Gotta love these. Made by French sculptor Etienne Meneau, each one can hold a full bottle of wine. Fetching up to €2,200, these brilliant works of art will not be available in your local supermarket any time soon.

Not the most practical item you could spend a few grand on, but they are a luxury commodity for those with a fat wallet. I mean, could you bring a better conversation starter to the table?

Like veins pumping blood through your body.

No, this is not a shaky shot.

My favourite - if anyone has a spare €1000 and doesn’t know what to get me for Christmas. Genuinely very classy.

Numbers are very limited. For more information and pictures, check out the strange carafes blog here.

The Hong Kong International Wine & Spirits Fair 2009 took place at the beginning of November and delivered yet another message indicating the potential the of the wine industry in Asia. With more than 520 exhibitors (more than double compared with last year) from 34 countries, around 12,000 people attended the three day fair.

In the first nine months of the year, wine imports into Hong Kong increased by 40%, which is said to be largely due to the fact that the government abolished wine tax in April 2008 (Irish government take note).

Industry experts expect Hong Kong and China to become the eighth largest wine market in the world in the next decade, and press releases are stating that the Chinese wine industry will be worth 870 billion USD by that time. With an increasing middle class, wine isn’t the only commodity that should see an increase from who may well become the world’s leading economic power.

The partner country for this show was France, who had more than 50 exhibitors showing highly acclaimed wines, spirits and champagne, as well as seminars and wine tastings. They were joined by exhibitors from, to name a few, Portugal, Romania and Australia, the latter of which will be the partnering country for 2010’s Hong Kong Wine Fair.

I would imagine that it’s not only the wine itself that is captivating the Asian market, but the stories and lifestyle that are affiliated with each wine. As Asia is an exotic and fascinating far away place for us, perhaps Europe is the same for them, and buying into the stories (and clever marketing) is all part of the fun - as indeed, it is for us.

Information sourced from Wein-Plus.com article, dated 27.11.09

I could swear I’ve seen this before, quite possibly in Decanter magazine, but many thanks to our good friends Manic Mammy and Donal Cahalane for giving me the heads up when Springwise.com (great site by the way) featured an article on the spiral cellars.

These state-of-the-art wine cellars are being installed by a UK based company (spiralcellars.co.uk) in the homes of those with a taste for long lived wine and, very importantly, a big enough wallet. Prices start at £9,200 - maybe a drop in the ocean for some, but in all fairness, it a pretty cool product.

The mini cellar will take 650 bottles, with the white spiral cellar able to hold almost 1,900. The watertight storage spaces can be sunk into the ground and they have a powerless airflow system which maintains a constant temperature.

As soon as I win the lottery…