MARCH 3, 2021 – WINE NEWS FETCH

TOP NEWS

• Can wine ride the moderation wave?
• Small Comfort May Await Premier Cru Ponzi Scheme Victims
• Wine Market Saw Huge Shift In Sales Channels: Rabobank (Radio)
• Calif: Barring ‘miracle,’ farm water will be in short supply
• Lower alcohol wine? Aussies are on board, but not Americans, Brits, or Canadians
• 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)

• SipSource Issues 2020 Annual Report Detailing Improved Depletion Trends in 2020 and Predicting “COVID Hangover” in 2021
• A close look at the Vintage Wine Estate acquisition path that’s led to its upcoming public offering
• The Duckhorn Portfolio files for an estimated $300 million IPO
• How genes wreck wine recommendations
• Sommeliers Choice Awards launches Shelf talkers and Tasting notes for entrants – (Sponsored link)

DIVERSITY

• Women Sommeliers Power the Profession’s Future
• Basset legacy scholarships to tackle “shameful lack” of MW and MS diversity
• Lift Collective: Changing Faces of the Wine Industry & Beyond
• Celebrating Yakima Valley’s wine women

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

• American Canyon approves another wine warehouse, with bike trail extension to Napa (possible paywall)
• Ginevra Altomara Appointed Trade Marketing Director for Distinguished Vineyards & Wine Partners
• Leading wine industry logistics provider, Vintners Logistics, names new Chief Operating Officer
• See how Phase 2 Cellars streamline systems and provide exceptional customer service.

COVID-19

• How one wine brand became a global success during Covid pandemic
• California moves Napa County to less restrictive category as coronavirus cases decline
• Santa Barbara County Farmworker Vaccine Pilot a Success

HEALTH

• Bitter receptor involved in anti-inflammatory effect of resveratrol?

DROUGHT/WATER

• California Experiences Fifth Straight Month of Below Average Snow and Precipitation

ENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABILITY

• Burgundy grape varieties put to the climate change test

FINANCE, INVESTMENT, M&A

• LVMH and JAY-Z’s Armand de Brignac Deal Valued at Over $600 Million USD

INVESTING IN WINE, COLLECTING & AUCTIONS

• Liv-ex 100’s rise continues in February
• Auction of Washington Wines Private Barrel Auction Virtual Winemaker Series
• Auction of Washington Wines Announces 2021 Lineup of Online, Virtual and Small-scale In-person Events

PACKAGING, LABELS & CORKS

• Pandemic drives winery demand for smaller bottles — if they can be found
• Put a Cork in It? The Wine Closure Industry is Changing
• The World’s Largest Cork Producer Fuses Nature and Technology (podcast)

MANAGEMENT & EMPLOYMENT

• H-2A: The Not Cheap or Easy, But Definitely Effective, Solution to Labor Shortages
• Judge tosses Washington wage survey, rebukes ag employers

MEDIA MATTERS

• Wine influencers – the future of wine writing?
• André Simon Awards book extract: Inside Bordeaux

MATTERS OF TASTE

• Dietary fats interact with grape tannins to influence wine taste
• What a Theory of Wine Quality Should Do
• The Insane Appeal of South African Chardonnay (podcast)

WINE PEOPLE

• Madeleine Premmereur on making her name in Aix en Provence

WINE EDUCATION

• Italy has its first Master of Wine: Gabriele Gorelli from Montalcino.

NORTH AMERICAN REGIONAL WINE NEWS

• MO: Hoffmann Family of Companies acquires 162-year-old winery as part of $100M Augusta project
• WA: Bullocks bid goodbye to Eye of the Needle Winery
• Massachusetts’ online alcohol deliveries soared in pandemic

AG, GROWER & CELLAR NEWS

• Lessons in eradications

EUROPE & THE UK

• UK Budget: Chancellor freezes all alcohol duty

DOWN UNDER

• OZ: Bird in Hand buys Tasmanian land for vineyard
• OZ: Students ditch books for first harvest in school’s vineyard

ASIA & PACIFIC RIM

• Growing consumer demand for wine in China in 2021