FEBRUARY 21, 2020 – WINE NEWS FETCH

TOP NEWS

• As low-end wine prices fall, premium varieties likely won’t budge
• Overextended North Coast vintners face credit challenges amid lower wine values
• Direct-To-Consumer Captures 10.8% Of The 2019 Domestic Wine Retail Market
• VC wine Investments are hibernating. AgriFoodTech gets no traction.That’s why we’re looking at the AlcBevs that are stealing vino’s market share.
• When Amazon hasn’t cracked the code on online alcohol, how can grocers?
• Almonds: High water footprint, but their high nutritional value outranks almost all other crops
• Boutique winemakers: Save time and effort this harvest season with this new production app! Click now to learn more! (Sponsored)

OBITUARIES

• Frank Pastori, Geyserville wine pioneer, dies at 100

ICYMI (IN CASE YOU MISSED IT)

• Diageo to pay $5 million to settle SEC charges it concealed liquor overshipments
• Penrose Hill/Firstleaf sued, complaint alleges civil rights violations of disabled web site access. Class action requested
• Attend USA Trade Tasting to discover the fastest growing and upcoming wines, beers and spirits brands for your portfolio. Register your visitor pass here. (Sponsored)

WINE SUPPLY & CONSUMPTION

• Australia Wine Faces ‘Toughest Year’ in Memory on Fires, Drought
• How climate change, drought, bushfires and floods are affecting Australia’s wineries
• Ciatti February 2020 California Report (PDF)

CALIFORNIA BRIEFS

• Petaluma’s Lagunitas Brewing CEO resigns amid slow growth in craft beer sector
• California Supreme Court Clarifies What Constitutes “Hours Worked” Under California Law
• Before that French Laundry, there was Sally Schmitt’s French Laundry
• Wine partners sought for Sonoma’s Tuesday night market
• Why attend USA Trade Tasting 2020 (Sponsored)

COVID-19 (CORONAVIRUS)

• Coronavirus is dramatically changing food consumption in China — here’s how
• Virus lockdown a risk for Western Australian wine exporters

HEALTH

• How Bars Are Becoming Sober-Friendly Spaces
• How to Help Your Fellow Hospitality Workers Stay Alive

WILDFIRES

• Understanding Smoke Taint: A Conversation with Professor Kerry Wilkinson

TAKING THE HIGH ROADS

• Depletion: Why and How To Build Your Brand Around It (Sponsored)

DROUGHT/WATER

• Newsom administration files lawsuit over biological opinions; Secretary Bernhardt responds
• Trump to Calif. farmers: Here’s more water
• Dry February sends California back to drought: ‘This hasn’t happened in 150 years’

ENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABILITY

• Villa Maria trials native plants as herbicides alternative
• Wither Hills Pledges Support to Oyster Recovery Partnership

CONSUMER SALES: DTC, ON- & OFF-PREMISE

• Strategies to help you grow your Sales: Grow Your Beverage Business with Sid Patel *(Sponsored)

PUBLIC COMPANIES

• Robert Foye joins Accolade Wines as COO

FINANCE, INVESTMENT, M&A

• Budweiser brewer AB InBev downgraded by JP Morgan over hard seltzer competition and coronavirus

INTERNATIONAL TRADE

• Welcome to Sherwood: Robin Hood takes on the wine tariffs
• EU approves free trade deal with Vietnam

DISTRIBUTORS

• Mel Dick of Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits is Knighted Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic

INVESTING IN WINE, COLLECTING & AUCTIONS

• S.B. Wine Auction Raises Funds for Direct Relief and Community Health Centers
• Talking Trade on Liv-ex – US buyers come back to market

DATA & TRENDS

• How to Use Your Own Data to Calm Your Nerves about the Wine Slump

MARKETING & SALES

• Why Quality Photography Is Crucial To Your Winery’s Marketing Success
• Creating A Successful Brand Launch In The US *(Sponsored)

PACKAGING, LABELS & CORKS

• Making wine for cans: what you need to know

TRADE SHOWS & CONFERENCES

• IBWSS UK pre-registration offer for exhibitors is now open
• Wine trade shows to watch in China 2020

MATTERS OF TASTE

• Age Is Beauty: The Confounding Case of Italian White Wine
• Cabernet, the monarch of the vineyards

WINE PLACES

• A weekend getaway to Mendocino

NORTH AMERICAN REGIONAL WINE NEWS

• In Miami, black wine professionals make the conscious-wine movement their own
• Summerland researchers fighting to keep Canadian wine thriving

EUROPE & THE UK

• Swedish alcohol monopoly sues wine app Vivino
• UK drinks SMEs call for duty cut
• Trio of châteaux joins Bibendum’s Bordeaux project

DOWN UNDER

• OZ: New labels warning pregnant women about alcohol anger wine industry
• New Port Lincoln facility opens up winemaking opportunities for South Australian grape growers

ASIA & PACIFIC RIM

• North Korea’s Most Wanted Wines