MAY 13, 2021 – WINE NEWS FETCH

TOP NEWS

• Constellation Invests in Donae Burston’s La Fête du Rosé
• Two Sonoma winery layoffs show how the industry has changed in the past decade (possible paywall)
• Unions, Labor Rights and the Future of Winery Workers
• Wineries concerned as California drought emergency grows
• Treasury Wine pivots to US, Penfolds brand after China’s shock tariffs
• The Quick Books of wine DTC has launched! – (Sponsored link)

OBITUARIES

• Ted Murphy obituary: Expert on Ireland’s historic links to French wine

ICYMI (IN CASE YOU MISSED IT)

• Another California Winery Closes
• North Bay vintners raise concerns about new wine brokering/consulting firm run by failed entrepreneur and convicted felon
• The Path To Netflix-Quality Wine Recommendations Leads Through The Doors of Perception
• America’s Top Wine Buyers to Judge USA Wine Ratings 2021 – (Sponsored link)
• Six wine questions to answer as we come out of the pandemic– Premium Paywall

CONSUMER SALES: DTC, ON- & OFF-PREMISE

• Tennessee Set to Impose Regulations on Fulfillment Houses in DtC Wine Shipments
• Kansas Economic Nexus Has Uncertain Effect on DtC Wine Shippers
• Oregon Legislature approves higher wine shipping limit (possible paywall)
• Bob Paulinski MW: Why I Want to Be a Judge in USA Wine Ratings –  (Sponsored link)

WINE SUPPLY & CONSUMPTION

• Lodi Growers Report Vine Growth Problems from Fall 2020 Cold Damage
• South Africa: A late, long harvest…great for flavour development
• How USA Wine Ratings Judges Wines in the Same Way Consumer Do – (Sponsored link)

CALIFORNIA BRIEFS

• Three women arrested in vandalism of ex-Santa Rosa officer’s former home, including wine influencer Amber Lucas
• Wymer joins the Wine Institute
• See how Phase 2 Cellars streamline systems and provide exceptional customer service.

COVID-19

• SBA data confirms that the current Restaurant Revitalization Fund can’t meet demand
• Sonoma County misses move to fewer pandemic restrictions; Mendocino County on the cusp of move back to more limits
• What learning to smell, taste is like after COVID-19

DIVERSITY

• A Toast to Female North Fork Wine Trailblazers

WILDFIRES & WEATHER

• Red flag warning issued in California as drought emergency deepens

DROUGHT/WATER

• Klamath Basin water allocation cut to zero

ENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABILITY

• Do Sustainably Made Wines Taste Better?
• Why Packaging Is Wine’s New Sustainability Frontier

RECYCLED WASTEWATER

• Vines irrigated using waste water from tourists

REGULATION & LEGAL MATTERS

• With Governor Abbott’s Signature Today, Alcohol To-Go Becomes Law in Texas

REAL ESTATE

• California estate with chapel from 1800s lists in wine country for $10.9M.

PUBLIC COMPANIES

• Michael Clarke’s Vision for Treasury Wine Estates is in Tatters
• Australia’s Treasury Wine sees better 2H earnings despite China impact
• UK: Majestic Wine offers year’s supply of wine to help find new stores

FINANCE, INVESTMENT, M&A

• WA: Desert Wind Winery purchased by Lawrence and Merkle families
• NZ: Sacred Hill’s Hawke’s Bay and Marlborough wineries placed in receivership

INTERNATIONAL TRADE

• What’s Next for Australian Wine in China?
• Australian companies given assistance to combat China’s trade strikes

DISTRIBUTORS

• Baron Philippe de Rothschild appoints Freixenet Copestick as UK distributor

BORDEAUX EN PRIMEUR

• Liv-ex Q&A with Château Cheval Blanc : The 2020 vintage, and pricing in line with fair value

TRADE SHOWS & CONFERENCES

• 2022 Master of Wine symposium cancelled

SOCIAL MEDIA & TECH

• How in-app shopping could change TikTok for marketers

PAYMENTS

• Contactless payments surged during pandemic, still growing

MEDIA MATTERS

• New book celebrates wine writer Philip White’s ‘really big life’

MATTERS OF TASTE

• Wine Traditions, Authority, and Authenticity (I)
• Caroline Gilby MW on Hárslevelű – Tokaj’s ‘forgotten’ second grape

WINE PEOPLE

• The word-to-the-wines interview: David Schildknecht
• Get to Know LibDib’s Wine & Spirits Portfolio Manager, Cody Wheat
• Q & A with Assistant Tasting Room Manager Rumyn Purewal

WINE HISTORY

• How the bubonic plague changed drinking habits

NORTH AMERICAN REGIONAL WINE NEWS

• Gallo winery project in SC may uncork millions to expand state park known for water lilies

EUROPE & THE UK

• Big deal in European online wine trade
• Bordeaux’s Château La Fleur de Boüard joins Mentzendorff
• The life aquatic for English wine

BEER, CIDER, WINE & SPIRITS

• Maryland court rejects control test in interpreting whether a company is a “successor brewer” under beer franchise fair dealing act allowing termination of distribution agreement.