FEBRUARY 9, 2021 – WINE NEWS FETCH

TOP NEWS

• Sonoma County’s Foley Family Wines selling wholesale arm Epic Wine & Spirits to Southern Glazer’s
• Alcohol Marketplaces 2.0 Part 1: Solicitation of sales by unlicensed third-party providers
• The Monotony of Wine Monopolies
• New SSU scholarship aims for more wine industry diversity
• Analysis: AB InBev’s $1bn hard seltzer drive
• Wine sales spike at convenience stores
• Kitchen workers face die of COVID in far greater proportions than other occupations
• Ganau launches EPIQ – Corks with threshold of ≤0.5 ng/L TCA — below level of human perception. Process backed by peer-reviewed science.(Sponsored link)

OBITUARIES

• Robert Whitley, publisher of Wine Review Online, passed away on February 3
• A Tribute to Wilhelm Haag, ‘Father of the Renaissance of German Wine’

ICYMI (IN CASE YOU MISSED IT)

• Bloomberg reports Duckhorn preparing IPO (possible paywall)
• Reviews and 5-Star are so useless for recommendations that Netflix tossed its prized $1-million algorithm. They’re even worse for wine
• Bespoke Capitol to take Vintage Wine Estates Public in SPAC offering
• Solving the “Paradox of Choice” is a major reason Netflix’s recommender is worth $1 Bil/yr. And why wine fails at that.
• 2020 USA Wine Ratings Winners Announced (Sponsored link)

CONSUMER SALES: DTC, ON- & OFF-PREMISE

• 5 Tips for Optimizing Your in-House Alcohol Delivery Service
• WSWA Joins Other Industry Trade Groups to Strongly Oppose Allowing USPS to Ship Alcohol
• Coalition warns USPS alcohol delivery ‘not safe’
• Wine group: COVID shines light on frustrating NJ shipping limits
• Selling Wine, Beer, And Spirits In America*(Sponsored)

WINE SUPPLY & CONSUMPTION

• Japan’s wine imports drop as closure of bars and restaurants hits on-trade
• What’s new at the 2021 Sommeliers Choice Awards and how that will help wine brands. (Sponsored link)

CALIFORNIA BRIEFS

• Remi Cohen Became Domaine Carneros CEO At An Especially Challenging Moment (possible paywall)
• Application deadline for Sonoma State Wine Entrepreneurship program is Feb. 11
• Sonoma Vineyard Innovation Through Science
• See how Phase 2 Cellars streamline systems and provide exceptional customer service. (Sponsored link)

COVID-19

• Covid-19 Leads to Surge in International Demand for Organic Wine and Food in South Africa

DIVERSITY

• Wine Unify’s Alicia Towns Franken on promoting diversity
• Scholarship for people of color

WILDFIRES & WEATHER

• Climate change ravaged the West last year and 2021 could be worse
• Calif: PG&E outlines $6 billion in spending on wildfire safety and grid upgrades over two years (possible paywall)

ENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABILITY

• What Role Can Vineyards Play in Conserving California’s Biodiversity?

REGULATION & LEGAL MATTERS

• Alcohol Marketplaces 2.0 Part 1: Solicitation of sales by unlicensed third-party providers

PUBLIC COMPANIES

• Constellation Brands Prevails in To Kalon Dispute

FINANCE, INVESTMENT, M&A

• R1m for 1% of a wine farm in South Africa
• Trade and Consumer Personal Financial Conditions: Wine Opinions (PDF)

BREXIT

• Cramele Recas owner challenges wine import certificates

WEBINARS/ONLINE MEETINGS

• Direct-to-Consumer Wine Shipping: Highlights and Trends from 2020 Webinar Feb 11
• Webinar Registration – WineFuture2021 – “Practical Approaches to the Climate Crisis” (Feb 10)

PACKAGING, LABELS & CORKS

• UK glass manufacturer creates ‘world’s most sustainable glass bottle’

TRADE SHOWS & CONFERENCES

• Anatomy of WineFuture 2021: Think Big

MANAGEMENT & EMPLOYMENT

• Tracking the Career Transitions of 3 Top Somms

MEDIA MATTERS

• Looking and seeing are not the same

MATTERS OF TASTE

• Smuggling Chardonnay – The Rebel Grape

WINE PEOPLE

• Piero Busso: in the vineyard we trust
• The Passion For Bordeaux Wines At Sixmilebridge
• People to Know: Fritz Hatton (video)
• I’ll Drink to That: Wine Before and After Genocide (podcast)

WINE PLACES

• In Alto Adige Cooperation Is Key, and Character

WINE TOURISM

• UK: Oxford Wine Company launches tourism platform

ACADEMIA

• CIA Introduces Online Wine And Beverage Master’s Degree
• Purdue Offering Online Courses for Winemakers
• WSU Viticulture & Enology faculty ranked among top 100,000 scientists in the world.

AG, GROWER & CELLAR NEWS

• Esca has no effect on wine quality
• Active Frost and Freeze Protection for Berry Crops

EUROPE & THE UK

• The Pope’s vino: Vatican will produce estate-grown wine. Vineyards to be planted this spring.
• UK: Chapel Down to place Curious Drinks into administration

DOWN UNDER

• This New Zealand Wine Region is ‘A Masterpiece in the Making’

ASIA & PACIFIC RIM

• Chinese winery releases Telsa Tequila lookalikes
• Changyu to open a wine theme park in Shanghai

AROUND THE GLOBE

• War, Revolution and Tsarine: How Russia Shaped Champagne