OCTOBER 9, 2020 – WINE NEWS FETCH

TOP NEWS

• Just when we need a drink, the U.S. wine industry faces an existential threat
• Wine’s Covid Winners and Losers
• Napa Valley assesses a fire season that could forever alter its tourism economy
• 2020 Has Upended What Consumers Expect From Brands. These are the types of holiday messages that are most likely to help your sales.
• With harvest amid fire and smoke, how should Napa Valley protect its farmworkers?
• Power shut-offs are in your future. Keep crush moving. Click to reserve your generator NOW! (Sponsored)

ICYMI (IN CASE YOU MISSED IT)

• Latest Glass Fire Toll: 31 Wineries, Restaurants, and Lodges
• Vintage Wine Estates smoke-taint insurance lawsuit scheduled for trial; Could set precedent
• Interview with Marcus Rafanelli, Winemaker, L’Ecole 41, Walla Walla, Washington
  (Sponsored)

WINE SUPPLY & CONSUMPTION

• A Vintage Lost?
• Calif: Low Yields, Smoke Concerns Seen Balancing Pinot Noir Supply
• Lodi by the numbers, and where it stands among the rest of the world
• 2020 has been a turbulent year, but it just might be a special vintage for Long Island, NY winemakers
• Finger Lakes Wines and Grapes: 2020 shaping up to be special vintage
• 2020 Best wines list for on-premise sector is out (Sponsored link)

CALIFORNIA BRIEFS

• Sonoma wine auction raises almost $1.2 million
• How Has The Role Of The Sommelier Evolved During COVID? (Sponsored link)

WILDFIRES & WEATHER

• Napa’s Glass Fire is one of the most destructive in state history
• Cal Fire opens investigation into private firefighting activities in Glass Fire (possible paywall)
• Napa wineries ask ‘What now?’ as they survey Glass Fire wreckage
• Swing and a miss: anticipated October rain evaporates, and more adverse fire weather on horizon
• Wine Grapes and Wildfire Smoke Pt 2 (podcast)
• A decade of disaster

COVID-19

• Santa Barbara County Strengthens COVID Protocols at Farmworker Housing After Outbreaks

HEALTH

• Kids Are Home, I’m Home, I Need A Drink—Alcohol Abuse During COVID-19 And Its Impact On Child Custody

TAKING THE HIGH ROADS

• New Law Expands California’s Cannabis Geographical Indications And Mandates Terroir-Based Appellations of Origin

ENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABILITY

• The growing world of sustainable farming

CONSUMER SALES: DTC, ON- & OFF-PREMISE

• Selling Wine, Beer, And Spirits In America*(Sponsored)

REAL ESTATE

• Property: Stunning wine lifestyle estates for sale

PUBLIC COMPANIES

• Constellation Brands contributes more than $100,000 to California wildfire relief efforts

FINANCE, INVESTMENT, M&A

• VA: Glass House Winery Sold

INVESTING IN WINE, COLLECTING & AUCTIONS

• Talking Trade on Liv-ex – Napa Valley leads weekly trade
• Boplaas Port achieves historic price at the CWG Auction
• How Fine Wine Distribution Is Changing Over 2020

WINE SELECTION AND RECOMMENDATION

• The hundred halters
• How one of the world’s largest wine competition was made possible during a pandemic
• Jacques Pepin: I usually buy wine that costs less than $10 (video)

MARKETING & SALES

• Best wine subscription and clubs for 2020: The Panel, Winc, Vinebox and more compared
• Digital Hub: Hospitality & tech; IGTV opportunity; Amazon targets luxury…

PACKAGING, LABELS & CORKS

• We have too much beer (and soda, and seltzer), and not enough cans

MEDIA MATTERS

• War-Torn Wine, ‘Worst’ Champagne Harvest: Two Gripping New Wine Documentaries Debut
• Jancis Robinson MW Celebrates 20 Years of JancisRobinson.com with California Wine

MATTERS OF TASTE

• Exploring Pinotage

WINE PEOPLE

• Biting Talk with Sarah Jane Evans MW: ‘The French plant vines here because they know it’s the place to be’ (podcast)
• Meet the Winemaker – Rijk Melck from Muratie (podcast)

WINE PLACES

• From Volcanoes to Vineyards – New Geologic Map Reveals Portland’s (OR) Deep History

HISTORY

• ‘Drunken Princes’ scroll sells for US$41m

NORTH AMERICAN REGIONAL WINE NEWS

• MI: New owners pouring $2.5 million into major expansion of Shady Creek Winery

AG, GROWER & CELLAR NEWS

• Effect of different levels of oxygenation on phenolic and volatile compounds of Nebbiolo wine during bottle storage (PDF)

EUROPE & THE UK

• French coopers sustain revenues

DOWN UNDER

• OZ: Fast-tracking botrytis fungicide resistance identification
• OZ: Tractors become virtual classroom for growers
• OZ: Biosecurity Plan a ‘road map’ for the sector

ASIA & PACIFIC RIM

• Wine drinking in China evolves, with online parties, events and influencers pushing consumption at home, amid Covid-19 lockdowns

NOT JUST FOR THE TRADE

• Sangiovese crossword

BEER, CIDER, WINE & SPIRITS

• The Scientists Using Machine Learning to Improve Whiskey Tasting
• This company wants to use science to make better whiskey