SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 – WINE NEWS FETCH

TOP NEWS

• Wine Sales Up, Winery Profits Down
• Sonoma County winery Skipstone Ranch faces record $172,000 fine for alleged vineyard work violations
• As Pandemic Life Endures, Some are Drinking Less—Or Not at All
• ‘Ash Taint’ Causing Constellation, Other Wineries To Reject Grapes From Some Sacramento County Growers
• These are the top digital delivery channels your wine’s got to be in to sell
• Power shut-offs are in your future. Keep crush moving. Click to reserve your generator NOW! (Sponsored)

OBITUARIES

• Niagara’s Joseph Pohorly remembered as wine legend, agriculture innovator

WILDFIRES & WEATHER

• CA winery owner reveals ‘the real damage to our economy’ amid wildfires (video)
• Challenges for a Southern Oregon winery involves more than just smoke-tainted grapes
• Smoke Taint is an Expression of Terroir
• Could California use a Prop. 1 for fire prevention?

ICYMI (IN CASE YOU MISSED IT)

• Napa Valley Vintners Makes Historic $1 Million Commitment to Increase Diversity in Wine Industry
• TerrAvion Chapt 11: up to $50 million in liabilities, less than $50K in assets
• Streamlining a Large Custom Crush Operation for Clients and Cellar Staff (Sponsored)

WINE SUPPLY & CONSUMPTION

• How Will Weeks of Wildfire Smoke on the West Coast Impact the 2020 Vintage?
• After hazy weeks, threat of smoke taint lingers over Napa Valley grape crop
• Chilean Wine Sales Are Up, Reversing 10-Year Trend
• Napa Valley harvest report: Harvest races toward early finish
• Yakima Valley, WA: So far, so good for this year’s wine harvest
• US loses its shine for German wine producers
• Sommeliers Choice Awards Announces 2020 Winners (Sponsored link)

CALIFORNIA BRIEFS

• Sonoma mulling street, Plaza dining until October 2021
• Quintessential Wines Makes Additional Investments In Talent
• 2020 Bartender Spirits Awards Results Are Out (Sponsored link)

DIVERSITY

• UK: BAME pupils to get free WSET training

HEALTH

• Napa wine professionals advise how to recover your senses of taste and smell after cancer
• Study finds resveratrol benefits apply more to young wine than aged
• Does This Glass of Beer Make Me Look Fat?

DROUGHT/WATER

• Regulators raise water quality fine to $6.4 million for Montage Healdsburg resort
• Groundwater Externalities and the Agricultural Response to Water Pricing

RECYCLED WASTEWATER

• In a Dry State, Farmers Use Oil Wastewater to Irrigate Their Fields, but is it Safe?

CONSUMER SALES: DTC, ON- & OFF-PREMISE

• The National Association of Wine Retailers’ Fight for Consumer Rights (podcast)
• Grow Your Delivery and Curbside Pick Up Business*(Sponsored)

INVESTING IN WINE, COLLECTING & AUCTIONS

• Hong Kong Tycoon Joseph Lau’s US$3.3m Wine Collection On Offer at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, Led By DRC Romanée-Conti

TRADE SHOWS & CONFERENCES

• Vinexpo New York counts down to 2021 show
• RBHK 2020 reschedules to cope with social distancing measures

MATTERS OF TASTE

• Please Don’t Call Natural Wine Funky

WINE PEOPLE

• Mozel Watson: Harlem’s wine god
• 5 minutes with Kudzai Mwerenga, De Grendel Wine Estate Viticulturist
• Katie Dickieson, winemaker, Peller Estates Winery, Andrew Peller
• Ray Isle, Food & Wine magazine and wine during the pandemic (podcast)

WINE HISTORY

• The Birth of ‘Wine Country’ Is a Story of Bugs, Taxes and War

NORTH AMERICAN REGIONAL WINE NEWS

• Finger Lakes winemakers strip down for racy charity calendar

ACADEMIA

• Gonzaga launching courses designed around wine industry
• Wines from UMN Itasca grapes debut

AG, GROWER & CELLAR NEWS

• Champagne Growers Help Cultivate The Grape Varieties Of The Future

EUROPE & THE UK

• Tim Wheeldon: how Corney & Barrow has ‘weaved’ its way through Covid-19