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Jitters over the economic outlook for 2009 needn't mean no champagne for New Year's Eve. Value-priced Cattier has knocked an extra five bucks off its already modest (for Champagne) price...

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An Arctic outflow hit the Okanagan before Christmas... and, with temperatures plunging well into the danger zone of the -20s,  it could spell big trouble for the vines.

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Australia has been producing age-worthy and collectable fine wines since the 1950s, but there still aren't many famous names. One of the latest heavyweights to gain market traction is The Dead Arm by d'Arenberg. And - uh-oh - Vintages just bought a ton of their latest release.

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"Wine and cheese" can be as tired as sweaty cubes of orange Cracker Barrel and a B- cheapie at the late afternoon office party, or it can be a sublime contrast of superior blue cheese, dark chocolate and... icewine. And you may not have known it, but cheeses have seasons too.

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The majority of wine consumed in Canada is imported. But the old expectations of what's what from where are being undermined by the blurring of Old World and New World styles.

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A comprehensive study on the views of wine drinking Canadians in four provinces was commissioned by Wines of France - how people choose wines, how they enjoy them, and how they perceive wines from various countries. A lot of the data confirmed what you might suspect, but some surprising variations between the provinces turned up...

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It's taken a few years, but Hollywood has pulled together another wine film. Alan Rickman stars in Bottle Shock as Stephen Spurrier, the Englishman who set up the "Judgment of Paris" wine tasting in 1976.

Frothy summer fun as California takes on France... but don't expect consistency, or the whole truth. 

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Just a few years ago it was hard to find Canadian wines at top restaurants, and harder still to find high-priced ones. Today, sommeliers in the major cities are serving quality wines from Ontario and B.C. and customers are buying.

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