MARCH 31, 2021 – WINE NEWS FETCH

TOP NEWS

• How We Drank Through A Pandemic (possible paywall)
• Led by Former Amex CEO, Black Execs Call on Corporations to Fight New Jim Crow Laws
• Constellation Starts Dedicated Fine Wine & Craft Spirits Unit, announces new execs
• Vintage Wine Estates Launches Shareholder Wine Program, Channels Original Chalone
• US off-trade sales surge during pandemic, and driven by international imports
• California holds Napa County in red tier of reopening, delaying indoor wine tasting return
• Older Millennials are finally digging out from their generational financial hole
• Did independent convenience stores and small grocers do better during the pandemic than traditional wine retailers? (Sponsored link, premium paywall)

ICYMI (IN CASE YOU MISSED IT)

• For First Time, Beer Imports Topped Wine Imports In 2020 (possible paywall)
• Ratings & reviews are useless for wine and movie recommendations, so Netflix killed them and embraced Big Data
• Duckhorn eyes potential for more winery acquisitions following IPO
• Sommeliers Choice Awards launches Shelf talkers and Tasting notes for entrants – (Sponsored link)

DIVERSITY

• Time to change: Adam Lechmere on diversity in the wine industry
• LatinX Leadership: Hispanic winery owners making waves in Oregon
• California’s Women in Wine—Part 2 (podcast)
• NC: Single Mother Launches First Black-Owned Winery in Charlotte
• Corporations seek help from racial justice leaders to avoid being ‘canceled’ (possible paywall)

CONSUMER SALES: DTC, ON- & OFF-PREMISE

• Yahyn Shakes Up The Wine Industry With Two New Strategic Advisors
• Becoming a Master Sommelier in the midst of a global pandemic (Sponsored link)

WINE SUPPLY & CONSUMPTION

• Argentina sees exports and domestic consumption surge during pandemic, though many wineries struggling to survive
• Washington’s 2020 growing season one to remember
• Georgian Wine Imports Carry Momentum Into 2021 With Six Years 30%+ Average Year-Over-Year Growth
• Grow Your Wine Brand In USA with 2021 Sommeliers Choice Awards (Sponsored link)

CALIFORNIA BRIEFS

• Rash of Russian Hill Wine Burglaries Suggest We’ve Got a Wine Thief on the Prowl
• First mother-daughter duo set to judge North Coast Wine Challenge April 6 and 7
• After surviving pandemic, St. Helena’s Erosion Wine Company expands into brewing
• Sonoma’s new cutting-edge natural wine restaurant, Valley, takes risks that pay off (possible paywall)
• See how Phase 2 Cellars streamline systems and provide exceptional customer service.

COVID-19

• Napa Valley wine trade group donates $60,000 more to farmworker coronavirus vaccination effort
• Sonoma County qualifies to further reopen businesses under state’s orange tier
• BC Hospitality Sector Severely Restricted by New Health Orders
• President Biden signs PPP loan extension into law; application deadline is now May 31

STARTUPS & NEW BRANDS

• Sonoma County startup Solectrac builds electric tractors for vineyard managers, hobbyists

HEALTH

• British study links alcohol with lower risk of developing cataracts
• Red Wine Compound Offers Potential Treatment for Endometriosis

WILDFIRES & WEATHER

• Survivor Vines

DROUGHT/WATER

• California Water Law: Legal Challenges of Water Supply Assessments
• Calif: Ag land values rely heavily on water availability
• Lessons learned from previous California drought helpful in ‘dry years’

ENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABILITY

• Grassroots of Ribbon Ridge: Oregon’s smallest AVA big on growing green

INTERNATIONAL TRADE

• China-Australia relations: more than 11,000 litres of wine detained in Shenzhen as ban continues
• China wine tariffs ‘completely unjustifiable’, says Australian minister

BREXIT

• How post-Brexit logistics is affecting fine wine shipping

INVESTING IN WINE, COLLECTING & AUCTIONS

• Primum Familiae Vini wine collection sells for £81,250
• Manhattan Wine Auction Sales Kick Off This Week

DATA & TRENDS

• Typical spend on wine online (per bottle) is higher than spend in store in the UK

MARKETING & SALES

• Grain to Grape’s Harry Crowther: how to maximise wine sales and profits

TRADE SHOWS & CONFERENCES

• Wine Paris & Vinexpo Paris postponed to 2022
• Millésime Bio to retain digital format in 2022
• SIMEI 2022 – 29th edition of the fair
• ENOMAQ 2023 – International Show of Machinery, Techniques & Equipment

SOCIAL MEDIA & TECH

• LinkedIn confirms it’s working on a Clubhouse rival, too

MATTERS OF TASTE

• Budbreak as a Metaphor for Life in 2021: We All Emerge from Dormancy, Slowly
• Chianti Classico’s French Influence
• Beyond Balance

IN MEMORIAM

• Tribute to Jim Maresh

WINE PEOPLE

• Kate Acland: Driven by enthusiasm for all things rural
• Samra Morris, Alma Rosa Winemaker, On Her Bosnian Roots And California Future (possible paywall)
• db meets: Olivier Gasselin of OenoTrade

WINE EDUCATION

• Graduation Day: AHIVOY celebrates inaugural cohort

WINE TOURISM

• America’s Campgrounds Are Sold Out But Wine And Beer Insiders Book Harvest Hosts Instead (possible paywall)

NORTH AMERICAN REGIONAL WINE NEWS

• Wine Grape and Craft Beer Hops Farming Expands Across Michigan
• enate to soon vote whether to OK bill that would lure wine giant to SC

ACADEMIA

• OZ: Industry postgraduate program offers scholarship for wine and data lovers

AG, GROWER & CELLAR NEWS

• The time to irrigate is…now?

EUROPE & THE UK

• Gladwin to retire as Wine GB deputy chair
• Brits embrace at home wine drinking
• Bibendum: How we are helping the on-trade burst back to life

DOWN UNDER

• OZ: Government’s $1.3bn food and beverage manufacturing initiative welcomed
• OZ: Wine merchant’s sustainability initiative helping local wineries save money

SOUTH AFRICA

• WoSA expresses concern over lack of government consultation
• Winds Of Change For Franschhoek Tourism

AROUND THE GLOBE

• Growing wine involvement and connection with wine amongst Russian wine drinkers
• Economic worries and Covid temper Russia’s wine renaissance

AROUND THE SOLAR SYSTEM

• Grapes on Mars? Georgia winemakers aiming high