This one is probably a first, but one that has tremendous potential. Movie goers in Toronto now have the option to order alcoholic drinks along with the regular popcorn and soda thanks to a pilot program to see if movies and booze mix. The downtown Varsity cinema recently got a special liquor license and now serves alcohol in four of its theaters. Dubbed the VIP theaters, customers can have a drink while watching the movie although tickets to the theater carry a $5 surcharge. The theater considers the move an extension of services offered to the customers as it already had a bar in the lounge. The move was prompted, as theater officials put it “By repetitive customer demand”.
The theater isn’t worried about any drunken patrons as there is a two drink maximum currently being enforced by the servers who deliver the drinks right to the customer’s seat. Prices are kept reasonable with a bottle of wine local beer costing $4.50 while a glass of house wine will set you back $4.99 while the whole bottle is for $22.18.
Oakville, SilverCity theater, Ont. Are set to follow suit, provided their liquor licenses go through. While Ontario will be the second province where the pilot program will be launched.
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Everything has been hit in the wake of the credit crunch, from commodities to stocks everything under the sun has taken a beating. Wine is no different. Prices began to fall as things started looking bleak and according to the wine exchange Live-Ex there are no signs of things looking up this holiday season. The Live-Ex 100 index, which tracks the prices of 100 tradable fine wines, has fallen 5.5% since last November, almost a fifth since last August, ever since investors with cash opted for the money, supply outstripped demand and prices started to fall.
The worst hit, are the vintages of 2005 “the first growth” like the Chateau Lafite Rothschild which was described as an “exceptional vintage” owing to the perfect combination of rain sunshine and warmth. Some vintages have almost halved in prices seeing a steady drop in prices the Chateau La Mission Haut-Brion one such particular wine.
If the taste fine wine is what tickles you’re fancy and you never had the heart to splurge huge amounts on them now is your time to buy.
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Tis the season to be Jolly! Nothing gets you jollier faster than a few swigs of the glass. Celebrations nowadays are almost synonymous with champagne. Champagne, is categorized as a sparkling wine though not all sparkling wines are champagnes. What sets champagnes apart from other sparkling wines is that champagnes only come from the Champagne region of France. Sparkling wines however, are produced by all major wine producing nations and are known by different names, Crémant being from France if the origin is unknown.
French Champagne like all other wines comes with its own terms, which may confuse the novice. A particularly confusing term that is used with champagne is “dryness”. French champagne ranges from Extremely dry or “extra brut” to “doux” which is just an indicator of the sweetness of the wine, an “extra brut” will have no sweetness at all while a “doux” shall be extremely sweet. A general order of sweetness would be extra brut, brut, extra dry, sec, demi-sec and doux.
Many sparklers are a blend of more than one vintage, the single vintage ones are generally rarer and more expensive. Another thing to consider while purchasing a wine is the process involved in making the wine. Methode Champenoise which is an imitation of the process used in France is widely held as the only technique for complex and fine champagne.
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Gourmet wines have been around forever now, gourmet chocolates are a recent trend, but it’s the first time where a chocolate has been designed especially for wine. Brix Chocolates are manufactures of premium grade chocolates and have recently launched a new range of chocolates which are meant to be paired with wines. It is actually rather surprising that the concept hasn’t been thought of before given the popularity and the health benefits of both.
According to Brix, a lot of trial and error went into the development of the final product because during initial tests both the products were fine on their own, but did not lend themselves well to pairings. Therefore the company has developed a blended range because it says that one product could not go with all wines. The pairings based on coca content are given below:
Milk chocolate is designed for lighter reds and dessert wines, while the chocolate itself is described as creamy and spicy.Dark chocolate is the most versatile of the lot with an option of pairing it with the lighter cabs or the heavier pinots.
Extra dark is designed for the deepest of the reds with a high coca content do stand up to the massive tannins found in these wines.
All the wines come with suggestive pairings on their covers.
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With the worst economic downturn in recent times, even winemakers are feeling the thirst, weak sales and what looks to be a gloomy holiday season, winemakers like the rest of the corporate world are looking towards new and innovative ways to cut costs an increase their profits.
At the recently concluded two-yearly Vinitech trade fair, France’s biggest wine industry equipment event, underlined how the industry was racing to cut costs and innovate. From using oak chips instead of traditional barrels to soil turners which turn the soil burying weeds eliminating the need for traditional weed killers. Another area which received a lot of focus was the use of commercial yeasts to speed up the fermentation process essentially putting the wine on the market sooner than traditional methods.
However on the other end of the market winemakers are pushing luxury and exclusivity in order to boost sales like come barrels made from a specially fine grained wood, bound with orange leather, and decorated with a Swarovski crystal, the barrels come at 1,150 euros, more than double a normal barrel.
About 40,000 people attended the show, according to the organizers.
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