OCTOBER 26, 2022 – WINE NEWS FETCH

• In the Age of Megadrought, Farmers in the West See Promise in Agave
• Napa Valley Tourism Remains Strong Thanks to the Region’s Focus on the Land
• Rosé-tinted spectacles: Can rosé ever be Grand Cru?
• How TikTok is changing the restaurant landscape
• Hard seltzers “unlikely” to replicate US success globally
• Thank Long COVID For The Astounding Increase Of Disabled Workers At Work
• Hate filling out the CA Grape Crush Report? Now There’s help! – (Sponsored Link.)

OBITUARIES

• Nicolas Belfrage obituary

ICYMI (IN CASE YOU MISSED IT)

• Wine Retailer Association Announces Filing of Amicus Brief With Supreme Court
• Prosecco Aims for Champagne Status
• Why So Many Winemakers Are Embracing Agroforestry
• Grow your wine brand awareness in restaurants and bars of USA – (Sponsored link)

WINE SUPPLY & CONSUMPTION

• Another Harvest For The Record Books For Sonoma County Grape Growers
• Prosecco continues to grow around the world. And the DOCG is betting a lot on the UK
• Tough market conditions put Australian wine exports in decline

CALIFORNIA BRIEFS

• Fresno County ag value surpasses $8 billion for the first time. Which crops topped the list? [paywall?]
• Meet The Future of Sonoma County Wine – Legends: Next Gen

WILDFIRES/SMOKE TAINT

• PG&E facing $155 million fine over fatal 2020 Zogg Fire in Northern California [paywall?]
• California Fire Map
• Oregon Wildfire Tracker

DROUGHT/WATER

• Coalinga, California, faces the end of its water supply by Dec. 1

CLIMATE CHANGE

• Drought and Climate Change in California

CONSUMER SALES: DTC, ON- & OFF-PREMISE

• Did Wine Wholesalers Know About Security Failures at Drizly? [paywall]

DIVERSITY

• Opening a winery as Black woman, ‘representation is everything’

ENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABILITY

• Yealands becomes NZ’s first winery to sign a Sustainability Linked Loan in partnership with ASB
• Living Wages, Worms And Drones Help O’Neill Vintners & Distillers Achieve B Corp Status [paywall?]

REGULATION & LEGAL MATTERS

• TTB Launches myTTB System for CBMA Foreign Producer Registrations
• What do the recent federal tax law changes mean for North Bay businesses?

PUBLIC COMPANIES

• Vintage Wine Estates Appoints Jessica Kogan as Chief Growth & Experience Officer
• Penfolds to expand French production after snapping up Château Lanessan
• Virgin Wines FY 2022 Pretax Profit Rose on Lower Costs; Flags Tough Consumer Outlook [paywall?]

FINANCE, INVESTMENT, M&A

• South Africa: Uitkyk Wine Estate sold

AGRIFOODTECH

• Tech event hypes robotics to boost yields

INTERNATIONAL TRADE

• Wine Australia sees ‘tail end’ of export decline to mainland China

DISTRIBUTORS

• Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits Appoints Jefferey Lightfoot to Vice President, General Manager, Alaska

INVESTING IN WINE, COLLECTING & AUCTIONS

• Cru World Wine Trading and Investment Platform: Bringing Digital to Fine Wine w/ Henrich Greve (video)
• Catch a Glimpse of the 2022 October Live Auction (Wine & Spirit) in Hong Kong

PACKAGING, LABELS & CORKS

• Nomacorc Blue Line becomes first range of wine closures worldwide to receive South Pole’s Net Zero Plastic to Nature label
• The Water & Wine Box Is Here For All Your Hydration Needs

TRADE SHOWS & CONFERENCES

• B.E.V. NY 2023: Making, Measuring, and Marketing New York Wine
• Growing Forward Registration Now Open: Lessons from Early Implementers

SOCIAL MEDIA & TECH

• TikTok Restaurant Reviews Are Reshaping Restaurant Criticism

MEDIA MATTERS

• 3 New Books For The Drink Obsessed [paywall?]

MATTERS OF TASTE

• The Good Old Days

WINE PEOPLE

• Meet the Real People Making the Most Popular Wines in America
• Tom C. Davies marks four decades at V. Sattui
• The Wine Makers – Jeff & John Perlegos (podcast)

WINE PLACES

• NZ’s Pyramid Valley: ‘If we’re known for too many things, we’ll never be known’

FOOD & RESTAURANTS

• Why Dine at the RH Restaurant, From the Brand Formerly Called Restoration Hardware? [paywall?]

NORTH AMERICAN REGIONAL WINE NEWS

• A day in the life of an Oregon vineyard harvest at Bethel Heights

AG, GROWER & CELLAR NEWS

• Custom vineyard management row by row

EUROPE & THE UK

• Sherry gets its newness made official

DOWN UNDER

• Australian Grape & Wine applauds continuation of Wine Tourism and Cellar Door Grant
• OZ: Cellar Door Grants Program Stays
• OZ: Taking A Risk, Tapping Hidden Value
• Tasmanian sparkling wine dominates; Laurent Fresnet’s Mumm, Ed Carr’s Arras lead way

BEER, CIDER, WINE & SPIRITS

• Why Pol Roger Portfolio has taken on Tennessee distiller Leiper’s Fork
• Inside the UK’s first alcohol-free sparkling tea ‘fermentery’