FEBRUARY 24, 2021 – WINE NEWS FETCH

TOP NEWS

• The Duckhorn Portfolio files for an estimated $300 million IPO
• Alcohol Marketplaces 2.0 Part 2: Collect sales tax from marketplaces or comply with alcohol guidance?
• Sumita Sarma: how wine can be proud not ashamed of its diversity
• Don’t Fear the Fulfillment House
• How Long Do COVID Olfactory Problems Last?
• Comfort Dining Out Among All Adults Reaches New Pandemic Record High
• Does wine compliance make you cry? We’re here to help with that but need your input!(Sponsored link)

OBITUARIES

• Winemaker, Producer, Film Executive Charlie Meeker Passes Away, Age 78

ICYMI (IN CASE YOU MISSED IT)

• How genes wreck wine recommendations
• 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

• Social Sustainability and Inclusivity Can Secure the Future of Wine
• Jackie Fast: why we need a new generation of rule breaking leaders

CONSUMER SALES: DTC, ON- & OFF-PREMISE

• Wine e-commerce’s huge opportunity in 2021
• Wine most popular online drinks purchase
• Beyond promotional offers, key drivers of online wine purchase are convenience and exclusivity
• BC Makes Wholesale Pricing for Hospitality Industry Permanent; DTC from Off-Site Storage Returns
• Becoming a Master Sommelier in the midst of a global pandemic (Sponsored link)

WINE SUPPLY & CONSUMPTION

• Turrentine Market Update (PDF)
• South Africa facing record high wine surplus with 300m litres of unsold stock
• Virginia Grape Growers Look To Regroup After Tough 2020
• Grow Your Wine Brand In USA with 2021 Sommeliers Choice Awards (Sponsored link)

CALIFORNIA BRIEFS

• Calistoga solidifies policy to limit tasting rooms
• Premier Cru’s Fox Flies the Coop
• See how Phase 2 Cellars streamline systems and provide exceptional customer service.

COVID-19

• Marin County restaurants, gyms, cinemas can reopen indoors as coronavirus cases decline
• Food Trucks Should Have Been Stars of Pandemic-Era Dining, But It’s Complicated
• Windsor winery chef launches ambitious food program during pandemic

HEALTH

• 105-year-old woman credits surviving Covid to gin-soaked raisins

TAKING THE HIGH ROADS

• The problem with cannabis is that it doesn’t have a label

DROUGHT/WATER

• Drought Wine (podcast)
• Reclamation outlines Central Valley Project initial 2021 water allocation

ENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABILITY

• Stating that a wine is made with organic grapes drives purchase more than wine showing the USDA organic logo

REGULATION & LEGAL MATTERS

• Utah Vies To Keep Title of “State With Crazies Alcohol Law”

INVESTING IN WINE, COLLECTING & AUCTIONS

• Bordeaux ‘looks undervalued right now’
• How well did wine merchants predict the events of 2020?
• UGCB names 10 cities to host primeurs this April

MARKETING & SALES

• When Wine Meets Marketing: A Formula For Telling Your Product’s Story
• Luxury Bandits

PACKAGING, LABELS & CORKS

• Ardagh Metal Packaging to combine with Gores Holdings V
• Why is this wine bottle so heavy?

TRADE SHOWS & CONFERENCES

• Wine GB gears up for first wine tourism conference

MEDIA MATTERS

• Wine writer, Kitsap native who died in plane crash is remembered in new book

MATTERS OF TASTE

• Why Do We Argue About Wine?
• The alcohol indicator
• The Life and Times of “Pizza Wine”

WINE PEOPLE

• Q&A: Lettie Teague, wine columnist, The Wall Street Journal
• Azienda Agricola Lalù: serendipity, friendship and strength of will
• Doug Frost’s New Adventure (podcast)

WINE EDUCATION

• Wine Scholar Guild appoints French programmes director

FOOD & RESTAURANTS

• Culinary clubs

NORTH AMERICAN REGIONAL WINE NEWS

• FLCC professor discusses teaching, growing and making wine in the Finger Lakes

AG, GROWER & CELLAR NEWS

• Shipping constraints sour U.S. agricultural exports

EUROPE & THE UK

• Savoy all-set to trial 7 heirloom vine varieties for appellation wines
• Innocente Nardi on Conegliano Valdobbiadene’s future
• Baguettes or wine festival: France mulls UNESCO shortlist

DOWN UNDER

• Accolade snaps up Heuzenroeder from Yalumba