Tropical Terroir: The Man Turning Taiwan Into Wine Country
On this subtropical island, Chien-hao Chen fought typhoons and monsoons to develop his vineyards and to produce wines admired by some of the most important oenologists.
TAICHUNG How could anyone imagine any sort of viticulture on land that never experiences winter and is ravaged by an average of five typhoons per year? The island of Taiwan is much more famous for its tea and street food than for its vineyards. Producing wine is certainly possible, but producing very good wine is another story. And most of the bottles found in this hot country are closer to cheap plonk than great vintages.
The Latest: Israel Stampede, Brazil COVID Deaths, Instagrammable Bird At the Lag B Omer festival on Mount Meron, Israel, just before a stampede killed at least 44 - David Cohen/Xinhua/ZUMA 2020-04-30
Welcome to Friday, where dozens die in a stampede at a religious festival in Israel, Brazil s COVID death toll surpasses 400,000 and an owl-like bird is crowned Instagram influencer. We also look at how a Taiwanese oenologist is working to turn his country into a tropical wine terroir.
• Dozens killed at Israeli religious festival stampede: At least 44 people were crushed to death and hundreds more injured in a stampede at an over-crowded religious festival in northeastern Israel.