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Cost (in millions of U.S.$) of a bottle of Henri IV Dudognon Heritage Cognac Grande Champagne, the world’s most expensive Cognac. Just a little gem in observance of yesterday’s International Cognac Day. Made since 1776, this Cognac is aged in barrels for more than 100 years and packaged by jeweler Jose Davalos in a crystal bottle dipped in 24-karat gold and sterling platinum, then decorated with 6,500 diamonds. Weighing 17½ pounds (8kg), the gilded vessel contains 1,000ml of spirit. Its taste? Beside the point.

Washington State’s first AVA was created in the same year that Gandhi won the Academy Award for Best Picture and Meryl Streep won the Best Actress Award for Sophie’s Choice. What was that AVA?

A. Yakima Valley

B. Columbia Valley

C. Snake River Valley

D. Walla Walla Valley

The Yakima Valley, an American Viticultural Area established in 1983, was the first AVA in Washington State. It’s more than 600,000 acres in size and is located about 155 miles southeast of Seattle on the eastern side of the Cascade Mountain range. The AVA is best known for merlot, cabernet sauvignon and chardonnay and several prominent Washington vineyards are located here including Boushey, Ciel du Cheval and Olsen. The Columbia Valley AVA and the Walla Walla AVA were both created in 1984, a year after the Yakima AVA. And the Snake River AVA, created in 2007, is not in Washington. It straddles Oregon and Idaho.

Piper Heidsieck Chewing Tobacco Advertisement—1919

I’m sure the Champenoise weren’t too crazy about this… In 1919, the American Tobacco Company featured “Piper Heidsieck Chewing Tobacco,” as a way to entice people to chew more tobacco. The tobacco itself was high-quality… Continue reading

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