FEBRUARY 19, 2021 – WINE NEWS FETCH

TOP NEWS

• Why Wine Has Fallen Behind in the No- and Low-ABV Category
• TWE denies it is abandoning Chinese market, despite crashing profits
• SPACial Report: Pat Roney on the Vintage Wine Estates Merger (Podcast)
• Wine Wholesalers Line Lawmakers’ Pockets
• Dark times, bright ideas
• South Africa: Alcohol industry releases data on cumulative impact of three alcohol bans, showing R36.3 billion in lost revenue
• Why ‘beer goggles’ make you look sexier: TikTok doc explains
• Does wine compliance make you cry? We’re here to help with that but need your input!(Sponsored link)

ICYMI (IN CASE YOU MISSED IT)

• US Courts Deliver Body Blows to Wine
• Calif 2020 grape harvest CRUSHED by smoke, warm weather
• 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
• Sommeliers Choice Awards launches Shelf talkers and Tasting notes for entrants – (Sponsored link)

DIVERSITY

• Unified Symposium makes Diversity and Gender Equality Sessions Available for Free
• How a group of wine lovers hatched a plan to diversify their industry, one bottle at a time (possible paywall)

CONSUMER SALES: DTC, ON- & OFF-PREMISE

• Oral Arguments Held by 9th Circuit on Orion Imports’ DCC Challenge to California Law
• Ohio Wins Some and Loses Some on Retail Shipping Motion to Dismiss
• Was Your Wine and Spirits Distributor Acquired? LibDib Can Help You Stay in the Market
• Becoming a Master Sommelier in the midst of a global pandemic (Sponsored link)

WINE SUPPLY & CONSUMPTION

• Italy’s crop size bigger than expected
• Champagne shipments down 18% in January
• Grow Your Wine Brand In USA with 2021 Sommeliers Choice Awards (Sponsored link)

CALIFORNIA BRIEFS

• The Brothers Behind MacDonald Winery Claim Their Place in Napa’s To Kalon History
• Kristi Koford celebrates her 50th harvest (possible paywall)
• See how Phase 2 Cellars streamline systems and provide exceptional customer service.

HEALTH

• Dangerous Side Effects of Drinking Too Much Wine, Says Science

DROUGHT/WATER

• Climate change adaptation, equity, and water

REGULATION & LEGAL MATTERS

• A regulatory axe to grind (or throw)

REAL ESTATE

• California Pinot Noir and yoga ‘hideaway’ listed for sale

PUBLIC COMPANIES

• Treasury Wines Europe boss quits
• Treasury on premium track in the US
• Virgin Wines goes public

INVESTING IN WINE, COLLECTING & AUCTIONS

• Screaming Eagle Magnums and Opus One Imperials: Napa Valley Vintners Online Auction Offers Rare Bottles
• John Gotti’s Personal Wine Collection Is Up for Sale at a NYC Wine Shop

WINE SELECTION AND RECOMMENDATION

• Why Do So Many Wines Cost So Much? (possible paywall)

MARKETING & SALES

• 3 Totally Fun Ways to Use Data to Sell More Wine

SOCIAL MEDIA & TECH

• Why Facebook banned news in Australia

MATTERS OF TASTE

• Unearthing one of the greats: Gemtree Subterra Shiraz
• Winemakers’ Decisions (possible paywall)

WINE PEOPLE

• How Raul Diaz mastered the fine art of wine and food pairing
• Alliance Wine’s Giles Cooke MW and his quarantine diaries from Australia
• EOD Drinks With Erica and Kim Crawford, Founder and Winemaker of Lovebloc‪k‬

WINE PLACES

• ‘New Frontiers of Viticulure’: Emerging Wine Regions Around the World
• Cascina delle Rose: big ideas and incremental evolution

NORTH AMERICAN REGIONAL WINE NEWS

• 157 years and millions of gallons later: How Idaho’s wine industry took root
• TX: Vineyard managers working to assess damage to crops from arctic blast

ACADEMIA

• Best Paper Awards – American Society for Enology and Viticulture
• Texas A&M Supports Growing Wine and Whiskey Businesses

AG, GROWER & CELLAR NEWS

• Cover cropping gains popularity in vineyards (possible paywall)

EUROPE & THE UK

• CGA & The Buyer Report: Make the most of the ‘Future for Fizz’
• Bordeaux co-operative puts Rhone varieties in its Vins de France
• UK: Drinks company that falsified accounts to obtain £300,000 wound up
• Mt. Etna Eruption Lights Up Sicilian Wine Country

DOWN UNDER

• Wine Australia director stepping down

SOUTH AFRICA

• Why South Africa’s winemakers need our help now more than ever

BEER, CIDER, WINE & SPIRITS

• New Spirit Product Registrations Continue to See High Growth, Especially Gin
• Decades of terroir debate settled: Weather and soil crucial to making great whisky