These days it is almost impossible to say anything moderately optimistic about climate change. But geographers, archaeologists, historians, agronomists and biologists can show some positive effects, because they allow for the immense creativity and resilience of human societies, and of living things in general, as demonstrated throughout the ages and across the great variety of different habitats on the planet. One of those positive effects could be the evolution of wine.

Bianca Grohmann, Concordia University Do you often wander the aisles of a wine shop, trying to figure out which wine to buy? To help choose a bottle, you may turn to a wine expert. No shame in that: many consumers who do not consider themselves wine connoisseurs seek out the opinion of wine experts. But…

When you take a sip of wine at a family meal or celebration, what do you notice?

Grape growers have to take a medium to long term perspective to farming, weighing up forecasts about climate change and market trends a decade or more in advance.

Thomas C. Erren, University of Cologne; Philip Lewis, University of Cologne, and Ursula Wild, University of Cologne Christmas and New Year are holidays with dietary excesses that many of us cannot control. This often leads to the “festive bulge”. As the holidays approach, could there be a recipe to contain this weight gain and pave…

Gemma Ware, The Conversation and Daniel Merino, The Conversation The amount of alcohol young people drink in many high-income countries has seen a marked decline since the early 2000s. But in many developing countries, the opposite is happening. In this episode of The Conversation Weekly podcast, we talk to three experts studying trends in young…

Kim M Caudwell, Charles Darwin University You’re catching up with a few friends before you go out. Everyone’s having a drink, listening to some tunes, and the mood is good. A ride share is pulling up in the driveway – everyone quickly finishes their drinks and piles into the car, headed to a gig where…

Joonas Rokka, EM Lyon What made a simple wine grown in a fairly mediocre wine-growing region one of the most prominent and enchanting icons in the world today? How did champagne, against all expectations, acquire such a prestige, becoming the ultimate sign of celebrations world-wide? No wedding, business deal, sporting event or art exhibition would…

Nial Wheate, University of Sydney and Jessica Pace, University of Sydney A glass or two of champagne with Christmas lunch. A cool crisp beer at the beach. Some cheeky cocktails with friends to see in the New Year. There seem to be so many occasions to unwind with an alcoholic drink this summer. But if…

Lindsay Jaacks, The University of Edinburgh This holiday season, as COVID restrictions have eased around the world, we have the chance to break bread together again with friends and family. For some people, however, the festive period comes with anxiety about gaining weight. Popular media articles often cite a study of 195 adults published more…