FEBRUARY 20, 2023 – WINE NEWS FETCH

• A Standard Drink is not what you think it is
• A Fight Over Wine Sales Highlights Push in U.S. to Expand Access to Alcohol [paywall?]
• Winter rain thrills winemakers, even amid threats of mudslide, ‘wet vintage’ [paywall?]
• NZ: Hawke’s Bay Cleanup Begins
• Everyone is playing the premiumisation game
• Post-Covid Marketing Email Open & Conversion Rates Continue To Decline

OBITUARIES

• Dino Illuminati – Once in a Lifetime

ICYMI (IN CASE YOU MISSED IT)

• 7+ Years Later, Calif Regulators Act Against Lodi Pesticide Company
• The Definitive List of Black-Owned Wineries Around the Globe
• Bulk Wine Buyers Hesitant Following Preliminary California Crush Report
• Beckstoffer Vineyards (“To Kalon Illuminati?”) Sues Last Bottle for To Kalon-Related Trademark Infringement
• Grow your wine brand awareness in restaurants and bars of USA – (Sponsored link)

WINE SUPPLY & CONSUMPTION

• French wine and spirits exports reach record high in 2022
• UK Vineyard’s wine exports to Europe on the increase
• Average bottle price of Bordeaux reached €10 in 2022

CALIFORNIA BRIEFS

• The Best Week in the Napa Valley Wine Business Begins Today
• Santa Barbara County Economic Impact Report on Wine Shows Wineries, Vineyards & Related Businesses Provide $1.7 Billion in Annual Economic Activity
• Scholarships offered for winery and vineyard employees [paywall?]

WILDFIRES/SMOKE TAINT

• Wildfires in Chile Threaten Communities, Destroy Generations-Old Vineyards

WEATHER

• Cyclone could cost New Zealand $13.5 billion
• NZ: Full extent of flood damage to vineyards won’t be known for days
• Atmospheric rivers didn’t fix Central Valley groundwater woes [freewall “gift” article]
• Lake Oroville: Before-and-after photos show remarkable recovery at California’s most beleaguered reservoir
• Natural Disasters

DROUGHT/WATER

• Why Oregon Winemakers Are Embracing Dry Farming
• A Guide for New California Water Wonks
• Shrinking water supply will mean more fallow fields in the San Joaquin Valley [paywall?]

CLIMATE CHANGE

• Wine connoisseurs face testing times as climate change alters flavors

DIVERSITY

• Snoop Dogg under fire for wine promo during Black History Month

TAKING THE HIGH ROADS

• Calif. county’s weed industry on ‘brink of irreversible failure’

ENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABILITY

• Planting a Million Trees Is Napa Winemaker Tom Gamble’s Latest Sustainability Project
• Sonoma County Winegrowers Introduces it’s “Farm of the Future”

REGULATION & LEGAL MATTERS

• How Oregon grape growers will navigate new overtime law [freewall?]
• ‘Dry’ Nevada town considers lifting booze ban
• California bill would make finding canned cocktails easier
• If the Policy Doesn’t Put More Money In Wine Wholesalers’ Pockets, It’s Bad Policy [paywall]

FINANCE, INVESTMENT, M&A

• Moulis-en-Médoc: Chasse Spleen acquires its Moulis near neighbour Brillette

AGRIFOODTECH

• New Tech: Two Soil Carbon Measurement Startups Get a Boost from USDA Climate Smart Ag Grants
• New tech to monitor and manage ‘Ghost Vines’
• What You Can Do To Protect Your Ag Technology from Cybercrime

INVESTING IN WINE, COLLECTING & AUCTIONS

• Opus One 2019 sets a new trading high – Liv-ex

PACKAGING, LABELS & CORKS

• Are lighter bottles in sight?
• Glass bottle shortage major concern for French wine producers
• Why Sugar-Free Wine Labels Are A Little Misleading

TRADE SHOWS & CONFERENCES

• Wine Paris & Vinexpo Paris makes its mark as international trade fair

WINE CRIME

• Wine Thieves Front Up in Court

MATTERS OF TASTE

• On Well Aged Wine and a Taste of the Future

WINE PEOPLE

• How Winemaker Richard Geoffroy Went From Making Champagne to Sake
• Paula Kornell brings the bubbles to Premiere Napa Valley 2023 [paywall?]
• Banking Analyst at KBW Leaves to Make Wine at Bordeaux Vineyard [paywall?]
• Gualtiero Crea of Les Granges on the Purity of Wines of the Valle d’Aosta
• Kelly Cornett, host of A Cork in the Road wine podcast (podcast)
• Unfiltered: Cong Cong Bo
• The Profile: Bart Arnst

WINE PLACES

• The Magical Place Called Radian Vineyard

NORTH AMERICAN REGIONAL WINE NEWS

• Wash.: Workforce Reduction at Ste. Michelle Wine Estates

AG, GROWER & CELLAR NEWS

• NZ: New rootstock research trial

EUROPE & THE UK

• WBS On-trade Wine Report: Highs and lows for wine in UK restaurants
• UK: Majestic bolsters buying team with second Master of Wine
• France: Red wine on the brink? Not if I have anything to do with it
• France Inflation: Cost of Coq au Vin Soars to Record [paywall?]

DOWN UNDER

• OZ: WISA appoints new Executive Officer
• OZ: Shaky Bridge Wines names Mike Kush as winemaker and general manager

ASIA & PACIFIC RIM

• Ningxia online wine sales boomed in 2022

BEER, CIDER, WINE & SPIRITS

• Just how high can whisky prices go?