expire-images:2008-10-23

French Champagne House Spotted Checking Out English Vineyards

Filed under: Wine

I'm fascinated by what I am terming the "Champagne scramble" as the various Champagne producers confront a world in which the growing need for Champagne is compromised by both the limits of the region and the specter of global warming. The latest move in the battle comes from Champagne house Louis Roederer , the maker of Cristal one of the most recognizable brands, they are now looking at vineyards in Kent and Sussex. This could lead to the company producing English sparkling wine.

Over the last few years southern England has begun to get attention for sparkling wine production. The chalky soil is similar to that in the Champagne region and global warming has created a more hospitable growing climate. For the Champagne houses the lure of English land is also partly the price. Decanter reports that a 50 acre block for planting vines might cost between £8,000-£10,000 per acre in England while an acre of vineyard in Champagne would cost around £300,000. That's quite a lot to pay for a name. The hard part is convincing the world just how good English sparkling wine is. Having a major Champagne house invest in the region would certainly go a long way toward doing that.

In the short run however there is nothing to worry about in the region, this year's harvest in Champagne is set to achieve recordbreaking production.

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Tags: champagne, cristal, england, expire-images:2008-10-23, roderer, sparkling wine

Red Sox Fans Paying Less For Series Seats

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Sports

The Red Sox may be back in the World Series but Boston fans are slightly less crazed than they were in 2004 when the Red Sox won the Series back in 2004. Ticket resellers in Boston say that their prices are down 20 to 40 percent compared with 2004. Jim Holzman, the owner of Boston-based AceTicket.com told the Boston Globe that a bleacher seat that the Red Sox sold for $75, which went for $1,200 in 2004 is now priced at $850 on his website. StubHub, the ticket business owned by eBay reports that the average price of their tickets is down about $300 to $1,465. The average price for tickets to the games at Coors Field in Denver is $781. The Rockies ticket website crashed after the team tried to sell 20,000 tickets for each game scheduled at Coors Field.

There are the dedicated fans willing to pay in the thousands for the right seat. One fan paid over $21,500 for two box seats behind home plate at Fenway. Now that's a fan.

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Tags: colorado rockies, expire-images:2008-10-23, fenway park, red sox, sports, world series