SEPTEMBER 9, 2022 – WINE NEWS FETCH

• Economic tensions are high. What does this mean for premium beverage alcohol in the US?
• Why Ste Michelle bought A to Z and Rex Hill, how it happened, and what it means for Northwest wine
• Retailers Weigh In On One Of Wine’s Growth Segments: Sauvignon Blanc [paywall?]
• Grapes, berries and robots: is Silicon Valley coming for farmworkers’ jobs?
• Agrology Partners with Google Cloud to Help Farmers Combat Climate Change, Achieve Sustainability
• More People Are Dining Out Now Than They Did Pre-COVID
• Does Anyone Still Care About Wine Certifications? — (Sponsored link)

ICYMI (IN CASE YOU MISSED IT)

• California’s Cool-loving Grapes Swelter
• Wine Media Is Broken: A Case Study
• Ste. Michelle Wine Estates acquires A to Z Wineworks
• Why the On Premise is more important than ever for drinks suppliers
• You want weigh tags, not a TTB summons. Click Now To Get Your Harvest Regulatory Training – (Sponsored Link.)

WINE SUPPLY & CONSUMPTION

• Third Small Harvest in California
• Harvest in Champagne nears completion for 2022
• Grow your wine brand awareness in restaurants and bars of USA – (Sponsored link)

CALIFORNIA BRIEFS

• Calif wineries don’t do this on your weigh tags!
• Chris Indelicato leads fourth largest wine company from Napa [paywall?]
• Toasting a decline in drinking and driving in Sonoma County [paywall?]
• Can Cutting-Edge Technology and Character Coexist in Winemaking? — (Sponsored link)

WILDFIRES/SMOKE TAINT

• Napa Valley Vintners Invests $25,000 to Increase Napa County Firefighting Efficiency
• California Fire Map
• Oregon Wildfire Tracker

WEATHER/DROUGHT/WATER/CLIMATE CHANGE

• Climate change offers one big perk for Bordeaux fans
• Conserve groundwater. Fallow farmland. Increase dust?

CONSUMER SALES: DTC, ON- & OFF-PREMISE

• Time to get your visitor pass for USA Trade Tasting and meet the world Chicago – (Sponsored link

HEALTH

• More Detailed Alcohol Warning Labels Could Reduce Health Harms

TAKING THE HIGH ROADS

• Reality of legal weed in California: Illegal grows, deaths [paywall?]

ENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABILITY

• Sweden’s Systembolaget Aims for 50% Less Carbon Emissions in Eight Years

REGULATION & LEGAL MATTERS

• Staying compliant amid new beverage alcohol industry regulations: On demand – (Sponsored Link.)

PUBLIC COMPANIES

• Vintage Wine Estates: Solid Growth, Affordable Prices – Good Prospect [freewall?]
• Diageo Claims Victory In Bulleit vs Redemption Trademark Case, But Deutsch Will Appeal [paywall?]

FINANCE, INVESTMENT, M&A

• Ste Michelle Wine Estates Bites Big in Oregon
• UK: Cadman Capital Group strengthens beverage portfolio with acquisition of Alder Ridge Vineyard

DISTRIBUTORS

• Fine Wine Importer Demeine Estates Announces Exclusive U.S. Partnership with Italy’s Historic Mazzei Family
• Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits Appoints Lewis Kenrick to Executive Vice President, General Manager, California

WEBINARS/ONLINE MEETINGS

• Wine Club Members Are Valuable and Vulnerable. Here’s How to Keep Them from Leaving

INVESTING IN WINE, COLLECTING & AUCTIONS

• Figeac Finally First in New St-Emilion Classification

DATA & TRENDS

• Six Best Survey Practices for Wineries

WINE SELECTION AND RECOMMENDATION

• Corney & Barrow’s Camilla Armour on the power of wine training

PACKAGING, LABELS & CORKS

• Wax seals on wine are messy ego trips. It’s time to say goodbye. [paywall?]

MATTERS OF TASTE

• Quinta do Vallado, excellence in the modern Port department
• Making Wine More Than a Summer Romance
• Homage to Structured Cabernet [paywall?]

WINE PEOPLE

• Agent Blue Nun
• Charles III, “farmer” king, wine producer, sommelier and lover of Italian wine

WINE PLACES

• In Sparkling Memory: A Toast to the Queen’s Bubbly

TOURISM

• American tourist fined €450 for drinking beer by Roman fountain

NORTH AMERICAN REGIONAL WINE NEWS

• Invasive spotted lanternfly in northern Indiana
• MX: Winemakers seek to regulate development in Valle de Guadalupe

ACADEMIA

• OZ: Students to share spray drift research with viticulture industry

AG, GROWER & CELLAR NEWS

• Expanding the range of rapid analysis approaches to semi-polar volatiles and non-volatile precursors in grapes (PDF)
• Winegrid Developed a New Solution to Monitor Sparkling Wines Production with Charmat Method

EUROPE & THE UK

• Drinks industry responds to the death of Queen Elizabeth II

DOWN UNDER

• All change for OZ wine brands including Hill-Smith Family announcement

ASIA & PACIFIC RIM

• Sino-French Wine Institute inaugurated in China’s Ningxia

NOT JUST FOR THE TRADE

• In 2022, Should We Stop Accepting Free Drinks From Strangers?