It was announced today that the Champagne region of France is expanding to meet world demand and we’re pretty excited about it. Once thought of as a celebratory drink for only special occasions, Champagne and sparkling wine are quickly becoming the wine of choice for many around the world. Among new wine drinkers and millennials, it seems that we actually prefer champagne even as a complement to our food. It’s the natural effervescence that adds to flavor depth and antioxidant health benefits, that combine to make Champagne and sparkling wine the all around global drink. It’ll be great to see different types and flavors appear on the shelves at decent price points, while still maintaining the natural quality and mystique. We’ve always believed that wine is the one taste substance that everyone around the world shares, and maybe this news is a small sign that we’re starting to celebrate more together.

For more reading see: Champagne - A New Year Tradition

Los Angeles, Oct. 26 — With Southern California wildfires still escalating, Wine-industry group Wine Gives is raising funds for the American Red Cross. Wineries and wine retail groups are donating a generous portion of proceeds for the balance of October and until the fires subside.

Participating in the launch of this effort is the Marie Johnston Wines of Carmel, California and The Wine Spies, LLC, which has offices throughout California, including in Los Angeles.

Marie Johnston Winery owner Marie Johnston Wines says, “We are proud to be helping our neighbors to the south by contributing money directly to the Red Cross, who is speeding relief to those displaced by the fires.”

Wine Gives Founder Jason Seeber, says, “Wine Gives is bringing together wineries, wine retailers and wine consumers to help raise funds in aid of efforts of The Red Cross in Southern California. Our goal is to raise $50,000 or more in the coming weeks. All wineries and wine retailers are encouraged to join us.”

Starting today, Wine Gives invites wine consumers to visit online retailer The Wine Spies @ www.thewinespies.com, where at least $1 per bottle will be contributed to The Red Cross. Donations could be as high as $4 per bottle.

The Wine Spies is an online retailer that features one high-quality wine each day in a quantity-limited 24-hour sale. The company has a standing corporate charter to donate funds to charitable causes across the United States. Company founder, Brandon Stauber, says, “These fires literally hit close to home for us and we are glad to be able to render what assistance we can. We are encouraging all of our wineries to join us in contributing to The Red Cross during this trying time.”

Wine industry companies interested in providing assistance may call Mr. Seeber of Wine Gives @ (707)628-1855 or at savetheworld@winegives.org

Please contact Jason Seeber if you wish to be involved in this campaign.

The Red Cross requests that those in the affected areas follow instructions from local authorities. You may also contact the Red Cross directly:

For information on how to get help can call the American Red Cross at 1-800-REDCROSS (1-800-733-2767).

For questions about how you can support the American Red Cross call 1-800-REDCROSS (1-800-733-2767) or go online to http://www.redcross.org.

Contributions to the Disaster Relief Fund may also be sent to a local American Red Cross chapter or to the American Red Cross, P O. Box 37243, Washington, DC 20013. Internet users can make secure online contributions by visiting http://www.redcross.org.

We’re looking for some cool young people from around the world to join the Grape Thinking team and become global liaisons for us. This will involve writing posts, discussing the cultural unifying power of wine, and most importantly, reviewing wines from your country or region of the world. You can write posts on Grape Thinking, put up reviews, and interact on our forum at World Cup of Wine. The perks of being on the Grape Thinking team are expense paid travels, free wine, and becoming part of a team that wants to help bring the world together. Ruarri has been doing an awesome job of rep’ing South Africa and the UK. Now we’re looking for people anywhere else in the world that would like to be a part of this — France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Argentina, Chile, Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, Norway, Romania, Finland, Netherlands, Denmark, Estonia, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Belgium, Brazil, Mexico, Malaysia, Singapore, India, China, Greece, Portugal, Slovenia, Turkey, Hungary, Israel, Indonesia, Tunisia, Ukraine, Bolivia, Uruguay, Paraguay, Venezuela, Morocco, Taiwan, Puerto Rico, Peru,– just to name a few… However, the great thing about wine is that it’s in virtually every country in the world, so anyone anywhere interested, contact us.

Most of the players in the United States Rugby side probably wouldn’t know where to point if you asked them to indicate Tonga’s position on a map, and thus it must have been quite satisfying for the small island to serve a cold can of whip-ass to the world’s only remaining superpower yesterday when the shamed Eagles lost 25 points to 15. The USA’s dismal performance in the Rugby and Soccer World Cup all serve as a startling reminder of the tremendous lack of interest in world affairs on the US’s part - and that when it comes to world sport, environmental protocols and UN resolutions, the US is not a team player. Of course it is not only in sport that the US are beaten by small and obscure nations, it would seem that recently the score-board in War hasn’t been to flattering either (think Vietnam, Somalia and Iraq where most of the soldiers who have been thrown into wars there probably couldn’t have found the country they’re fighting in on a map before they were stationed there.) Perhaps the lesson in all this is that aside from at a bit of geography in high-school, it would perhaps be good foreign policy to try prime the pumps of worldly curiosity within the Nation. I dare say that there’s no better way to get to learn a little geography and some history than by drinking wine and having a love of food. Imagine people switching off the mind-dulling and hate spewing Fox News, and switching over to the Food Network for a cooking show in Tuscany, a wine tour in Syria or a cuisine pilgrimage to Morocco. Perhaps we could do away with some of the demonization of the Middle-East if we were to explore their culture. Hell, how’s this for an idea: instead of trying to destroy the rest of the world, how about enjoying it! What a crazy thing that would be, enjoy and don’t destroy. There is after all such a thing as soft-power, which is where you win wars not with bullets and rifles, but with culture and ideas.

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When I first read Tom Friedman’s ‘golden arches theory’ it just struck me how beneficial trade relationships and liberal democracy are to international relations. If two countries, no matter what their differences, are doing trade with one another, and benefiting from the relationship then there’s really a huge disincentive to go to war. We’ve already explored the fact that wine reduces your carbon footprint - but imagine a world where wine made the world more peaceful…

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