SEPTEMBER 29, 2020 – WINE NEWS FETCH

TOP NEWS

• Glass fire in Sonoma, Napa counties tops 36,000 acres, destroys 113 structures as thousands evacuated
• Meadowood Resort, Newton Vineyard, Burgess Cellars Among Napa Wildfire’s Many Victims
• Australian research delivers expanded smoke taint toolkit
• A Modest Proposal for American Viticultural Areas
• Manly Men Versus Vodka Sodas: The Gender Baggage of Booze
• Power shut-offs are in your future. Keep crush moving. Click to reserve your generator NOW! (Sponsored)

WILDFIRES & WEATHER

• Glass Fire satellite imagery shows spread of fires as of early Tuesday, 9/29
• A running list of Napa Valley wineries that have been damaged or destroyed in the Glass Fire (possible paywall)
• Three killed in Shasta County’s Zogg fire; thousands flee
• CWI confirms reports of affected wineries but “too soon to estimate impact”
• Glass fire in Napa Valley went from spectacle to menace in just a few hours
• Napa and Sonoma Burn Again. Horribly.
• ‘It’s like God has no sympathy’: Wine Country residents shaken by relentless onslaught of wildfires (possible paywall)
• Vineyards as fire barriers?

#GLASSFIRE EVACUATIONS

• Napa County’s Evacuation Orders and Warnings Map
• Calistoga now under mandatory evacuation order

#GLASSFIRE RESOURCES

• Napa/Sonoma #Glassfire Resources & News Links
• Napa County Farm Bureau to benefit Glass Fire evacuees and families

WILDFIRES AND HARVEST

• Wildfires force some growers to test their grapes for contamination, while others sit 2020 out
• Napa Valley wineries get brunt of Glass fire damage amid challenging harvest
• Backlogs At Smoke Testing Labs Force Washington Wineries To Get Creative
• How Will The Westcoast Forest Fires Affect The 2020 Vintage

ICYMI (IN CASE YOU MISSED IT)

• Glass Fire Update: Residents Flee Area Around St. Helena; New Boysen, Shady Fires Force Evacuations Near Santa Rosa; Wall Of Flames Jumps Silverado Trail
• Feds charge man with using Lodi-area vineyard as right-wing militia training camp
• Tech and the Boutique Winery, an Interview with Martin Siebert of Tokar Estate (Sponsored)

WINE SUPPLY & CONSUMPTION

• The 2020 Harvest at its Midpoint at Tablas Creek (Paso Robles): Yields, Intensity, and Pacing Much Like 2019
• Languedoc wines post encouraging data
• An insider’s guide to California’s wine harvest
• Sommeliers Choice Awards Announces 2020 Winners (Sponsored link)

CALIFORNIA BRIEFS

• 2020 Bartender Spirits Awards Results Are Out (Sponsored link)

COVID-19

• K-shaped post-Covid recovery predicted for US wine sector
• Novelty, Effort, Engagement: Differentiating Factors Of Online Wine Tastings During The Pandemic

TAKING THE HIGH ROADS

• Cannabis initiative finally comes to Sonoma voters

ENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABILITY

• Wine – more sustainable than most crops?
• Organic growth a ‘global phenomenon’, helping reboot depressed wine market

REGULATION & LEGAL MATTERS

• New TTB Ruling on Nutrition Labeling and Advertising

CONSUMER SALES: DTC, ON- & OFF-PREMISE

• Alcohol’s Three-Tier System Is Losing Its Power to Impress Judges
• Grow Your Delivery and Curbside Pick Up Business*(Sponsored)

PUBLIC COMPANIES

• Diageo’s positive forecast could be marred by second COVID-19 wave
• Tiffany Escalates War of Words in Push to Uphold LVMH Deal

FINANCE, INVESTMENT, M&A

• Market Up Or Market Down, These Spirited Beverage Companies Make Money

INTERNATIONAL TRADE

• Australian wineries face ‘incredibly intrusive’ Chinese questioning

DATA & TRENDS

• Enolytics Ripens Wine Industry Analytics With Qlik

MARKETING & SALES

• The many faces of the wine consumer

TRADE SHOWS & CONFERENCES

• Virtual Sustainable Ag Expo – November 2020

MATTERS OF TASTE

• Why Pinot Meunier is weird (but wonderful)
• Slow Wine, Explained

WINE PEOPLE

• Liv-ex interview with Rebecca Gibb MW – journalist, author, entrepreneur
• Meet the New Visionary of Mexican Natural Wine
• The Zimbabwean Somm Reimagining South Africa’s Wine Industry
• Sarah Adamson of Scout Wines
• Johan Delport on finding a new winemaking role
• Transfer of Power, Jamie & Jill Benziger (podcast)

WINE PLACES

• Alexana Winery: attention to detail in the heart of Oregon

WINE EDUCATION

• Wine Scholar Guild launches Italian foundation course

EUROPE & THE UK

• Change at the top at Fells as company returns furlough cash

DOWN UNDER

• NZ – Viva Lost Wages: Winery Owner Loses Lawsuit
• Trust mark to tell the world about Australia’s sustainable winegrowing
• OZ: Food, wine and agribusiness to target $23 billion by 2030

ASIA & PACIFIC RIM

• South Korea becomes 2nd most attractive wine market in the world
• China: Cosentino new technical director at Longdai

BEER, CIDER, WINE & SPIRITS

• How the Beer Industry Continues to Navigate COVID-19
• The Rise of the Craft Canned Cocktail