FEBRUARY 22, 2021 – WINE NEWS FETCH

TOP NEWS

• DTC, Off-Premise Start 2021 with Double-Digit Growth
• Wine recommenders, and the tyranny of choice
• Merlot market share shrank big time in 2020; SauvBlanc soared
• Supermarket wine sales during the pandemic
• Napa Valley Library Wine Auction Reveals Robust Market for Napa Valley Wines
• 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)

• Why Wine Has Fallen Behind in the No- and Low-ABV Category
• SPACial Report: Pat Roney on the Vintage Wine Estates Merger (Podcast)
• 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
• Sommeliers Choice Awards launches Shelf talkers and Tasting notes for entrants – (Sponsored link)

DIVERSITY

• The Union of Music & Wine: Chatting with MJ Towler of The Black Wine Guy Experience
• Kim Crawford Wines Partners with Black Girl Ventures to Support Black & Brown Female Entrepreneurs Through Virtual Pitch Competition

CONSUMER SALES: DTC, ON- & OFF-PREMISE

• Becoming a Master Sommelier in the midst of a global pandemic (Sponsored link)

WINE SUPPLY & CONSUMPTION

• Grow Your Wine Brand In USA with 2021 Sommeliers Choice Awards (Sponsored link)

CALIFORNIA BRIEFS

• Napa Puts the Good Stuff Online
• California wine companies are doing what hasn’t been done in 20 years: go on the stock market (possible paywall)
• High stakes 2022 election to shape Napa County wine country (possible paywall)
• Pending Sonoma County winery event rules pit vintners against residents
• Napa County says Dakato Shy winery can increase production, visitors (possible paywall)
• Vintners’ grants, environmental awards and restoring Hood Mountain
• See how Phase 2 Cellars streamline systems and provide exceptional customer service.

COVID-19

• California legislators propose $9.6 billion in state COVID-19 relief, including grants for restaurants
• Ch-ch-ch-changes as winemakers weather pandemic
• EFI develops vaccine FAQ for farmworkers

WILDFIRES & WEATHER

• Despite cool and occasionally unsettled conditions in NorCal, unusually dry conditions to persist into March
• Fall Creek Vineyards: The Impact of Frigid Weather on Our Vineyards

ENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABILITY

• Bertrand: organics needs to become the new normal
• Cross-border cooperation on growing wine grapes resistant to climate change

REGULATION & LEGAL MATTERS

• Michigan Secures 21st Amendment Enforcement Act Wins

REAL ESTATE

• Geyserville wine and nature lover’s compound listed for $3,750,000

PUBLIC COMPANIES

• Brampton resigns as TWE European MD

FINANCE, INVESTMENT, M&A

• Moët Hennessy Announces A Partnership with Shawn JAY-Z Carter via the acquisition of 50% of Champagne Armand de Brignac

INVESTING IN WINE, COLLECTING & AUCTIONS

• 2020 Bordeaux yields: quality not quantity?
• Talking Trade – Liv-ex bolsters their Insights Team

WINE SELECTION AND RECOMMENDATION

• Should wine critics be declaring ratings from samples taken with Coravin, or from small bottles?
• I Blind Taste-Tested Wines From Different Price Points To See If Expensive Wine Is Really Worth It, And I Have Some Mixed Feelings

MARKETING & SALES

• Who’s Zooming Who? Wine Goes Virtual
• Benchmark Report Shows Wineries Increased Emails Since COVID But Response Rates Have Fallen According to WineGlass Marketing

SOCIAL MEDIA & TECH

• The Danger of the Wine Industry’s Reliance on Social Media
• “Young people can be passionate about wine and talk about it in an accessible way” (to 300,000 followers on TikTok)

MATTERS OF TASTE

• What’s new in Prosecco?
• Overstating terroir: the effacing of the vigneron
• Why Sherry is reviving
• Provence’s Magnificent Red And White Wines, Obscured By All Rosé (possible paywall)
• The ideal temperature for your wine is probably not what you think (possible paywall)
• Does Terroir Matter if We Can’t Taste It?
• Special Club Champagne Is the Prestige Cuvée Among Growers

WINE PEOPLE

• At the Foot of The Mountains: Interview with “Barologirl” Giulia Negri
• Warfare to Winemaking: Samra Morris
• Meet Cary Quintana of Cary Q Wines
• How This Toyota Executive Became A Sommelier (possible paywall)

WINE PLACES

• South America’s Most Overlooked Region Is A Wine-Soaked Psychedelic Paradise

NORTH AMERICAN REGIONAL WINE NEWS

• Bullocks bid goodbye to Eye of the Needle Winery in Woodinville, WA
• OH: L’uva Bella Winery Ready to Start $1M Expansion

AG, GROWER & CELLAR NEWS

• “Is biodiversity linked with farm management options in vineyard landscapes? A case study combining ecological indicators within a hybrid modelling framework”, Ecological Indicators, 2021

EUROPE & THE UK

• Over half of wine merchants increased sales in 2020, Wine Paris/Vinexpo Paris survey finds
• UK: Jamie Wynne-Griffiths on launching a wine distribution model for our times
• Simon Woolf & Ryan Opaz on telling Portugal’s real wine story

DOWN UNDER

• OZ: Bird in Hand acquires land in Tasmania
• OZ: Ross Hill winery tapping into carbon neutral conscious consumer market

LATIN AMERICA

• Argentinian producers age wine in the ocean

BEER, CIDER, WINE & SPIRITS

• How Homebrewing Impacted Modern American Beer