OCTOBER 14, 2021 – WINE NEWS FETCH

• Digital wine club Winc files IPO
• Employee’s death at Dry Creek Vineyard spurs workplace investigation
• Get Ready for the Global Wine Drought
• The Single-Vineyard Wine Scam
• COVID comfort with dining out sees modest increase.
• Bye, Bye Wine Direct: The Quick Books of wine DTC has launched! – (Sponsored link)

ICYMI (IN CASE YOU MISSED IT)

• Wine DTC Sales Creep Above Pandemic Levels ($ lead volume); Retail Off-Premise Sales Still Lag
• 2021 will be the best year ever for a lot of wineries!
• The existential terror of choosing wine & how consumers will soon be able to avoid it
• Court filing alleges Hugh Reimers conspired with Langtry Farms insider in illegal scheme to sell smoke-tainted wine
• 2021 USA Wine Ratings Winners Announced – (Sponsored link)

WILDFIRES & WEATHER

• Alisal Fire Still Making Runs to Beach
• In Sonoma County courtroom, PG&E pleads not guilty to Kincade fire charges [paywall?]
• A developing mid-October storm aimed at SF Bay Area could ‘potentially’ end wildfire season

DROUGHT/WATER

• BC Wineries: Register Your Water Well Now or Lose Your Water Supply

CONSUMER SALES: DTC, ON- & OFF-PREMISE

• Be part of the biggest gathering of Bulk Wine, Bulk Spirits, and Private Label professionals in the US. –  (Sponsored link)

WINE SUPPLY & CONSUMPTION

• Swift, Uneventful Sonoma County Winegrape Harvest Is A Welcome Change And May Signal Return Of Market Balance
• Napa Valley harvest report: Harvest ends with high quality, no drama [paywall?]
• Bordeaux is not harvesting the vintage of the century, but a vintage from the last century
• Ciatti Global Market Report October 2021

CALIFORNIA BRIEFS

• Biden works to expand Port of L.A. to 24/7 operations
• Get smart on Wine Chemistry with Clark Smith’s new online course – (Sponsored link)

DIVERSITY

• The LatinX State of the Wine Industry Summit

ENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABILITY

• The climate disaster is here

REAL ESTATE

• In California Wine Country, a Home With a Vineyard and an Olive Grove Wants $34.5 Million

FINANCE, INVESTMENT, M&A

• Ferovinum gets capital backing to support wine and spirits sector

DISTRIBUTORS

• Wilson Daniels Appoints Kim Wood as Vice President of Southern Division

INVESTING IN WINE, COLLECTING & AUCTIONS

• Liv-ex: Fine wine market robust as it nears a ten year high
• Swiss-Based 1275 Offers Fully Traceable Fine Wine Collections
• Zachys Announces the First Two Live Wine Auctions in Two Years
• Champagne prices rising fast on fine wine market, says Bordeaux Index

MARKETING & SALES

• Who do you think you are talking to?
• Aquilini’s Robert Chin on creating successful brands

MATTERS OF TASTE

• Petit Verdot Is Having a Moment
• The Own-Rooted Wine Revival
• Tempranillo: the radical cultivar
• Sandy Soils Are Imperfect but Impervious to Certain Wine Threats
• Getting wild with ferments
• Spanish Wine Academy taps into the buzz around Spanish Garnacha

WINE PEOPLE

• Immigrant Winemakers Chase Their Dream in Wine Country

WINE EDUCATION

• Music and Wine Pairing Research in the Master of Wine Program

NORTH AMERICAN REGIONAL WINE NEWS

• Emerging Wine Regions: Vermont & The Finger Lakes (podcast)

EUROPE & THE UK

• London: Coravin opens first pop-up wine bar and retail outlet

NOT JUST FOR THE TRADE

• Ancient excrement shows humans supped on beer and blue cheese 2,700 years ago

BEER, CIDER, WINE & SPIRITS

• What’s Biden’s Beef With the Beer Industry? [paywall?]