Luxist reports that a recent conference on Global Warming and Wines found that traditional wine-making areas may be at risk of losing their wine-making abilities, including the Catalonian regions of Spain and Bordeaux region of France. If current warming trends continue, one speaker at the conference argued, this could be a reality "within the next 40 to 70 years." Grapes in those regions could suffer not only from an increase in temperature, but from a change in the amount of rainfall they receive. Increasingly dry areas may face water-restrictions to conserve water, while other regions may face heavy rains, since many scientists predict changing weather patterns will accompany global warming. On the plus side, some of the areas of the world that are now too cold to successfully cultivate wines on a large, commercial scale will probably be warm enough to grow grapes, leading to new varieties and blends for connoisseurs to enjoy, drowning their sorrows to forget the loss of their favorite Bordeaux.

• Eric Asimov sings the praises of white Bordeaux.
• Mark Bittman does Moroccan chicken with green olives.
• Nigella Lawson returns with chickpea curry and herbed millet.
• Kim Severson talks about Louisiana's crawfish shortage.
• Frank Bruni visits Del Posto.
• Marian Burros gives an update on the ongoing meat-and-carbon-monoxide issue.

The tree, planted during the reign of Louis XIV, is, or was, 120 feet tall. It is the finest surviving tree, planted as part of the King's program to develop perfect oak trees for ship building. It is, therefore, tall and straight without knots or kinks. Before you get upset at the loss of such an historic tree you should know that it has been infested with a boring beetle, so the decision was made to cut it down before it deteriorated further.

The oak was sold at auction for £25,500 to a company that constructs wine barrels. The oak will make 60 such barrels with the capacity to hold 225 litres, or enough wine to go into 300 bottles each. All have been sold to Chateau Latour and Chateau Angelus in Bordeaux and to winemakers in Chile, Spain, Italy and California.

This oak is described as the most magnificent of those that remain of the original planting of 50,000 specimens. All except 1,500 were removed after 50 years. It was called "Morat" after a forester who tended the forest.

I haven't been able to find a picture of the actual tree. The image here is just 'a' oak tree by Ansel Adams.