Some of the world's most traditional wineries can't resist a reboot.
We've explained in the past that swaths of savvy vineyards in California have embraced tech to boost yields and make better wines. That might not be surprising, given their proximity to Silicon Valley and the fact that many executives have used their tech-boom bucks to invest in Napa and Sonoma wineries.
But it's a whole other story in Europe, where centuries of tradition mean that wine is for the most part made according to good ol' fashioned approaches—especially in exclusive vineyards.
Now, Decanter magazine reports that perhaps the world's most prestigious wine-maker, Château Mouton Rothschild, is giving robots a shot. At its Château Clerc Milon estate, it's been carrying out tests with a robot called TED, pictured above, which roams around on wheels to cultivate soil and uproot weeds.
French vintners going on strike in 3, 2, 1...
(Score: 2) by takyon on Sunday December 03 2017, @02:22PM (5 children)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wine_fraud#Label_fraud [wikipedia.org]
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/25/business/in-vino-veritas-in-napa-deceit.html [nytimes.com]
http://winefolly.com/update/white-label-wines-what-wine-buyers-dont-know/ [winefolly.com]
https://munchies.vice.com/en_us/article/jpkgw8/this-documentary-reveals-how-one-wine-scammer-conned-the-entire-industry-out-of-millions [vice.com]
Never spend more than $2 to $5 a bottle.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 03 2017, @05:12PM (2 children)
There are only four things to drink in this world:
Boone's Farm (well, not anymore)
Mad Dog
Southern Comfort
Budweiser
Anything else is unAmerican!
(Score: 2) by takyon on Sunday December 03 2017, @05:25PM
You forgot the cold and refreshing Steel Reserve [newsmax.com], and other malt liquors [nytimes.com].
Steel Reserve has less than 10% of the market share of Budweiser but causes about the same amount of emergency room visits (in Baltimore).
You'll agree that Steel Reserve tastes better than Olde English and Colt 40. It comes in a can instead of a bottle, and has a nice 8.1% ABV.
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(Score: 2) by massa on Tuesday December 05 2017, @06:51PM
You do know Budweiser is property of a Brazilian company, don't you?
(Score: 2) by Aiwendil on Monday December 04 2017, @08:04AM (1 child)
Hmm, assuming that "$2 to $5 a bottle" is without tax I can think of exactly three wines worth the time to uncorking (but not worth the time to go buying unless passing by the store anyway).
Another method to avoid label fraud is to buy wines with non-standard design-features or tints of their bottles (just learn the quirks of this and last year).
Or you could buy at a place that allows a refund if you got a bad wine - this however requires that you keep a fairly decent selection at home as backup (which you should anyway).
However, I'm curious, what grapes and regions do you recommend at $2 to $5 usd per bottle? And which dryness are they at?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 04 2017, @12:46PM
Question seconded! I can find good locally produced wine for ~7$, and the bubbly I like is around 10-12, I'd love to know where and what to get for 2-5.