French Wine Militants attack Winery

A masked gang of militants claiming allegiance to the shadowy French winemaker group CRAV have attacked one of southern France's biggest wine companies, smashing windows and setting fire to offices in protest at 'cheap wine imports'.

Tensions in Languedoc-Roussillon reached a peak on the evening of 19 July when 30 militants attacked Sudvin, a subsidiary of co-operative producer and merchant Vinadeis, in Maureilhan near Béziers.

Balaclava-clad protesters wielding crowbars and what appeared to be makeshift axes stormed the offices.

While some activists were breaking windows, cabinets, furniture and computer equipment, others set fire to tires in several offices. The tanks were also targeted, but were empty. Video footage of the attack obtained by France 3 shows the attackers smashing their way into the Vinadeis offices, before vandalising rooms indiscriminately and then starting a fire that appears to quickly spread.

The attackers claimed allegiance to Languedoc-Roussillon’s Comité Régionale d’Action Viticole (CRAV), a shadowy group of winemakers that has existed for more than 50 years and intermittently used violence to pursue its goals.

Divers Find 300 Year old Cheese

A Roquefort style cheese that has been maturing on the seabed since the 17th century has been found by divers who were alerted by its pungent smell.

Divers found the shipwrecked cheese while searching the 340-year-old carcass of a Swedish warship in the Baltic Sea, off the island of Öland.

Researcher Lars Einarsson, of the Kalmar County Museum, told Swedish newspaper The Local that the cheese looked like a granular Roquefort.

Shipwrecked Champagne has previously been found in the area, which was a key trading route from Europe to Russia.

Einarsson said the shipwrecked cheese was reasonably well preserved after lying in mud on the seabed.

He said it smelled strongly of cheese and yeast, but added that he didn’t want to taste it.

Groot Constantia Reunited with Worlds Oldest Bottle of Wine

South African winery Groot Constantia has bought back one of its oldest bottles of wine still in existence, after learning about it being auctioned from a Decanter.com article. 

Records show that Groot Constantia’s Grand Constance wine was enjoyed by French emperor Napoleon during his exile on St Helena.

In a rare sale, a bottle of Grand Constance 1821 was auctioned online by Catawiki last week.

Groot Constantia entered the auction and ended up securing the winning bid, of £1,318.

Boela Gerber, winemaker at Groot Constantia, said, ‘We were not aware of the auction until we read about it on Decanter.com.’

‘We are happy to report that our bid was successful, [and] the bottle of 1821 Grand Constance is coming home.’

Fewer than 12 bottles of the 1821 Grand Constance have been preserved around the world, it is believed.

Groot Constantia is one of the oldest wine estates in South Africa, having produced wine for more than 325 years.

Napoleon and his entourage ordered 30 bottles of Grand Constance per month on St Helena, according to records.