AUGUST 17, 2021 – WINE NEWS FETCH

• Wildfire trends indicate Northern California is in ‘a deadly situation’ [paywall?]
• Must! Charities Generates $1.3M at Wine Industry Party with a Purpose
• Shrinking supply sends price of French oak barrels soaring
• Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission threatens to revoke liquor licenses from restaurants that require proof of vaccination
• OpenTable adds a new ‘verified’ tag for restaurants to check vaccine status
• Consumer Comfort Dining Out at Restaurants Drops to Late May Levels
• Bye, Bye Wine Direct: The Quick Books of wine DTC has launched! – (Sponsored link)

OBITUARIES

• Gregory Rodeno 1945 – 2021

ICYMI (IN CASE YOU MISSED IT)

• Right-wine extremist from L.A. who turned a Lodi vineyard into a shooting range cops a plea with Feds
• 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.
• 2021 USA Wine Ratings Winners Announced – (Sponsored link)

WILDFIRES & WEATHER

• Wine scientists running studies to combat smoke exposure

DROUGHT/WATER

• A drought defying description: How California North Coast businesses are stepping up to the challenge

CONSUMER SALES: DTC, ON- & OFF-PREMISE

• DTC Deep Dive with Commerce7: Bingham Family Vineyards (video)
• Be part of the biggest gathering of Bulk Wine, Bulk Spirits, and Private Label professionals in the US. –  (Sponsored link)

CALIFORNIA BRIEFS

• Sonoma Hotel returns with housing component [paywall?]

COVID-19

• Bar and Restaurant Workers Become ‘Vaccine Bouncers’ Amid New Mandates
• COVID-19 cancels Sydney IWC

STARTUPS & NEW BRANDS

• Fairest Creatures and Where to Find Them

ONLINE PRIVACY

• Stop using Zoom, Hamburg’s DPA warns state government

ENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABILITY

• Argentina’s Domaine Bousquet Going Biodynamic and Seeking B-Corp Certification
• Robert Biale Vineyards joins the solar community with new, 145kW array [paywall?]
• Biodiversity leads to more characterful wines, says Viña Tarapaca
• What impact does the angel’s share have on climate change?

REGULATION & LEGAL MATTERS

• Bayer seeks U.S. Supreme Court review of Roundup trial loss

FINANCE, INVESTMENT, M&A

• How This Blockchain Project Is Tokenizing the Wine Industry
• Sting reveals he was tricked into buying his Italian wine estate

DISTRIBUTORS

• Saint-Émilion stalwart Vignobles Bardet appoints EMW to be its Chinese distributor
• Lyre’s appoints Northeast as Hong Kong distributor

INVESTING IN WINE, COLLECTING & AUCTIONS

• Willamette Valley Pinot Noir auction raises US$705,100

PAYMENTS

• Walmart Taking a Big Step Toward Cryptocurrency

MANAGEMENT & EMPLOYMENT

• Leaving Wall Street, Film and Other Careers for Wine

MEDIA MATTERS

• How to Take Better Bottle Shots

MATTERS OF TASTE

• How New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc Upended the Wine World
• Pinotage, the World’s Most Divisive Wine
• The Marselan Wine Grape Gaining Popularity In Bordeaux, China And Napa Valley [paywall?]
• Progress of terroir-focused, vineyard-desginate wines in Lodi
• Baettig: Itata Cabernet is more Médoc than Maipo

WINE PEOPLE

• Wine Trailblazer: Trizanne Barnard

WINE PLACES

• Pio Cesare: 140 years of Barolo

WINE HISTORY

• How Two Missourians Stepped Up To Save The Global Wine Industry (podcast)

AG, GROWER & CELLAR NEWS

• What You Can Do To Protect Your Grapes From Herbicide Drift Damage

EUROPE & THE UK

• Scratching the Surface of Croatian Wine
• UK: Grocery sales impacted as traditional shopping behaviour returns

DOWN UNDER

• NZ: ‘Significant portion’ of $1m grant to go on marketing Hawke’s Bay as tourist destination

LATIN AMERICA

• Demand for Chilean wine eco-tourism ‘exploding’