JANUARY 3, 2023 – WINE NEWS FETCH

• Winc Files Holiday Onslaught of Bankruptcy Documents; Unsecured Creditors Fire Back On New Year’s Eve
• Spirits-based RTDs, Premium Wines, And Upscale Spirits Kept The Beverage Alcohol Industry Afloat In 2022
• America’s Pandemic Drinking Binge Just Keeps Going [paywall?]
• Wine sales are slowing. How long will the dip last?
• Buying Wine Writers & Influencers
• Prices and wine cultism
• Wine in the metaverse: how Web 3 will change the way we drink
• AlcBev Consumption & Wine Preferences Hold Mostly Steady Among US Adults
• Hate filling out the CA Grape Crush Report? Now There’s help! – (Sponsored Link.)

OBITUARIES

• Bob Benziger, former partner and hospitality director at Benziger Family Winery, remembered as kind, genuine [paywall?]
• Paula Renee Eakin, sparkling winemaker at Ste Michelle Wine Estates, dies at 52
• The world of Italian wine mourns the passing of Francesca Cinelli Colombini, “Lady of Brunello,” cultural icon and viticultural pioneer.
• 2022: In Memoriam

ICYMI (IN CASE YOU MISSED IT)

• Wine Shipping on SCOTUS Agenda Again
• Wine Is Getting Pricier Thanks to a Logistical Nightmare
• America needs immigrants to solve its labor shortage
• Grow your wine brand awareness in restaurants and bars of USA – (Sponsored link)

WINE SUPPLY & CONSUMPTION

• Champagne Exports Skyrocket, Shortages Possible in 2023
• EU sparkling wine exports rise by 29%
• As Winter Weather Hammers the Country, Ohio Vineyard Workers Pick Frozen Grapes for Ice Wine

CALIFORNIA BRIEFS

• Wine pours jobs, dollars into Calif economy
• Economists Reassess the Judgment of Paris
• Kosta Browne was an overnight success, but will Convene be? [paywall?]
• OLE Health rolls out mobile health clinic to serve Napa County farmworkers [paywall?]
• Reflecting on 2022: How did Napa Valley fare? [paywall?]
• Domaine Carneros in Napa County shuffles winery visitation [paywall?]
• Healdsburg’s Rack & Riddle at epicenter of sparkling wine trend
• Pigs & Pinot partners with wine school, Healdsburg Rotary Club to launch wine education scholarship

WILDFIRES/SMOKE TAINT

• Elite Napa estates are releasing wines from a fire-ravaged year. Do they taste smoky? [paywall?]
• California Fire Map
• Oregon Wildfire Tracker

WEATHER

• El Niño Is Coming—and the World Isn’t Prepared

DROUGHT/WATER

• ‘Extra winter’s worth of precipitation’ needed to bust California drought, scientist says
• When the State Cut Their Water, These California Users Created a Collaborative Solution [freewall?]

CLIMATE CHANGE

• Climate change and wine (podcast)

CONSUMER SALES: DTC, ON- & OFF-PREMISE

• Drizly Adds Shipping Options
• Delaware: Bill allowing wine shipping to consumers’ coming back to the General Assembly

COVID-19

• We May Finally Know Why Some People Don’t Recover Their Sense of Smell After COVID

HEALTH

• A Timeline of the Sober-Curious Movement Before Sober NYE on CNN
• 5 tips for a ‘dry January’ any time of the year
• Hangovers — is there anything to be done?
• Psychedelics’ use studied for alcohol, drug disorders [paywall?]
• A Mediterranean diet is good for the heart [paywall]

ENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABILITY

• Biodynamic, Organic, Natural Wines “Explained”
• LODI RULES Enters Fourth Edition

PUBLIC COMPANIES

• Diageo CEO Ivan Menezes awarded knighthood for ‘services to business and equality’
• The World’s Richest Man Is Now A French Wine Producer [paywall?]

FINANCE, INVESTMENT, M&A

• Hong Kong’s richest man buys Australia’s Edinger Estate

INVESTING IN WINE, COLLECTING & AUCTIONS

• Master the Art of Wine Collecting
• Burgundy 2021 en primeur release volumes under pressure
• The new entrants in the 2022 Power 100 – Liv-ex
• The biggest risers in the 2022 Power 100 – Liv-ex

DATA & TRENDS

• 6 Wine Industry Trends to Watch in 2023
• What Wine Regions Will Shine In 2023? [paywall?]
• Wine industry changes in the wind expected in 2023
• Natural Wine and 6 Other Wine Trends From 2022 We’d Like to Leave Behind [paywall?]

WINE SELECTION AND RECOMMENDATION

• A Plea to Wine Critics and Reviewers [paywall]

WINE CRIME

• PA: Fired Narcisi Winery employee accused of bilking $40K by discounting bills, pocketing difference

MEDIA MATTERS

• French drama is rich, full bodied look at winemaking family

MATTERS OF TASTE

• Wine’s Attitude Towards Altitude
• What Is ‘the Whole Point of Champagne’?
• Proposing a Wine Toast
• Stressed Out Vines Could Make for Happier Drinkers, According to Science
• Get to Know Grappa, the Fragrant Italian Liquor

WINE PEOPLE

• Ludovic du Plessis, President of Maison Telmont, Is Heading Unprecedented Sustainable Efforts in Champagne
• Angelina Mondavi, a fourth-generation winemaker (podcast)
• The Wine Perspective of Gerard Zanzonico
• Unfiltered: Natalia Kozlowska

WINE PLACES

• Telex: A former Esterházy-estate revived by a Hungarian family
• Sta. Rita Hills Is More Than Just Pinot-Land

WINE HISTORY

• The Origin Of Florence, Italy’s Wine Windows

NORTH AMERICAN REGIONAL WINE NEWS

• The rise of New York State wine

AG, GROWER & CELLAR NEWS

• Game on To Help Overpower Powdery Mildew in Grape Crops

EUROPE & THE UK

• The Existential Crisis of Bordeaux’s Small Grapegrowers
• Older generation in France blamed for domestic wine lull
• What makes the Pays d’Oc such a success over the last 35 years
• Will there be a new UK wine-train to Bordeaux by 2026?

DOWN UNDER

• NZ online retailers should be forced to display alcohol warnings on page

ASIA & PACIFIC RIM

• China to fast evolve beyond ‘safe’ Bordeaux blends

AROUND THE GLOBE

• Dubai axes 30% tax on alcohol sales with immediate effect

BEER, CIDER, WINE & SPIRITS

• Tequila exports hit new record in 2022