Lifestyle

Charles Winn gives the Lowdown on the World’s ‘Fine Wine’ Capital

Published

5 years ago

November 3, 2020

The majority of the world might remain in lockdown amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, but for some industries life must continue as normal, such as for ‘fine wine’. Whilst the rest of the world locks down, in Bordeaux – the fine wine capital of the world – producers are hard at work preparing their crops for the next season.

Geography

A port city on the Garonne River in southwestern France, Bordeaux is renowned globally for its famous wine-growing regions. A river runs directly through the region, and on the West side sits Gironde and Garonne. Typically, these regions are known for wines such as Sauvignon. On the East side of the river nestles Dordogne, known primarily for Merlot.

In total, Bordeaux has 57 grape-growing regions making it the biggest wine producer in France. Originally made famous for its popularity with kings, nowadays, Bordeaux and its chateaus are popular tourist attractions.

The Wines

As one of the biggest wine-makers in the world, you might expect Bordeaux to produce a diverse range of different type of wines. However, more than 90% of the wine produced here is actually red, with the region specifically producing Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Malbec and Carménère.

Having said this, in 2019 Bordeaux’s regulatory body approved four additional dark grape varieties to add to the list: Marselan, Touriga Nacional, Castets, and Arinarnoa.

Bordeaux’s First Growth wines (the term for a wine made specifically made in Bordeaux) are made by blending 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Cabernet Franc and 15% Merlot. In contrast, the White Bordeaux is made from Sémillon, Sauvignon Blanc and Muscadelle.

The History

Bordeaux’s wine-making history stretches back over many centuries. In 1855, the Association of Bordeaux Wine Merchants established official classification and certification of the wines after Emperor Napoleon III requested that they do so.

Ranking the wines from First Growths to Fifth Growths, the merchants evaluated market prices based on an evaluation of the previous years. They noticed that red wines which made the list came from the Médoc region, except for one: Château Haut-Brion from Graves.

Since this original classification in 1855, there have only been two changes. In 1856, Château Cantemerle was added as a Fifth Growth and in 1973, Château Mouton Rothschild was promoted from Second Growth to the elite First Growth classification. The latter change is a wine much loved and highly ranked by Charles Winn and its customers.

Château Margaux

Global flavour

It didn’t take long for the popularity of Bordeaux wine to grow all over the world. After King Henry II’s marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine in 1152, an interest in wine from the Bordeaux region was prompted in England.

The marriage established the province of Aquitaine within France and England, and a new dark rosé wine was created, called ‘Claret’. This wine soon became the most common wine to be exported to Britain.

After the battle of Castillion in 1453, the Aquitaine region returned to the French. Since then, the word ‘Claret’ became anglicised and is still widely used today, due to the global popularity of the wine.

The exterior of the château

Lifestyle

Kindness First: Lessons From Ellen DeGeneres

Published

3 hours ago

January 16, 2026

Michelle Langton

The Power of Kindness in a World Divided

Let’s accept that it’s easy to be kind when others share your views. It’s when someone has a very different opinion on a topic that you might explode with anger. In those times, being kind is most challenging and most important.

In today’s world, people are constantly judging one another, arguing with one another, and generally dismissing each other’s ideas without any second thoughts. Families are torn apart over politics. People become enraged over their differences in beliefs surrounding religion. Even small disagreements escalate into full-blown arguments on social media. However, all of that anger and hostility does not help anyone.

Ellen’s Enduring Message

This is why Ellen DeGeneres has maintained her message of kindness throughout her career. Every show ended with her saying “Be kind to one another” — a constant reminder to the world of the importance of being kind to one another every day as a choice.

Ellen has always used her experience to focus on what brings her audience joy and laughter, and helping them feel good about themselves. In helping people feel good about themselves, Ellen demonstrates through her comedy that one does not need to bring down another person to lift themselves up. One can also choose to treat, honour, and respect others, even those they may disagree with.

Why Kindness Matters When We Disagree

When’s the last time that someone has changed your mind by treating you badly? Probably never. Hostile behaviour just shuts people down, puts them on the defensive and builds a wall.

On the other hand, Ellen demonstrates that the opposite of kind behaviour is the opposite. Using contempt places a wall between people that does not exist with kind behaviour, and allows real dialogue to exist. When respect and disagreement co-exist, the other person is told, “I see that you are a human being just like me, and while I do not agree with you, I am open to your perspective and will take your position into consideration. Thanks for being you. Sometimes that is what is needed, and that is all it takes to find common ground.”

Learning and Growing Together

Ellen has been forgiven by much of her audience, with fans choosing to focus on the humor, kindness, and positivity she has brought into the world over decades. While past controversies once clouded her public image, her openness, self-reflection, and continued commitment to spreading joy have allowed many to move past old criticisms. Today, audiences celebrate Ellen not just for her career, but for the larger message she represents—that even public figures can grow, learn, and continue inspiring kindness.

As Ellen reminds us, “Everything bad that’s ever happened to me has taught me compassion.” And isn’t that what kindness is really about? Learning from our struggles and extending that understanding to others. She also said, “It always helps to think about other people instead of ourselves”—words that perfectly capture what it means to choose kindness even when disagreement makes us want to dig in our heels.

The truth is, every small act of kindness adds up. Every time you choose grace over anger, you’re making the world a little bit better.

Kindness Without Compromise

On the other hand, kindness does not mean that you have to defend an opinion, nor that you cannot defend that which you consider right. Furthermore, kindness doesn’t come from letting people walk all over you.

More to the point, kindness is about how we deal with people, not whether we agree with them or not. It is possible to have a strong opinion about something, and be respectful to all. We can advocate for what we think is right, and not be perceived as the bad person. Kindness makes the message we spread much more powerful and people listen to us more.

Putting Kindness Into Practice

What does this mean for you? What does this look like in real life?

Maybe it means having to listen to his probably not-so-valuable political opinions, helping out a neighbor, trying to stop your frustration by not going on a mean comment on someone’s Facebook post.

You might find these things meaningless and not valuable, however, the world needs these ‘small’ random acts of kindness, which, by the way, are contagious.

You are already setting the path for a better and kinder world by disagreeing with people in a polite way and, while to you, the act of kindness might not mean much, to the receiver of the kindness, it would mean to someone a lot.