AUGUST 26, 2020 – WINE NEWS FETCH

TOP NEWS

• Smoke Taint Looms Large for California Wine
• Spirits lead off-premise growth, Wine close behind. Beer dominates in cans. Wine share tiny at 1.1%: Nielsen
• A Wine Startup in the Middle of a Pandemic and Uncontrollable Fires
• Who holds the balance of power in Champagne?
• U.S. GDP won’t recover from pandemic until 2022 (or later) say most business economists
• 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.
• Streamlining a Large Custom Crush Operation for Clients and Cellar Staff (Sponsored)

WILDFIRES & WEATHER

• North Coast wine industry now faces smoke taint threat during annual harvest
• LNU Lightning Complex growing slowly as California weather improves, Cal Fire says
• ‘Smoke taint’ on grapes may mean almost no wine to make in 2020, Sonoma vintner says (possible paywall)
• 2020 Wine Country Fire Relief Fund Kicks Off
• Evacuations Displace Thousands as Wildfires Threaten Napa and Sonoma Amid Harvest
• Wildfires Across Northern California Devastate Farmers and Farmland

WINE SUPPLY & CONSUMPTION

• US sparkling market shows more pop
• 50 shades of Grigio
• The French embrace Italy’s Prosecco
• How To Really Send Your Samples To Prospective Distributors and Importers (Sponsored)

CALIFORNIA BRIEFS

• Napa Valley Farmworker Foundation Funds Child Care for Farmworker Families
• Alisos Canyon is America’s Newest Appellation
• New developer to move ahead on Kenwood resort
• Oak Ridge Winery Appoints Jason Dodge as General Manager and Chief Winemaker
• Riboli Family Wines Launches New Division to Drive California Estate Portfolio
• Results Are Out For The First Edition Of Paris Wine Cup (Sponsored)

COVID REDUX: RE-OPENING

• With coronavirus cases down, California looks to reopen businesses

COVID & HOSPITALITY

• Are virtual winery experiences here to stay?

DIVERSITY

• Adding colour to wine
• How the push to support black-owned businesses has impacted a San Antonio area winery

TAKING THE HIGH ROADS

• How To Build Your Online Presence To Drive Your Delivery & Curbside Sales? (Sponsored)

DROUGHT/WATER

• California’s Delta tunnel project inches forward – and just got a $15.9 billion price tag
• Up to Half The World’s Water Supply Is Being Stolen, a Troubling Report Reveals

ENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABILITY

• Gratavinum, Priorat
• Chile’s Garcés Silva goes 100% organic

RECYCLED WASTEWATER

• Turning Toilet Water into Beer

REGULATION & LEGAL MATTERS

• Irish Liquor Lawyer files U.S. Supreme Court amicus brief in wine shipping case
• Irish Liquor Lawyer admitted to the U.S. Supreme Court bar

CONSUMER SALES: DTC, ON- & OFF-PREMISE

• Grow Your Delivery and Curbside Pick Up Business*(Sponsored)

DISTRIBUTORS

• Masút Vineyard & Winery Appoints MISA Imports as U.S. Distributor

INVESTING IN WINE, COLLECTING & AUCTIONS

• Italian fine wines at ‘historic levels of growth’

DATA & TRENDS

• About Those 2020 Drink Predictions

WINE SELECTION AND RECOMMENDATION

• Yahyn Partners with Sensory Science Company, Tastry.

MANAGEMENT & EMPLOYMENT

• WA: Farms pay $325K to settle twice-dismissed EEOC allegations

MEDIA MATTERS

• Real talk with real wine professionals: the “four musketeers” behind the Jumbo Shrimp Guide to Italian Wine unveiled

WINE PEOPLE

• Reinventing What It Means to Be a Renaissance Man: A Live Chat with André Hueston Mack
• How One Winemaker Is Revolutionizing The Wine Industry In The South Of France

FOOD & RESTAURANTS

• How struggling US restaurants have found a lifeline in carryout cocktails

EUROPE & THE UK

• Portman Group labels Drinking in the Dark report “utter nonsense”

DOWN UNDER

• Botrytis bio-fungicide approved in Australia
• The latest insights for Australian Cabernet Sauvignon
• OZ: Hunter Valley vineyards fly out the door

SOUTH AFRICA

• Aftermath of the alcohol ban

BEER, CIDER, WINE & SPIRITS

• James & Susanna Forbes: Our mission is to make & promote craft cider