APRIL 9, 2021 – WINE NEWS FETCH

TOP NEWS

• Sonoma Vintner, Healdsburg Mayor Dominic Foppoli charged with sexual assault by 4 women (possible paywall)
• Constellation’s Wine Premiumization Strategy Is Starting To Pay Off (possible paywall)
• How major investments will shape alcohol e-commerce
• Bollinger Purchase Could See Oregon Sparkle
• Oregon’s King Estate Winery requiring employees to get COVID-19 vaccine
• Tourism-dependent states stand out among the worst in financial recovery
• Shocking news: Wine tastes better when it costs more money, even when it doesn’t(Sponsored link, premium paywall)

OBITUARIES

• Oliver Osoyoos Wine Country mourning death of Chris Jentsch, longtime beloved winemaker

ICYMI (IN CASE YOU MISSED IT)

• Duckhorn, Vintage Wine Estates and Other Wineries Go Public. What’s the Cost?
• 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)

CONSUMER SALES: DTC, ON- & OFF-PREMISE

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

WINE SUPPLY & CONSUMPTION

• Late spring freeze adds to Italian winemakers’ woes.
• NZ: Low yields but high quality in vintage 2021
• Bordeaux 2020 vintage report – what to expect
• China’s wine imports’ decline eased
• Severe April Frost Damages Budding Vines in France
• Grow Your Wine Brand In USA with 2021 Sommeliers Choice Awards (Sponsored link)

CALIFORNIA BRIEFS

• Napa Valley’s Opus One winery names Northwest, Southwest sales managers
• Madonna winery resolves permit issues with Napa County (possible paywall)
• Napa’s Press Restaurant Names New Wine Director
• Napa County promotes Cleveland to permanent agricultural commissioner
• See how Phase 2 Cellars streamline systems and provide exceptional customer service.

COVID-19

• Napa Valley Vintners Support Bolsters Local COVID-19 Recovery
• During the Pandemic, Corkage is a Crime
• Restaurants Are Eager to Get Back to “Normal,” But Status Quo Isn’t Enough
• Sonoma business leaders hopeful for rapid economic recovery
• ‘A new life’: How SLO County is vaccinating thousands of farmworkers with one-dose COVID shots
• Is it OK to drink alcohol before or after COVID vaccination? What to know

DIVERSITY

• Corporate America’s Concern Over New Voting Rules Could Alter US Economic Development
• Equal opportunity job fair to be held 22 April
• Florencia Gomez on winning E&J Gallo and WVS’s scholarship
• Travis Scott’s Cacti Seltzer and the Long History of Hip-Hop Beverages

HEALTH

• Berlin’s first sober Späti: Is ‘mindful drinking’ the new pandemic trend?
• Surprising Side Effects Wine Has On Your Heart, Says Science
• Beer vs wine calories revealed: which is more fattening?

DROUGHT/WATER

• Drought hitting home in California, Arizona Tim Hearden

ENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABILITY

• Diageo collaborates on sustainable glass bottle trial
• Mar de Frades to reduce weight of blue glass bottles

REGULATION & LEGAL MATTERS

• ADA Lawsuit Targets Wine.com

PUBLIC COMPANIES

• Constellation with strong growth
• Pernod Ricard North America Appoints Lani Montoya as Chief Human Resources Officer

FINANCE, INVESTMENT, M&A

• Beauséjour Héritiers Duffau-Lagarrosse Sold for €75M

INVESTING IN WINE, COLLECTING & AUCTIONS

• Liv-ex 1000 climbs still further in March

PACKAGING, LABELS & CORKS

• Confessions of a Canned Wine Salesman: Mike Turner bares all

SOCIAL MEDIA & TECH

• Clubhouse adds tipping feature in a bid for creators

MEDIA MATTERS

• Finger Lakes Winemaker Chris Missick Announces the Launch of New Viti+Culture Podcast
• ‘Das Boot’ Director Andreas Prochaska & Producer Moritz von der Groeben on MipDrama Title ‘The Winemaker’

MATTERS OF TASTE

• 4 Best Reasons For Rosé Right Now (possible paywall)
• This Is Why You Should Never Serve Prosecco in a Champagne Flute
• The 3 New Rules of Food and Wine Pairings
• Time to Embrace the Elitist Character of the Wine Drinker

WINE PLACES

• RD Winery’s Napa Valley debut: The story, the wine, the design (possible paywall)

NORTH AMERICAN REGIONAL WINE NEWS

• SC Senate passes bill paving way for wine giant’s $400M headquarters in Chester Co.

AG, GROWER & CELLAR NEWS

• Grapevine Layering: An Age-Old Vineyard Technique, Revisited

EUROPE & THE UK

• French winegrowers call for financial support from the European Commission
• Investigation in Spain initiated
• France in cold shock

DOWN UNDER

• OZ: Conference to help wine sector prepare, respond and recover from fire
• NZ wine industry looks ahead to winter harvest: ‘Pacific workforce is critical’
• OZ: New trade platform launches in April

SOUTH AFRICA

• China’s growing thirst helps South Africa’s wines cope with Covid downturn

BEER, CIDER, WINE & SPIRITS

• 5 Highlights From the New DtC Beer Shipping Report