- Observing the evolution of the theory of evolution
- Via Marginal Revolution, a video on wine and cereal pairings. I can't quite decide whether to be intrigued or absolutely mortified, or whether to simply laugh it off given that all food and wine pairings are allegedly a scam, anyway
- Sub-Saharan African states are falling behind other regions in terms of competitiveness. While there have been some improvements in the past year (with Uganda registering as most improved), sub-Saharan states as a whole have slipped down the global rankings since they were first listed in 2000
- Freakanomics has a great piece on African entrepreneurship, which highlights the creative ingenuity present across the continent
- Bilateral relations between China and Cuba are at their best time in history, according to Chinese top legislator Wu Bangguo. Oh, and the U.N. has declared Castro a "World Hero of Solidarity." Makes you stop and think, doesn' it?
- Think your DSL is faster than a pigeon? Think again
- On this September 11, 2009 please take a moment to remember all those who sacrificed their lives eight years ago today. We will never forget
Chinese origins of the Napa wine industry
Long before the vineyards of California's wine country were tended to by Spanish-speaking farmhands, they were filled with Chinese workers. Napa evidently even had its own Chinatown at one point:
Old newspaper articles and other 19th-century accounts show hundreds of Chinese workers in both Napa and Sonoma counties.Many were farmers who brought their agricultural skills to the industry, helping establish vines and working in cellars. "There's more to this story. There's this whole human side of how the valley was developed," says Fong, who has researched the region's history.A 1967 paper by a Napa school official on file at the Napa County Historical Society records that when rains turned the 1887 grape harvest into a muddy mess, keeping wagons out, Chinese workers waded in barefoot and hauled out the grapes.But 19th-century Chinese in California faced fierce discrimination, including laws banning them from owning property and campaigns urging farmers not to hire them. In 1882, Congress passed an immigration ban on Chinese. Populations dwindled and rural Chinatowns disappeared as workers headed to cities.
A curious tidbit to showcase at your next tasting excursion, and an interesting history to ponder the next time you take a sip of a brilliant Napa Valley wine (may I suggest the Joseph Phelps Insignia Napa Valley 2002. Simply amazing).
[HT: Vinography]
Chinese vino on the horizon
In an earlier post I speculated about the emergence of a booming Chinese wine market. An article a this month's Men's Vogue seemingly confirms these musings. Indeed,
a new crop of wineries, many of them joint ventures with Western capitalists, are now busy scouring the country's 3.7 million square miles for those elusive terroirs….
The tasting notes for the new Chinese wines remain somewhat muddled, most likely because the wines are still bizarre to Western palates. Irrespective, it appears that China is flexing its muscles in more than just international politics.
China’s newfound love of wine
There has been much debate over whether the Olympics will change China. As it stands the debate is far from over; indeed it has only begun. Inevitably, though, the Chinese are becoming a force in the international arena even, it seems, when it comes to wine. In Friday's Slate Mike Steinberger writes:
the balance of wine-buying power is already shifting eastward: Chinese collectors have furiously sought out one first-growth Bordeaux, Château Lafite; and Hong Kong, which recently lifted all duties on wine, is now poised to rival London and New York as a hub of the global wine trade
Moreover:
The country's wine consumption jumped more than 50 percent during the first half of this decade and is on course to increase another 70 percent during the second half. These numbers have caught the eye of all sorts of Western wine luminaries, who have begun to take China very seriously
Is a "Made in China" wine label on the horizon?