around here, I have to go and vote

Jesus that was close

@poorfrankraw.co.uk guess you're feeling pretty smug right now

In these dark times we could all do with a bit more wild garlic in our lives.

"Finally, for the stronger sex, we recommend a ham sandwich as a restorative lunch, accompanied by a glass of good Bordeaux, Porto, Chypre, or Madera. It makes you feel immediately more cheerful.." @lifesafeast.bsky.social 's mix of social and culinary history is a treat to read.

"In one part of our brains, most wine-lovers believe in their own immortality.”

Bluesky...I have questions 🤔

"I'm American, I'm loud, I'm obnoxious" Rich Ricci celebrates his win of the Cheltenham Gold Cup with Gaelic Warrior.

In Aude, this winegrower wasn't deterred by the 80 cm of water in his vineyard after recent torrential rain. He finished pruning in his kayak.

Noted for my next visit to London

Vineyard Area in California and Languedoc-Roussillon, 1974-2024

NFCU Officers, alongside Metropolitan Police, seized 90 pallets of wine and prosecco from three warehouses across North London and Essex. The pallets contained over 67,000 bottles.

"The concept unfolds through a speculative narrative in which the winery resembles a flying saucer that once landed among the vineyards thousands of years ago. Over time, the alien object was not rejected by nature but slowly absorbed by it."

At the wife-carrying race in the U.K., participants ran up and down a hill, jumping over hay and being doused with water while carrying or being carried by their partner. The winner's prize? A barrel of local ale. Read more: https://wapo.st/4sF1lx1

Anyway. I'm off to watch the racing with a spot of white wine.

"One social media called it, "Disgraceful", while someone else commented, "And that’s why more and more people are going abroad to watch it." Because it's so much cheaper flying to Benidorm than getting the train to Cheltenham.

"Shoulders are exploding," Elle magazine told AFP. Not if I can help it.

Wonderful creatures. As a toddler my granddaughter, who lives in the Alps, would point at the sky and exclaim "Gypaète, Gypaète!" as they swooped overhead 😁

Even after all these years in France I have still not developed a taste for pastis. Maybe I should try again paired with home-made tapenade, as recommended by Jason Wilson

🖤

The Court of Appeal of Reims upheld the two-year prison sentence for human trafficking of a former executive of a wine services company in Champagne. (to be clear, the estate itself was acquitted)

"Over on Islay, Remy Cointreau have announced a new bottling: ‘Bruichlassie’. A special ‘lady terroir’ themed whisky made with infusions of toe nail clippings from female members of staff." From the great Whisky Sponge on International Women's Day

#4am 🙋

Happy and glorious?

If you're "polished, charismatic, and confident with impeccable grooming and luxury hospitality standards", this sommelier job in Spain is for you!

Sorry I've decided I don't like this weather option. Can I send it back and get another one?

Spring has sprung 💐

One of my favourite words in French is ENQUINQUINER (to annoy, or to piss off), which gives the delicious "que nous enquiquinassions" in the imperfect of the subjunctive!

Globally, mycorrhizal fungal communities move roughly a billion tons of carbon per year into Earth's soils, above all in old-growth forests. Wild, natural ecosystems are the bedrock of a healthy planet. It's time we started recognising and acting on that. share.google/afcBcyPH7lVc...

@leecorn.bsky.social 👋

What makes Japanese wine special is not power, but precision. Japan now has 493 wineries, up 50% in just five years

Making wine in a war zone. "Wine is a means of expressing place and identity, and sharing joy and companionship: a positive emotion that Ukrainians would like to transfer and share with the rest of the world”. www.telegraph.co.uk/gift/e3dfdd1...

"What fools we are"

They are sending Charles de Gaulle to sort things out.

Ants in my pants

Looking at new phones. Beginning to get used to these enormous dials of photo lenses. I do want something that takes a good picture. (Not iphone).

What is the matter with these people? "Calvin Klein proposed starched white servantile apron dresses and bonnets; Moschino offered leather handbags in the shape of cooking pots. Jacquemus conjured dresses from Provençale table linens and adorned one model’s pants with a string of garlic"

"There is a persistent belief in the wine world: Using a selected yeast could standardise wines and blur regional identity. Pinot Noir, one of the most terroir-sensitive varieties, is an ideal model to test that assumption."

An accident waiting to happen if you ask me

Wine barrels in Bercy, Paris, in 1908. The wine warehouses of Bercy were located in the 12th arrondissement of Paris. Located along the Seine, this area received, stored and distributed wines and spirits. During the late 19th and the early 20th century, Bercy was the world's largest wine market.

😐

In the end it was noodles with pak choi, cabbage, broccoli, yellow pepper, a few shreds of leftover chicken and kimchi sauce.