Ozen, the Maldives: The difference a good glass of wine makes
How else do you improve upon heaven, wonders David Ellis Source link
All posts tagged: champagne
Why it no longer pays to be a champagne snob – and what to drink instead
Sign up to IndyEat’s free newsletter for weekly recipes, foodie features and cookbook releases Get our food and drink newsletter for free Get our food and drink newsletter for free A row has broken out in Champagne. Not the fun kind that ends with popping corks, sabres and bad dancing, but a rather tone-deaf dispute between the rich, and the even richer, about money, class and who gets to drink what. This week, the chief executive of Lanson Bruno Paillard (worth €100m) accused Bernaud Arnault (worth €150bn), founder of LVMH – the luxury goods group behind Moët & Chandon and Dom Pérignon – of driving up grape prices to such an extent that “ordinary families” are being priced out of champagne altogether. Shipments from the region have already fallen sharply – by 99 million bottles in four years – and producers are increasingly anxious about who, exactly, their wine is now for. It is a question which, in Britain – champagne’s second-largest export market – comes about a decade too late. We have been drinking …
French far right’s success in Champagne buoys presidential dream – POLITICO
Historically, the complex dynamic of ad hoc, last-minute alliances that shape local elections in France’s two-round system has worked against the National Rally, with the far right accusing the rest of the political class of conspiring to keep it out of power. But its leaders now hope they can break that glass ceiling ahead of next year’s presidential race. During his speech at the rally, Bardella’s message to France’s conservative party was simple: “Join us,” he said. “We are facing a wall that is being built against us,” Jacobelli told POLITICO on the sidelines of the rally. “It is not a glass ceiling, it is a reflex of self-preservation” from other parties. The first round of local elections on Sunday delivered mixed results for the poll-topping, far-right party, highlighting how a decisive breakthrough still eludes Marine Le Pen, Jordan Bardella and their allies in France’s biggest cities. | Marion Solletty/POLITICO During Bardella’s speech, a small group overcome by enthusiasm chanted “Jor-dan president, Jor-dan president” — forgetting for the moment that Marine Le Pen, who had …
Champagne, tears and bizarre riders: Behind the scenes of the UK’s biggest chat shows
Get the latest entertainment news, reviews and star-studded interviews with our Independent Culture email Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter The television landscape has been constantly evolving over the past few decades, but there’s always been one glittering constant: the great British chat show. Whether it’s Michael Parkinson in tears of laughter with Billy Connolly in the Seventies, or Taylor Swift recently inviting Graham Norton to her wedding on-air, the light entertainment format has generated TV gold for years – with hosts charming audiences by coaxing out candid celebrity anecdotes and sparking viral moments. Behind the curtain however, there are countless producers and crew members working to make it all look effortless. “It’s the swan with its flapping legs under the water,” former Alan Carr: Chatty Man exec producer Richard Ackerman, who has worked in TV for three decades, tells me. open image in gallery The Claudia Winkleman Show begins on Friday (13 March) (BBC) “What looks like a conversation between …
Albanian criminal throws champagne party in London to celebrate dodging deportation
Dorian Puka, 29, who has served two prison sentences for burglary and been removed from the country twice before smuggling himself back in, commemorated the milestone with a lavish bash at a London nightclub, complete with burlesque performers and expensive champagne. Source link
‘Don’t pop champagne’ warning as trusts’ fortunes improve
A two-year run of cash-strapped academy trusts eating into their reserves has come to an end, with the largest MATs recording gains of over £1 million. But the Kreston group, a network of accountancy firms, has warned leaders not to “pop the champagne”, as most trusts expect to dip into their saving by as much as 43 per cent by 2028. It comes after a Schools Week investigation last month revealed more trusts bolstered their reserves last year – with one registering a 900 per cent boost. Here’s what you need from Kreston’s academies benchmark report for 2026 know… 1. Reserves boost Only 37 per cent of trusts returned an in-year deficits in 2024-25, down from 60 per cent 12 months earlier. The biggest MATs recorded in-year surpluses of £1.1 million on average. The figure stood at £28,000 the year before. This comes after Kreston had seen “an ever-greater proportion” of academy chains dipping into reserves in 2023 and 2024. The study – which involved 250 trusts running almost 2,500 schools – attributed …
Trump threatens Macron with Champagne tariffs after refusal to join Gaza peace board
President Trump on Monday threatened to raise Champagne tariffs if French President Emmanuel Macron denies a seat on the White House Board of Peace, tasked with overseeing the 20-point peace plan in Gaza. “I’ll put a 200 percent tariff on his wines and Champagnes and he’ll join. But he doesn’t have to join,” Trump told… Source link
Swiss bar fire started by sparklers on champagne bottles, officials say
Fire rapidly engulfed the Constellation bar at the Crans-Montana resort, triggering at least one explosion, officials said. Forty people are dead and many more injured. Source link