Best summer wines for the loaded by Jonathan Ray

Link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/foodanddrinkpicturegalleries/5577717/Best-summer-wines-for-the-loaded-by-Jonathan-Ray.html

Frank Phélan, France £19.95

Link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/foodanddrinkpicturegalleries/5577717/Best-summer-wines-for-the-loaded-by-Jonathan-Ray.html?image=1

Hamilton Russell Pinot Noir, South Africa £25.99

Link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/foodanddrinkpicturegalleries/5577717/Best-summer-wines-for-the-loaded-by-Jonathan-Ray.html?image=2

Le Vieux Donjon, Châteauneuf du-Pape Blanc, France £23.95

Link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/foodanddrinkpicturegalleries/5577717/Best-summer-wines-for-the-loaded-by-Jonathan-Ray.html?image=3

Bollinger Rosé Brut NV, France £55

Link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/foodanddrinkpicturegalleries/5577717/Best-summer-wines-for-the-loaded-by-Jonathan-Ray.html?image=4

Nicolas Feuillatte NV, France £15.99

Link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/foodanddrinkpicturegalleries/5577717/Best-summer-wines-for-the-loaded-by-Jonathan-Ray.html?image=5

Laurent Miquel 'Vérité’ Viognier 2007, £13.99

Link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/foodanddrinkpicturegalleries/5577717/Best-summer-wines-for-the-loaded-by-Jonathan-Ray.html?image=6

Château Grand Barrail Lamarzelle Figeac, France £18.99

Link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/foodanddrinkpicturegalleries/5577717/Best-summer-wines-for-the-loaded-by-Jonathan-Ray.html?image=7

Querciabella Chianti Classico, Italy £16.99

Link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/foodanddrinkpicturegalleries/5577717/Best-summer-wines-for-the-loaded-by-Jonathan-Ray.html?image=8

Seresin Estate Gewürztraminer, New Zealand £17.60

Link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/foodanddrinkpicturegalleries/5577717/Best-summer-wines-for-the-loaded-by-Jonathan-Ray.html?image=9

Bylines Chardonnay, Australia £17.95

Apricot alcohol, anyone?

Link: http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2009/7/5/lifeliving/3931650&sec=lifeliving
By SANDRA LOW
A 95-year-old Japanese beverage maker attributes its success to a humble fruit drink that is not only versatile, but also packed with health benefits.

Choya uses a unique cylindrical bottle for its umeshu liqueurs.
THE next time you are feeling tired, experiencing some digestive problems or losing your appetite, it may do you some good to head over to a Japanese sundry shop to look out for a clear cylindrical bottle of Choya umeshu, that contains a couple of round ume fruits (a kind of Japanese apricot) at the bottom of the bottle.

Japan is the home of umeshu (pronounced wu-meh-shoo), a light ume fruit liqueur, which is truly an authentic Japanese tipple.

Choya is 100% made from Japanese premium ume. In fact, you can add confusion to your list of maladies when you’re picking up a bottle of Choya as this popular Japanese brand has an assortment of umeshu to choose from.

“Ume fruit is abundant in citric acid that stimulates appetite and helps you to recover from fatigue. It also stimulates the production of stomach acid and activates the digestion cycle. Citric acid is believed to prevent the growth of fungus and it helps reduce bacteria,” says Minoru Takahashi, a Choya executive in charge of sales in the Asia and Pacific region, in an email interview from Osaka, Japan.

He points out that the seed of the ume fruit contains benzaldehyde and it produces a gorgeous aroma when it is extracted into umeshu, which is believed to have a relaxing effect.

Ume is about the most misunderstood fruit and it is often mistaken for a prune (a preserved plum) - and this might have to do with its scientific name of Prunus mume.

Takahashi explains that ume is classified in the family of Rosaceae Prunus together with peach and cherry. To narrow it further – ume, plum and apricot are in the same sub-grouping of Subgenus Prunus.

“Although ume is often translated as plum in English, it is actually closer to apricot,” he clarifies.

Takahashi pointed out that there are nearly 1,600 kinds of ume trees.

He adds, “These are classified into two groups; Miume for edible use and Hanaume for ornamental purposes. Gojiro-ume, Sirakaga-ume and Nanko-ume are said to be suitable kinds for making umeshu, with Nanko-ume being regarded as the most premium ume among them, and this is the ume that is used by Choya.”

The ume tree is found in East Asia where there is a rainy season in June called Tsuyu (Meiyu in chinese) when it ripens, and it is said that the ume originates from China, and was brought to Japan in the Nara period (A.D. 710 – 784) or before as a medicated food, and then cultivated for various purposes.

Takahashi says that in China, the smoked ume fruits called “Wumei” are used for medicinal purposes, and its beneficial effects are described in the ancient pharmaceutical tome, Shinnouhonzoukyou, that was written more than 2,000 years ago.

Unlike most fruits, the ume fruit cannot be consumed fresh and needs to be processed.

The different types of Japanese alcoholic beverages are sake which uses a fermentation process (similar to wine and beer), shochu which uses a distillation process (like vodka, whisky and brandy); and umeshu which uses an extraction process which produces fruit liqueurs and absinthes.

According to Takahashi there are approximately 300 companies in Japan that produce umeshu and he claims that Choya is the first company that commercialised umeshu in the world and has more than 30% share of the umeshu market in Japan.

Choya Umeshu Co. Limited, was founded by the Kondo family in 1962 and it is headed by Shigehiro Kondo, chief executive officer. The Kondo family started cultivating grapes in 1914 and they started producing and selling umeshu in 1959.

Today, they export to more than 60 countries and they have opened branches in Germany, Shanghai and the US.

Besides umeshu, the company produces fruit liqueur, brandy, sake, wine, foods and beverages.

Takahashi pointed out that the name of the company, Choya, was derived from the combination of “Cho” which means butterfly and “Ya” which means arrowhead.

He elaborates that the foot of the mountain ranges of southern Kawachi (now part of modern-day Osaka Prefecture where the Choya company is established) area and Ikoma area form the habitat of butterflies, including the tiger patterned Luefdorfia Japonica Leech.

Also, many stones and iron arrowheads from the ancient cultures that thrived there during Japan’s stone Age and Burial Mound Age have been unearthed there.

“To keep the life of the company in tune with the life of this area, the two words ‘butterfly’ and ‘arrowhead’ are put together to reflect typical features of the area, forming the company name,” Takahashi explains.

According to Takahashi, since China is the country where ume originally comes from, there was already a market where people accepted the taste of ume.

He adds, “In order to accomplish a reasonable price point, we set up a factory in Shanghai in 1997. Whereas in Germany, where our turnover is the biggest, our brand had already made headway earlier as the Germans basically enjoyed sweet wine and Choya was accepted as a wine rather than as a liqueur.”

Takahashi revealed that after Germany, the other big markets for them include Taiwan and Russia, and he adds, “The import volume in Malaysia has also increased recently with the Japanese food boom.”

“Since umeshu has been enjoyed in Japan for a long time, the biggest turnover is off-trade markets like supermarkets, convenience stores, and liquor shops. However, umeshu is often listed in the menu at restaurants, izakayas and bars as well, and of late, we are seeing some umeshu bars with the recent umeshu boom,” he explains.

With the ume fruit believed to have a lot of benefits for health, Takahashi concludes by saying, “Our policy is that we place a great emphasis on the quality of both this precious ingredient and the process of manufacturing without using any artificial ingredients like preservatives, flavour, coloring and sour agent.”

Sour beer? Pucker up

Link: http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-sourbeer1-2009jul01,0,1246446.story
By Joshua Lurie
Lovers of the tart stuff are lining up as its availability increases, including at upcoming local festivals.

http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-sourbeer1-2009jul01,0,1246446.story
A bartender pulls on the beer tap handle, and a rosy liquid streams into a waiting glass. Take a sniff and it smells like a barnyard. The bartender assures you that it tastes a lot better than it smells. So you take a sip. It's tart enough to make your lips pucker, but you can't wait to take another sip. This is Chez Monmee, a tart cherry ale from Alpine Beer Co. that's part of a new wave of refreshing American sour beers.

Ten years ago, domestic sours were nearly nonexistent. Now a band of American brewers, including several in Southern California, is drawing on Belgian traditions to produce distinctly sour lambics, gueuzes, krieks and Flanders-style red ales. Though still relatively rare, they're showing up at some of L.A.'s better beer bars. Proprietors such as Verdugo Bar's Ryan Sweeney, the Golden State's Jason Bernstein and Blue Palms Brewhouse's Brian Lenzo are regularly stocking stateside sours.

Restaurant owner Bernstein appreciates how sour beer "allows new flavors to emerge in food that wouldn't normally be enhanced by hops. The other charming thing is that sours tend to be relatively low in alcohol" and thus sip smooth for the summer.

Patrick Rue launched the Bruery, his Belgian-style brewery in Placentia, last year, and sours have been a focus from the start. At its first-anniversary party in May, it had a four-tap sour bar, including Cuvée Jeune, a young lambic aged in Chardonnay barrels for 10 months. White Zin is a sweeter variation on Cuvée Jeune, blended with a brew made with Zinfandel grapes. Gypsy Tart was Rue's limited-edition Flanders red that was untouched by wood, and plenty sour.

"The classic beer palate is malty, sweet and bitter," says Craftsman Brewing Co.'s Mark Jilg, who began brewing sours six years ago in Pasadena. He considers sours "the final frontier of palate experience."

Jilg regularly brews a tart cherry beer called Honestly Ale, released a black sour called El Prieto in November and has several more varieties in the works.

Sour beers are only now gaining acceptance stateside, but they're hardly new. "Sour beers are our connection to the ancient history of beer," says Colby Chandler, president of the San Diego Brewers Guild. "Someone was drinking a similar beverage dating back to the 6th millennium BC."

A certain mystique

Traditional sour styles include unblended lambics that ferment in oak barrels in Belgium's Senne Valley. Brewers add fruit to develop tart framboise (raspberry) and krieks (cherry), to name just two tangy options. Gueuzes blend three consecutive lambic vintages to balance flavors, minimize astringency and create carbonation. Flanders red ales can be intensely tart.

Alex Macy, who heads the beer program at downtown's BottleRock, appreciates "the acidity, the aftertaste, and the mystique in the way it's produced. It's the romanticism of beer being brewed in an open barn with crazy wild yeast."

Macy is alluding to traditional Belgian fermentation methods. Very few American brewers take the time (and risk) to let natural bacteria take its course, but that's what brew master Ron Jeffries is doing at Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales in Dexter, Mich. America's only 100% oak-aged sour brewery uses wild yeasts that appeared in the brewery naturally and spread from barrel to barrel during transfers.

Allagash Brewing Co. has raised the stakes by installing America's only Belgian-style cool ship in its Portland, Maine, brewery. "Granted, it made no financial sense," says brew master Jason Perkins, "but we figured why not?" An unfermented grain-enriched liquid called wort is pumped into a 12-by-8-by-1-foot tray (the cool ship). Open windows cool the brew to 60 degrees and invite naturally occurring bacteria and yeasts, which spontaneously ferment the beer. The wort then enters French oak barrels, where the beer ferments for more than a year.

Sour beers provide brewers with unique challenges. "A common misconception among brewers is that all it takes is an oak barrel and a vial of bugs and you get a sour beer," says Perkins. "In reality, it takes a lot more than that." Breweries must be willing to commit the space and expense and patiently endure an unpredictable aging process.

Another major challenge is controlling the aggressive microbes. Brewers must isolate the barrels so that the bacteria don't cross-contaminate other batches. At Alpine Beer Co., a brewery east of San Diego, brew master Pat McIlhenney uses separate hoses, separate fermenter gaskets and unique bottling machines. Exposed tanks and barrels are nearly impossible to de-sour.

Microbial unpredictability is another variable. "It can be difficult to measure how well they are turning out because there is often excessive sulfur, sometimes they aren't very sour, or sometimes they become sour very quickly," says the Bruery's Rue.

"When we get it right, though, it is all worthwhile," adds Russian River brew master Vinnie Cilurzo.

Microbiology

Standard bacteria (lactobacillus, pediococcus) and wild yeasts (brettanomyces) are widely available from labs and commercial suppliers, and many brewers have developed custom microbe blends. "The art for the brewer is picking the right strains, growing them up effectively and choosing the right venue for them to be used," says Perkins.

American brewers are mindful of sour Belgian heritage but are straying from traditional oak-barrel fermentation to produce unique flavors. Cilurzo is currently aging a brown sour cherry ale called Supplication in Pinot Noir barrels and black currant-tinged Consecration in Cabernet Sauvignon barrels. Alpine's Halloween release -- Ichabod -- will be tart and lightly flavored with pumpkin, cinnamon and nutmeg.

Bourbon barrels have become increasingly popular. To be considered "straight bourbon," Kentucky distilleries can use their barrels only once. Kentucky's loss is Ballast Point's gain. For the sour version of the San Diego brewery's Black Marlin Porter, brew master Colby Chandler blends beers fermented in three different bourbon barrels to develop "layers of flavor" -- Jim Beam for vanilla, Heaven Hill for cherry and Old Fitzgerald for smokiness.

For Sour Wench, Chandler avoids barrel aging altogether but still sours the mash with a pound of tart Oregon blackberries per gallon.

Southern Californians have two upcoming opportunities to immerse themselves in sour beer culture. On July 19, Stone Brewing is hosting its third annual Sour Fest in Escondido. Newly installed beverage coordinator Bill Sysak has visited Belgium 30 times and promises the selection will be "decadent, more extreme" than previous years, with close to 50 kegs, plus plenty of bottled lambics.

Beachwood BBQ proprietor Gabriel Gordon has been hoarding kegs for more than two years for Sour Fest at his restaurant in Seal Beach. The Aug. 25-31 festival will feature 18 sours on tap at any given time, including Russian River Consecration and the Bruery's sours, plus nightly brewery events.

"I've seen the evolution of beer drinkers in general," says Alpine's McIlhenney, "how Sierra Nevada pale ale used to be, 'Whoa, oh, my God, too strong flavored.' Eventually it became a fairly accepted beer. . . . Sour beers are the next step."

Fancy Drinking From a Gold Beer Mug

Link: http://english.ntdtv.com/ntdtv_en/ns_life/2009-06-17/342879415576.html
Would an ice-cold beer on a hot summer's day taste any better in a $50,000 dollar gold mug? Well, one Japanese gold manufacturer thought so, and has unveiled a beer mug made of 850 grams of gold. Let's take a look.
This golden beer mug is the centerpiece of Japanese gold manufacturer Ginza Tanaka's latest collection entitled "Summer Cool". It’s made up of items that are commonly believed by Japanese to help alleviate the heat of the hot and muggy summer days.

Ginza Tanaka says drinking in a goblet as expensive as a luxury car is the ultimate cool experience.

A staff member at the newly opened store where the display took place, noticed the difference as she drank beer from the not so regular mug.

[Aya Yanagi, Ginza Tanaka]:
"It's, of course, tasty drinking beer from a normal glass, but it was a new experience to drink from a golden mug and was really quite tasty."

If beer is not your cup of tea, they also sell gold wine glasses at a more affordable $30 U.S. dollars a gram.

Maybe you’re more inclined to relax and enjoy the summer breeze, well you could buy gold wind chimes or even a golden fan to sit back and take in a golden moment.

Seven of the World’s Most Expensive Bottles of Alcohol

$1,060,000 - Diva Vodka



This bottle of vodka hails from Scotland and its price is the result of how much “bling” you want your bottle to have. The bottle can be encrusted with precious gems: diamonds, rubies, sapphires, etc. Blackwood Distillers makes this triple distilled vodka that is ice-filtered through Nordic birch charcoal and then for some reason is passed through a sand of crushed diamonds and other gems.

$255,000 - Spluch Tequila



The bottle is made of solid platinum and white gold which was unveiled in Mexico City on October 26, 2006. The bottle was purchased by a private collector on July 20, 2006. As a result of the sale, the Tequila Ley .925 company broke the Guinness World Records for the most expensive bottle of liquor sold.

$160,000 - Chateau Lafite 1787



This bottle originally purchased from France by Thomas Jefferson, who was an avid wine collector.
This bottle is a Bordeaux and was sold at an auction in 1985 to Christopher Forbes. Much of the value comes from the fact that Thomas Jefferson once owned this bottle — his initials are etched into it.

$90,000 - Chateau d’Yquem 1787



This bottle is a white and was sold recently (2006) to an “American Client”. This wine is from the same year as the most expensive red ever sold (the Chateau Lafite above).
“One must remember that there is considerable nostalgia associated with such a bottle. In 1787 when peasants in Bordeaux were picking these grapes George Washington became the first President of the United States, Marie Antoinette was about to have her head chopped off in the French Revolution, and James Watt was developing the steam engine.” (Antique Wine News)

$75,000 - The Macallan Fine and Rare Collection, 1926,



62 Years OldOriginally listed at $38,000, a bottle was sold to a South Korean businessman in 2005 for $75,000.
The oldest and most sought-after of Macallan’s revolutionary Fine & Rare Collection is now sold out. It is still possible to taste this totally unique Scotch whisky at the Old Homestead Steakhouse in the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City, N.J. However, it sells for a nosebleed-inducing $3,300 per dram (1/8th of an ounce/shot).

$51,000 - Wray and Nephew Jamaican Rum (1940)



The bottle shown above, bottled in the 1940s by the Jamaican distillers Wray and Nephew, and containing blends that date back as far as around 1915 has the honor of being what is believed to be the world’s most expensive bottle of rum. The bottle which is being displayed at Europe’s first rum festival, RumFest, is valued at £26,000. The bottle, which is one of four unopened bottles of the stuff in the world, represents the lost tradition of the Wray and Nephew Rum. The popularity of the Mai Tai cocktail drained their rum supplies in the 1930s. In order to keep up with demand, the distillery changed their production methods. The bottle therefore represents the chance to the Mai Tai as it was originally conceived. That is, if anyone ever opens the bottle.

$43,500 - 1775 Sherry from the Massandra collection



This bottle sold at Sotheby’s London (an auction house) in 2001. The Massandra collection is one of the finest in the world and has been around since the mid 19th century. There is nothing special about this particular wine other than its age. It is also pre American revolution.

United Spirits launches Four Seasons varietal wines in India

Link:http://www.fnbnews.com/article/detnews.asp?articleid=25585§ionid=1

Four Seasons Wines Ltd (FSWL), a subsidiary of United Spirits Ltd (USL), part of the UB Group, has launched a collection of Four Seasons Varietal wines across the country. Four Seasons wines are made at Baramati in Satara district of Maharashtra.

The new range will offer best Indian wines in five wine varietals - Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc and Blush. According to the company, grapes are carefully selected from grape growers of the surrounding Baramati region and A Kewadkar, director (FSWL) and reputed winemaker will take care of every facet of wine production.

Further, the company also claims that the Four Seasons wines have been tasted and lauded by world renowned wine experts like Steven Spurrier (wine expert & consultant editor of Decanter Magazine), Jacques Puisais (French wine expert & author, V P & Co-Founder - The Institute of Taste, France) and Bruno Li Paumard (French wine expert & master Sommelier). In India, the Four Seasons wine range is priced at around Rs 450-500.

Further, the Four Seasons wines will leverage the distribution strength of USL and are now available across wine retail outlets, restaurants and lounges in all metros and mini-metros in India.

Settler vineyards take root in West Bank

Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8101110.stm
Tim Franks
The climate is perfect, the soil just right, the grapes just so. But the occupied West Bank is not obvious wine country.

An ancient wine press in a cave near the Israeli settlement of Psagot
The growing number of vineyards are punctuated by checkpoints and watchtowers, as well as Palestinian towns and Israeli settlements.

This is land which Israel conquered 42 years ago. But the Jews who have settled the West Bank will tell you their roots in this land lie much deeper.

An ancient wine press in a cave near the Israeli settlement of Psagot
Yaakov Berg, a fresh-faced wine enthusiast in his 30s, lives in a small shack in the hilltop settlement of Psagot, which abuts the Palestinian city of Ramallah.

In a nearby cave is what Mr Berg proudly says is a 2,000-year-old wine press, proof of the Jews' ancient presence here.

He dances a little jig on the old round stone, to demonstrate how the grapes were once crushed. A short drive away lies his own winery. Opened only a few weeks ago, it is the swankiest in the West Bank.

"The wine is the main thing," he said, amid a tower of oak barrels. "But also we think it's very important to explain to people: listen, we are here, back. And part of that is that we work the land again."

An ancient wine press in a cave near the Israeli settlement of Psagot
Grand plans

Settlement of occupied territory is illegal under international law.

But the Settlers' Council has grand plans for the Psagot winery. The Council is talking about building as many as 20 holiday homes around the winery.

Wine-making, the Council's General Secretary, Pinchas Wallerstein, says, "is some kind of new development... a new way to settle people in the area, even more permanently than mobile houses".

Those mobile houses are sprinkled throughout the West Bank. Many of them are at what the Israelis call outposts - smaller, newer settlements that are unauthorised by the government.

One of the outposts, Rehelim, is home to another boutique winery.

Erez Ben Saadon labels and stories his Tura wine in a small, strip-lit concrete shed.

Erez Ben Saadon inside his winery on the outpost of Rehelim
His vineyards lie in majestic undulating sweeps at a settlement nearby.

Passionate about his job, he kisses the budding grapes in an emotional flourish. And his passion extends to his view of US President Barack Obama's demand that settlement activity stop.

"We're a democratic state," he says. "The only democratic state in the Middle East. And I think the most un-democratic thing happening today is the American administration trying to force us into doing things that go against our own election results."

Unpalatable blend

A couple of hours drive away, the salons of Tel Aviv are a world apart, the traditional home of Israel's trendy lefties.

But on a swish roof terrace, at an evening tasting for Erez Ben Saadon's wine, the praise gushes.

Experts say consumers do care whether their wine comes from the West Bank
"The Merlot is excellent," says Shai Segev, wine critic for the Yediot Ahranot newspaper.

Mr Segev says its provenance is unimportant as "wine and politics don't mix".

But Israel's leading wine critic, Daniel Rogov, says there are domestic and overseas consumers who "simply won't" buy the wine because it comes from the occupied West Bank.

In contrast, he says, there are others who lean more towards the "right-wing, Orthodox Jewish side, who will hunt out these wines precisely because they come from there".

Mr Rogov describes himself as a "peacenik". He refuses to travel to the West Bank, but will review its wine, if it is brought to him inside Israel. Year on year, he says, the wine from the occupied territories is not just increasing in quality, but quantity.

Vine settlement

Shai Segev, wine critic
The scale of the project is evident as you drive around the West Bank past hill-sides marked with newly cleared swathes of land. By the settlement of Har Beracha, 10 hectares are due to be planted with vineyards within the next two months.

As Shivi Dror, another West Bank winemaker, put it: "When we take over 100 dunams (10 hectares) of land with a single vineyard, it's the same amount of land that 200 houses would cover."

But the neighbouring Palestinian villages say some of the vineyards are being planted on land that is theirs, not just in the sense that it should be part of a Palestinian state, but because they privately own it.

Disputed land

Ibrahim Shabana owns a grocery store in the village of Sinjel. He says settlers are growing grapes on land which has been in his family for more than 100 years.

All that is left for him are a few, straggly vines of his own, on a small, uneven field. "I feel hopeless," he says. He says that he cannot fight the settlers, for fear of violence or arrest by the police, "while the settlers get off free".

For their part, settlers argue that claims of intimidation or theft are often made by Palestinians and seldom proven.

Vineyards by Kokhav Hashachar settlement
The Israeli human rights group Yesh Din has begun to track the spread of the vineyards. It says the settlers' insistence that they are only planting vines on state-owned land is simply not true.

On a road overlooking the West Bank vineyards close to the settlement of Shilo, the group's energetic Land Projects Coordinator, Dror Etkes, unfurls a map on the baking hot bonnet of his car.

It is, he says, just one illustration of how vineyards take over land beyond what even Israel says are the authorised boundaries of the settlements, across privately owned Palestinian land.

In a statement, the Civil Administration, the Israeli authority which oversees the West Bank, confirmed that the information on the map is correct.

Mr Etkes says that dealing with this issue should be a matter for the Israeli authorities, not the American administration.

The scene in front of us, he says, shows how the Israeli government has given a "free ticket" to Israeli settlers to "take as much land as possible in order to Judaise the maximum part of the West Bank".

President Obama has warned that the cost of the settlement enterprise is about to rise. In the meantime, the ambition and spread of the West Bank winemakers continues to grow.