FEBRUARY 3, 2023 – WINE NEWS FETCH

• Cost Increases are the Biggest Challenge for the Wine Industry in a Tricky 2023
• U.S. Consolidation Means Fewer Opportunities for Wineries
• In Defense of Conventional Wine
• We Need to Talk About Wine Talk
• Why are non-alcoholic brands so obsessed with…alcohol?
• Despite an ‘incredible’ snowpack, drought not over in California
• Most Americans Are Not Happy About Changes at Social Media Platforms
• Hate filling out the CA Grape Crush Report? Now There’s help! – (Sponsored Link.)

OBITUARIES

• Clay Gregory, Napa Valley wine tourism champion, dead at 65 [paywall?]
• Obituary: Donald Hess, Wine Pioneer and Patron of the Arts

ICYMI (IN CASE YOU MISSED IT)

• Don’t count the wine industry as “dead” just yet. Here are 4 reasons for optimism
• Former Vintner/Mayor Foppoli facing third sexual assault lawsuit [paywall?]
• Grape Prices are Pretty Easy to Forecast
• Grow your wine brand awareness in restaurants and bars of USA – (Sponsored link)

WINE SUPPLY & CONSUMPTION

• Your Winery’s “Slice” of Industry Trend Reports: Q4 2022 Comparison Reports Now Available
• Why ‘Warm Days, Cool Nights, And Special Soils’ Aren’t Attracting Young People To Wine [paywall?]

CALIFORNIA BRIEFS

• Longtime winemaker at Napa Valley’s Freemark Abbey to retire
• Sonoma County’s Bricoleur Vineyards adds Bob Cabral as co-winemaker
• Lake County’s Shannon Family of Wines hires sales lead for the West
• Napa Valley’s Priest Ranch selects new winemaker from its own ranks
  
• Get to Know These Garagiste Winemakers
• Proposed Napa rural home raises Planning Commission concerns [paywall?]

WILDFIRES/SMOKE TAINT

• UC Davis Study: California wildfire growing stronger as fuel management practices adapt (video)
• Wildfires Are Increasingly Burning California’s Snowy Landscapes and Colliding with Winter Droughts to Shrink California’s Snowpack

WEATHER

• Recent rains are ‘nowhere near’ what California might see in the future, climate expert says [paywall?]

DROUGHT/WATER

• Calif.’s storms are gone. Here’s how much water we flushed to the Pacific.

HEALTH

• California’s ‘most disadvantaged’ workers have widespread chronic health issues, study finds [paywall?]
• Diary of a Woman Just Dying to Give Away Free AED’s ~ Trained For SAVING LIVES

ENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABILITY

• Can wineries reuse their glass bottles? This woman thinks so
• Sustainable Bordeaux on a Path to Total Participation
• New sustainability roadmap unveiled for Centre-Loire producers

AGRIFOODTECH

• Researchers aim to replace human pruners with robots

INVESTING IN WINE, COLLECTING & AUCTIONS

• Louis Roederer Cristal 2014 leads weekly trade by value – Liv-ex

DATA & TRENDS

• Spanish wine in numbers

WINE SELECTION AND RECOMMENDATION

• Learning a New Wine Language

MARKETING & SALES

• How to Build a Best Selling No Alcohol Wine Brand
• Accessing the Creativity of Diversity w/ Maryam Ahmed, Maryam + Company (podcast)

TRADE SHOWS & CONFERENCES

• Wine Paris & Vinexpo Paris on Track for Growth
• Millesime Bio sets the bar for organic wine
• Texas Wine Growers Hold Annual Meeting in Support of 100% Texas Grown Wines

MANAGEMENT & EMPLOYMENT

• Homeland Security proposes H-2A fee increases

MEDIA MATTERS

• Connoisseurs’ Guide to California Wine Ceasing Publication

MATTERS OF TASTE

• Piccini: More Than Just Chianti
• Peeling Back the Layers on Natural Wine
• The greatness of Sauvignon Blanc, Part 1 [paywall?]

WINE PEOPLE

• Kühling-Gillot Battenfeld-Spannier: Rheinhessen wine’s power couple
• “Winearia” Laura Diaz Munoz, Winemaker & GM, Ehlers Estate, Napa Valley (video)
• Meet the maker: Emily Lambert

WINE EDUCATION

• What You Need to Know About Top Wine Education Programs

WINE TOURISM

• World’s first winery airline is up and running

WINE HISTORY

• The French Colonization of Algeria and the Untold History of the French Appellation System

NORTH AMERICAN REGIONAL WINE NEWS

• CT: Committee Pops Cork On Sale of Wine in Grocery Stores

EUROPE & THE UK

• Minimum unit pricing has ‘minimal’ economic impact on Scotland’s drinks industry, says report

NOT JUST FOR THE TRADE

• Can vines benefit from reiki therapy?

BEER, CIDER, WINE & SPIRITS

• Is Direct-to-Consumer Spirits and Cider Shipping on the Horizon for New York?