Reducing the size of standard wine bottles could help cut alcohol consumption and related health problems, a leading medical journal says today.
Piling further pressure on the alcohol industry and retailers, the British Medical Journal urges them to discourage consumers from drinking "supersize" glasses of wine amid moves to ban large meal portions as part of the drive to slash obesity rates in the UK.
Dr Trish Groves, the journal's deputy editor, said: "I like a glass of good wine with my supper. But, once two of us have had a glass each, it's all too tempting to finish the bottle there and then. Coupled with the news that wine is getting stronger, it's no wonder Britain's middle-aged middle classes are getting wasted. Why does wine have to come in 75cl bottles?"
A recent report from Liverpool John Moores University showed that wealthy towns top the league table for hazardous drinking in the UK. read more
Limousines and wine are synonymous with romance. And at the lake, residents can couple these for a romantic afternoon of wine tasting in Bedford County.
"We are the official limousine service of the Bedford Wine Trail," said Elizabeth Harrington, who co-owns Premier Limousine Service with her husband Doug.
In the office, the Harringtons have dedicated a room to the five wineries in Bedford County. The staff has visited each winery, collecting brochures, taking photographs and compiling a variety of display bottles for their wine room.
"We sit down with you, and we customize the packages," said Elizabeth Harrington. "For three hours, you could see two or three vineyards. It just depends on what you want to do."
To conserve time, she suggested those interested in taking the tour by limo meet at a central location to be picked up by the chauffeur. read more
I received an invitation to a wine tasting recently, promoted as the Bay Area's biggest and best Bordeaux tasting event of the year. Sponsored by K&L Wines, the "Union Des Grands Crus de Bordeaux," a coalition of about a 100 classified growths and chateaus, would be in San Francisco for one afternoon of pouring the much-heralded 2005 vintage.
I have to admit that I have always been a "California guy" when it comes to my wine preferences, but this opportunity was too tempting to miss. I was telling someone about this tasting and realized they were looking at me a little quizzically. Sure they had heard of Bordeaux, even kind of knew where it was on the map, at least sort of, well, somewhere in France, but didn't know much about the region or the wines. I recognized, as I fumbled through a rather poor explanation of why I was so excited to go, that other than a little lip-gloss, I didn't know that much about Bordeaux, either. read more
