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The percentage of land in France still covered by nationally owned oak forests – some 35 million acres. The forests are preserved and painstakingly managed by the Office National des Forêts and show no signs of declining – nor does the price of a French oak barrel.

The word “BIN” in a wine name—as in Penfolds BIN 707—is the winemaker’s shorthand for “Bottle It Now.”

Answer: False.

The word BIN in a wine name (famously used on so many Penfolds’ wines), stands for “Batch Identification Number” and is a way that Penfolds winemakers keep track of winemaking trials. Penfolds in particular has dozens of wines named Bin This or That. There’s Bin 95 (Grange), Bin 28 (Kalimna Shiraz), Bin 389 (a Cabernet Shiraz Blend) ), Bin 707 (an expensive Cabernet), and scores of other “Bins!” Bin 707 by the way was named after the 707 aircraft on the occassion of Boeing’s 100^th anniversary.

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If there’s a lesson to be learned from Provence in matching wine and food, it’s the amazing ability of snappy rosés to make just about any Mediterranean dish taste even better. In particular, Provençal rosés are delicious… Continue reading

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