​Winemakers should be warned that this summer much of the rose that they produce could wind up mixed with slushy ice t0 become something called a Frose by the trendies who have been drinking it by the barrel overseas.
According to Drinks Business the sales of rose by one of the major British  retailers have risen by a whopping 104 percent on the back of the latest craze which is believed to have originated in New York.
To make it, rosé is frozen for seven hours with lemon juice and sugar then blended into a boozy, rose-hued Slush Puppie and garnished with mint.
New York hotspot Primi, which claims to have created the drink, goes even further, including vermouth and pureed strawberries In the mix.
Hot off the press: Rosé is now the most popular wine style in the UK ahead of Prosecco.
 

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Crossroads Estate -- the winery and the vineyards in Hawke's Bay -- is to be sold.
According to a preliminary notice from Bayleys Real Estate, Yealand Estate Wines, the owner, plans to broaden its Hawke´s Bay growers' base and move all operations to Marlborough an attempt to expand the global growth of the Crossroads brand.
The Spanish style winery and cellar door sits on the 11ha home block vineyard near Napier, there are three separate blocks totalling 11.8ha on the Gimblett Gravels and 59ha  on Kereru Road.  An additional 4ha leased vineyard on Omahu Road is also available.
Plantings include all of the varieties for which Hawke's Bay is best known as well as the mystery ingredients for Talisman, the mystery blended red which remains the flagship of the Crossroads fleet.

Just a few from a new collection of shirts being designed and manufactured in the US of A  by SunFrog Shirts
for winelovers and wine drinkers;  for anyone short of a summer shirt that will get them noticed..The one at the far right just about covers it for me.

With a Pope like the latest in the line it is not surprising  the Vatican City consumes more wine per head of population than any other country in the world.
Earlier this month the Argentinian-born Pontif indicated his own  liking for the stuff when he told a crowd of thousands in his weekly public address:  “Wine expresses the abundance of the banquet and the joy of the feast. Imagine finishing the wedding feast drinking tea, it would be an embarrassment
“How is it possible to celebrate the wedding and have a party if you lack what the prophets indicated was a typical element of the messianic banquet? Wine is necessary for the feast.”
Just as Argentinian wine appears to be a necessary element of the Papal mass. Pope Francis has so far used wines from seven different regions of his country.

Poduced by Spiteful Brewing in Chicago, Dumb Donald beer has a charicature of the man himself on the label   as well an an explanation of the maker's distaste for the billionaire politician:
“Dumb Donald is, well, dumb. So dumb in fact, we named a beer after him. It’s like he got caught in a pause halfway through evolution. His brain still functions, at a minimal level with a vocabulary of a second grade student. You might even start to feel sorry for this man-child. Resist that urge, pop open this (beer) and pretend you’re on a far away island where people like Dumb Donald simply don’t exist.”
The first beer to be named in the range was a 4.5% Short-Fingered Stout, which is described as “a bitter and delusional stout with an airy, light-colored head atop a so-so body.

So it's not just me who feels a little happier with  a bit of alcohol coursing through my veins. 
I really needed to know that.
And now,,thanks to a bunch of researchers at the University of Kent I
/we do..
Using an app developed in order to better understand human wellbeing, they asked users to report on who they were with and what they were doing when recording their happiness score.
After analysing more than two million responses over three years they they have determined (surprise, surprise) that when users were drinking, their happiness levels increased by 10.79 points.
However, the researchers, being researchers, have decided after taking into account that drinking often takes place with other pleasurable activities, the figure is probably closer to four points for both men and women.
What it adds up to then is what most of us already know: Alcohol can help ease the pain of unpleasant activities, and make pleasurable activities even more pleasurable.
It can, as the researchers are bound to point out, also be harmful to our health and does not make users happier in the long term..
​A finding, I'm sure, that most will continue to ignore. 

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 Harold Schlumberg is an inspiration to me and to senior citizens like me, who are constantly being asked what we do in our retirement.
Says  Harold:. "Well, I'm fortunate to have a chemical engineering background and one of the things I enjoy doing most is converting beer, wine and whisky into urine . It's rewarding, upllfting, satisfying and fulfilling. I do it every day and I really enjoy it.".