AUGUST 2, 2021 – WINE NEWS FETCH

TOP NEWS

• Freight Blues Driving up Wine Costs
• Black vintners say securing capital their biggest challenge
• Can Sweet Wine’s U.S. Image Be Rehabilitated?
• Males used to drink more alcohol than females, but not any more
• Those San Francisco Millennials in your tasting room could be a superspreader event
• Bye, Bye Wine Direct: The Quick Books of wine DTC has launched! – (Sponsored link)

ICYMI (IN CASE YOU MISSED IT)

• Constellation Wins $2.3 Million For Legal Fees In To Kalon battle with Vineyard House
• Tobacco giant finally divests Chateau Ste. Michelle Wine Estates
• Scathing legal analysis of smoke taint rejections by wineries finds vague, inadequate and possibly illegal contracts.
• Unlock new opportunities in the bulk wine, bulk spirits, and private label business.— (Sponsored link)

WILDFIRES & WEATHER

• Fire burns about 75 acres near Tobin James Winery
• German ‘flood wine’ sold to combat fallout of flood disaster

DROUGHT/WATER

• The California Water Model: Resilience through Failure

CONSUMER SALES: DTC, ON- & OFF-PREMISE

• DTC Principles for Alcohol Shipping Fail to Gain the Recommendation of ALEC
• Be part of the biggest gathering of Bulk Wine, Bulk Spirits, and Private Label professionals in the US. –  (Sponsored link)

WINE SUPPLY & CONSUMPTION

• Time for a rethink?

CALIFORNIA BRIEFS

• Gundlach Bundschu retools in Sonoma Valley for next generation in wine industry
• Temporary events returning to Napa County wineries [paywall?]

COVID-19

• WA: Pandemic prompts Red Mountain wineries to postpone consumer weekend
• BottleRock Napa music festival will check for vaccination or negative COVID test [paywall?]
• Wine to Asia Shenzhen postponed again due to COVID-19
• CDC Alarmed: 74% of Cases in Cape Cod Cluster Were Among the Vaxxed [paywall?]

HEALTH

• What’s happening to your body when you’re ‘piss fit’?

ENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABILITY

• Donum Estate on Track to Becoming Sonoma County’s Second Largest Organic Vineyard Owner
• Viña Maquis is using endangered chickens to fight pests
• Changing Ways for Oregon Wine

REGULATION & LEGAL MATTERS

• Are You at Legal Risk for Speaking at Conferences? [paywall?]

PUBLIC COMPANIES

• Big four spirits companies beat market forecasts

FINANCE, INVESTMENT, M&A

• NZ: Villa Maria finds buyer following mounting debts
• How much does a French vineyard cost?

INVESTING IN WINE, COLLECTING & AUCTIONS

• Talking Trade on Liv-ex – VI-1 forms scrapped
• A 3rd straight excellent vintage for Bordeaux wines — what does this mean for prices?

MEDIA MATTERS

• 5 Summertime Reading Suggestions For Wine Lovers [paywall?]

MATTERS OF TASTE

• Do-Nothing Wine Farming is Based on a Flimsy Idea
• Let’s Talk About “Funky”
• Obstructing the view [paywall?]

WINE PEOPLE

• TJ Rodgers Owner, Clos de la Tech, Santa Cruz Mountains (podcast)
• Cody Rasmussen of Desire Lines Wines and Reid Griggs of Tidings Wines (podcast)

WINE HISTORY

• More Than Amphorae: The Ancient World’s Other Answers to Aging Wine
• The history of wine and its arrival in Santa Barbara County

NORTH AMERICAN REGIONAL WINE NEWS

• NE: Former employees describe being berated by winery operator

AG, GROWER & CELLAR NEWS

• Handling wine pomace: The importance of drying to preserve phenolic profile and antioxidant capacity for product valorization
• Huichica Creek demonstration vineyard teaches growers to monitor, manage water use in irrigation [paywall?]

EUROPE & THE UK

• Chapel Down appoints new CEO
• Mallya’s ties with United Breweries have been severed
• UK: Berry Bros. & Rudd to build largest private client facility in Europe
• Bouncing Back Q&A: Michael Saunders, Bibendum

DOWN UNDER

• Aussie winery experiencing muscat, fortified wine resurgence with younger drinkers
• Big Australian wine companies join forces

ASIA & PACIFIC RIM

• China: Alibaba-owned 1919 reports 50% growth in wine & spirits revenue
• The false promise of snake wine in Southeast Asia

AROUND THE GLOBE

• The rise of Georgian wine: unbottling an 8,000-year-old tradition