AUGUST 19, 2020 – WINE NEWS FETCH

TOP NEWS

• 5 Napa County fires burn 32,000 acres, displace 5,700+ people
• Wildfire menaces NW Sonoma County; thousands to evacuate
• Wine.com Partners With WSET on Wine Selections
• Lake County’s Steele Wines is purchased by Shannon Ridge winery in major deal (possible paywall)
• Younger red wine ‘more beneficial’ than aged wines, study finds
• Auction house Zachys accused of selling a fake 3L 1999 DRC La Tâche
• Interactive map and web cams show Napa, Sonoma fire positions, live images
• Power shut-offs are in your future. Keep crush moving. Click to reserve your generator NOW! (Sponsored)

ICYMI (IN CASE YOU MISSED IT)

• Harvard-controlled LLC in $120+ million deal with anonymous LLC connected with Canadian pension fund.
• Ruby Grapes sues Intercoastal Wine charging criminal pandemic profiteering.
• Gallo PR tries to distance winery and Gallo Cattle Co., but no proof available.
• Streamlining a Large Custom Crush Operation for Clients and Cellar Staff (Sponsored)

WILDFIRES & WEATHER

• Hennessey Fire threatens 130-year-old family-run Napa vineyard (possible paywall)
• Live updates: Evacuations expanded once again due to 13-4 wildfire
• Blackouts continue to loom over California as emergency declared over wildfires
• Wildfires hit Northwest fruit growing areas

WINE SUPPLY & CONSUMPTION

• Champagne makers fix harvest quotas, as virus kills the fizz
• Heat, coronavirus taking toll on Italian winemakers despite strong vintage
• Sales of prosecco soaring in Czech Republic
• How To Really Send Your Samples To Prospective Distributors and Importers (Sponsored)

CALIFORNIA BRIEFS

• Trinchero Family Estates Acquires Tres Agaves Tequila
• Santa Barbara Vintners Present Self-Taxing Idea to County Supervisors
• Results Are Out For The First Edition Of Paris Wine Cup (Sponsored)

COVID REDUX: RE-OPENING

• Napa County sees a modicum of progress in reversing COVID-19 closures

HEALTH

• Deaths and Years of Potential Life Lost From Excessive Alcohol Use — United States, 2011–2015

TAKING THE HIGH ROADS

• Where’s it grown? California may soon assist cannabis farmers in letting customers know
• How To Build Your Online Presence To Drive Your Delivery & Curbside Sales? (Sponsored)

CONSUMER SALES: DTC, ON- & OFF-PREMISE

• Off-premise, DtC Provide Positive Wine Sales Growth
• Distillers…It’s Time To Go Big…It’s Time for Systemic Change
• Grow Your Delivery and Curbside Pick Up Business*(Sponsored)

INTERNATIONAL TRADE

• U.S. Wine Industry Remains ‘Pawns’ in Airbus Dispute
• Australian drinkers in China philosophical about wine tariffs

DISTRIBUTORS

• Ackley Beverage Group Announces Distribution Partnership With Young’s Market Company For Montinore Estate

INVESTING IN WINE, COLLECTING & AUCTIONS

• Bordeaux 500 sub-indices: 2020 update

WINE SELECTION AND RECOMMENDATION

• Sommlight Wine Podcast Pt 2

MARKETING & SALES

• ‘Clean Wine’ Marketers Make a Lot of Wild Claims, So We Asked Experts to Debunk Them
• Shoppable Livestreaming Is The Rage In China. Will It Take Off In The U.S.?

MANAGEMENT & EMPLOYMENT

• Travel To France? Country Wants Foreign Workers To Come And Help Rebuild Economy

MATTERS OF TASTE

• Tempranillo: You Will Soon See More Of The Popular Star Grape Of Rioja
• Are some grapes doomed to be second rate?
• We’ll Take Rosé Seriously When They Make Serious Rosé

WINE PEOPLE

• Janice McDonald, chief winemaker, Howard Park

NORTH AMERICAN REGIONAL WINE NEWS

• New Jersey counties are under quarantine for another reason: Invasive bugs

EUROPE & THE UK

• No quick recovery in UK wine drinker intention to return to socialising
• What drives wine brand purchase in the UK?
• UK: Supermarket BWS sales stay strong
• Angela Merkel Wants You to Drink More Riesling in New German Wine Push
• Winebuyers’ Ben Revell on how the British drinking habits are changing

DOWN UNDER

• Beijing’s bitter wine backlash will have ‘major impact’ on Australian producers
• AGW responds to China’s anti-dumping investigation on Australian wine
• Is This the End of Australia’s Free Wine Tastings?
• How will anti-dumping probe affect Australian wine makers?
• Why New Zealand’s southern wine industry is so successful and its products so well regarded in world markets (podcast)

LATIN AMERICA

• Argentina announces Trevelin as new Patagonia GI

SOUTH AFRICA

• South African Winemakers Exhale as Sales Prohibition Ends

AROUND THE GLOBE

• Alcohol rules again loosen as Dubai seeks economic recovery