MARCH 18, 2021 – WINE NEWS FETCH

TOP NEWS

• Duckhorn Prices NYSE IPO at $15. Trading expected to start today
• Soaring Pandemic Alcohol Sales Cause Concern For Doctors
• What has become of consumer trends in a post pandemic world?
• Online Wine Tastings Around The World – Findings of a global survey
• The existential mind trap of a year of drinking at home during COVID-19 (possible paywall)
• Silicon Valley Bank 2021 DtC Survey Ends TOMORROW
• Clean Wine, Hard Kombucha & the Science of ‘Better Alcohol’
• Consumer Comfort with Dining Out Stagnates at Early February Levels
• Does wine compliance make you cry? We’re here to help with that but need your input!(Sponsored link)

OBITUARIES

• Napa Nurseryman Galo Maclean dies at 92

ICYMI (IN CASE YOU MISSED IT)

• Necessity Is the Mother of Self-Distribution for a Black-Woman-Owned Brand
• Vintage Wine Estates Merger With Bespoke Capital Acquisition Corp: SEC Documents Filed Today
• Vintage Wine Estates readies their SPAC-tacular public offering
• Treasury Wines to offload several US budget brands to The Wine Group in $100 million deal
• Sommeliers Choice Awards launches Shelf talkers and Tasting notes for entrants – (Sponsored link)

CONSUMER SALES: DTC, ON- & OFF-PREMISE

• New Mexico governor signs alcohol bill OK’ing home delivery
• Online wine market has ‘significant growth opportunity’
• Becoming a Master Sommelier in the midst of a global pandemic (Sponsored link)

WINE SUPPLY & CONSUMPTION

• Heavy rain holds up Chilean vintage, with some producer reporting losses of up to 30%
• Grow Your Wine Brand In USA with 2021 Sommeliers Choice Awards (Sponsored link)

CALIFORNIA BRIEFS

• A year of pandemic behind them, Napa Valley’s wineries cast hopeful eye toward future (possible paywall)
• Napa County prepares to resume flood control work to protect Napa (possible paywall)
• Sonoma County’s Chalk Hill winery names Beaulac senior winemaker; founding winemaker at Napa’s Yao Ming exits
• Unlikely champions of aquaculture: Julia Jackson
• See how Phase 2 Cellars streamline systems and provide exceptional customer service.

COVID-19

• Santa Barbara and SLO Counties work through barriers to provide COVID-19 vaccine to farmworkers

HEALTH

• The Worst Reason To Drink Wine, Says Science

WILDFIRES & WEATHER

• Jeff Murrell – VinSci SRx Smoke Taint Remediation (podcast)
• Sonoma county to use artificial intelligence against fires
• Universities prepare West for another big wildfire season
• Smoke from a distant fire can still kill, scientists say

TAKING THE HIGH ROADS

• WSWA Releases Principles of Safe, Smart and Responsible Federal Regulation of Adult-Use Cannabis
• NY Lawmakers Think Marijuana Legalization “Will Be A Go”

DROUGHT/WATER

• Europe seeing worst summer droughts for 2,000 years

ENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABILITY

• How Brewers and Distillers Are Helping Honeybees

REGULATION & LEGAL MATTERS

• Alcohol industry seeks to lock in pandemic gains

REAL ESTATE

• Pour All Your Dreams Into an $8.5M Winery Near Santa Barbara, CA

FINANCE, INVESTMENT, M&A

• Italy: Clessidra buys majority stake in Botter

INVESTING IN WINE, COLLECTING & AUCTIONS

• Brunello 2016 Report: Finesse, Longevity and the Elephant in the Room
• This Extremely Rare Case Of Fine Wine Is Also A Passport To Visit 12 Of Europe’s Leading Wine Producers
• Bordeaux 2018 revisited: Saint-Emilion
• Fine wine investment: Bordeaux 2020

MARKETING & SALES

• TV wine ads: Bring on the Hallmark Channel wine! (Yes, that Hallmark Channel)

PACKAGING, LABELS & CORKS

• Gallo Wants To Build Bottling Plant In South Carolina
• Why we need greater transparency on wine labelling
• Could paper wine bottles replace glass bottles?

TRADE SHOWS & CONFERENCES

• Registration open for Sustainable Winegrowing Summit

PAYMENTS

• How to run a foreign exchange strategy

MANAGEMENT & EMPLOYMENT

• The Launch – Wine, Work, & Passion (podcast)

MATTERS OF TASTE

• Wine Talk and Shallow Subjectivity

WINE PEOPLE

• Memories of Steven
• Steven Spurrier: Bridge Builder
• Steven Spurrier Changed Wine Forever With One Tasting
• How Clara Latham is disrupting Prosecco with Della Vite
• Kenny Rochford and Matt Allan of West + Wilder (podcast)

AG, GROWER & CELLAR NEWS

• First tests, and effects, of exoskeletons on winegrowers’ backs

DOWN UNDER

• Farmsafe Australia launches a new strategic direction

ASIA & PACIFIC RIM

• South Korea food imports 2020: Wines and processed fruit top list as beer and kimchi take COVID-19 hit

SOUTH AFRICA

• In focus: South Africa’s wine tourism hotspots
• More than ever, South African wineries have to rely on exports
• The South African Region with Celestial Beauty and Heavenly Wines

BEER, CIDER, WINE & SPIRITS

• Finding White Space Amid Waves Of White Claw (possible paywall)
• Brewery releases beer named after explicit email from furious customer