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California foodies get their fix at French Laundry. The faltering economy may be taking its toll on the beloved Bay Area restaurant scene (bye bye, Rubicon), but French Laundry continues to shine. And now the illustrious chef Thomas Keller has plans to open a country inn! The SF Chronicle and Eater SF have the scoop on the hotel’s debut, dubbed the Aloysius Inn–that’s the chef’s middle name, btw.

Back in October, we got the scoop about the first Luxury Collection hotel to open in the nation’s capital. And now, we have more news about the grand reopening of The Fairfax at Embassy Row. (It was a Westin before.) After a dramatic renovation, the historic landmark will open as The Fairfax this fall 2008.

A stay at Interlaken’s finest hotel, the Victoria-Jungfrau Grand Hotel and Spa, is itself an unforgettable experience. The panoramic views, over the lakes of Thun and Brienz to the Alps, are breathtaking.

Ever wondered why there is so much disparity in wine prices at restaurants? And I am not just talking about the difference from retail to restaurant, but from restaurant to restaurant.  A cool article in the Wall-Street Journal came out today talking about this very topic and gives some insight into how the pricing structure works for restaurant wine lists.

Soon you’ll be able to have lunch on the equator aboard a 69-foot luxury yacht, an exclusive offering from the brand new Shangri-La Villingili Resort and Spa, the first luxury resort in the southern Maldives (on Addu Atoll).

We liked the Hotel Andalucia when it opened in 2004, but now we like it even better as the Canary Hotel. Renovated and renamed by the folks behind its sister properties, Shutters on the Beach and Casa del Mar in Santa Monica, the Canary is fun, fashionable, and a touch exotic.

Christmas is more than 4 months away, but it’s already bubbly season, that time of the year when, due to the lead time of print journalism, wineries send out their sparkling wines for review for the Holidaze. So it is that during August the California bubblies have been pouring in.

Lucky bastards ducks. Thailand’s Phuket Island will soon be getting an all-villa boutique resort at Kalim Bay. And check out that view from the pool, overlooking the Andaman Sea! The Langham portfolio has been expanding rapidly in Thailand, and the announcement of this boutique resort– Langham Place

Wine.com, the #1 online wine retailer, says that Syrah (Shiraz) outsold Chardonnay for the first half of this year. They say that Syrah sales have grown 47% for the year to date, which is pretty impressive. The close red second is a Cab Sauv, which basically means that by outstripping Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah is pretty much the top-selling wine for the year so far.

At long last, a follow up to the mysterious teaser campaign I noticed a couple of weeks back. The campaign to save the cork forests of Portugal by persuading wine consumers that corks make more sense that screw tops is evidently into its second, less obscure phase.