Topic: Wine & Spirits

With a little creative packaging and a lot of innovation, spirits manufacturers are expanding the market. Click ahead for some of the most  unusual ways businesses are innovating in the world of alcohol.

Constellation Brands gave an earnings forecast for its new fiscal year that was well below Wall Street estimates, sending the wine maker's shares down 12 percent.

Long gone are the days when French soldiers or Italian farmhands were issued their daily ration of a liter of wine. Even the three-hour Parisian lunch, accompanied by a few glasses of red, white or sparkling, is threatened by the ravages of globalization, the NYT reports.

Fruit flies apparently self-medicate just like many humans do, using alcohol as a balm when rejected by desired mates, the New York Times reports.

2012 is the best time to invest in fine wine since 2009, according to wine broker Vin-X’s Jeremy Peacock.

French wine and spirits maker Moet Hennessy wants to produce a super-premium red wine at the foot of the Himalayan mountains in southern China, targeting the palates of the country's wealthy wine drinkers, in a move whose results won't be known for years.

Beijing’s hopes of orchestrating next month’s election for Hong Kong’s chief executive were unraveling on Friday, undone by allegations that its Favored candidate had built an illegal wine cellar. The Financial Times reports.

For reliable investment-grade wine, look only to France, principally select wines from Bordeaux, and a few from Burgundy and the Rhone Valley.

Is it a good way to influence behavior and/or raise revenue, just like tobacco and alcohol?

It was a good year for fine wine in 2011 with auction houses reporting solid sales but the bubble has burst in the Bordeaux market and prices are expected to fall further in 2012.