Welcome to my weekly roundup of the wine stories that I find of interest on the web. I post them to my magazine on Flipboard, but for those of you who aren’t Flipboard inclined, here’s everything I’ve strained out of the wine-related muck for the week.
Grape and Bulk Market Activity Increases as Wineries Seek Ways to Supplement a Smaller, Smoke Plagued Vintage
Not a surprise.
Early Burgundy Vintage Confounds Expectations
Early but not hot.
Disruption of lives from the coronavirus disrupts Napa Valley agriculture
Hard times for hard workers.
Wineries burn, but places endure: After Cain is destroyed, new reasons for hope
Esther talks with Chris Howell.
Beaujolais Reports ‘Vintage of Extremes’
Drought, heat and more.
The Joys of Serendipity
We should all be so lucky.
Battling Wildfires and the Pandemic, Some U.S. Winemakers Forgo the 2020 Vintage
A club with a swelling list of members.
Fires Leave Napa Harvest on a Knife Edge
A sharp, bloody knife, as the case may be.
Colorado Wine Country’s 2020 harvest rises above the tenor of our times
Good news despite long odds.
The many faces of the wine consumer
Look into their eyes.
Bats Are the Newest Key to Producing a Fine Bottle of Bordeaux
Bats rock.
Oregon Wine Pioneer Susan Sokol Blosser on ’The Apocalypse,’ Rage Baking — And Optimism
Fun chat with Susan.
Smoke Taint Insurance – Frequently Asked Questions
Read this and then tell me you’re not glad you don’t grow grapes.
Charles Krug Winery Hosts Basecamp for PG&E to Assist Firefight
One of many good deeds this past week.
North Bay wildfires cloud wine grape harvest as total losses could approach $500 million
That estimate seems low to me.
Time to Kill Gender Stereotypes in Wine
You don’t need your wine to be ‘feminine’ you need it to be good.
Glass Fire has now damaged 17 Napa Valley wineries as world-famous region remains under grave threat
Esther’s update on Sunday.
Glass Fire Continues as California Wildfires Burn Over 4 Million Acres
NPR weighs in.
Glass Fire fans uncertainty around Napa’s ongoing harvest
No fans of this fire.
Napa’s Winemakers Discover Scorched Vines and Close Calls
Too many for comfort.
Lambrusco: Your Fresh Fall Wine
Lana Bortolot pens a primer.
Is It Time to Redefine ‘Sommelier’?
Anytime is a good time for that.
Slow Wine, Explained
Well, not entirely.
The Zimbabwean Somm Reimagining South Africa’s Wine Industry
An inspiring profile.
California Fires Take a Deep Toll on Wine Country
Eric Asimov on the fires.
We’ll Make It Even Better: A Q&A with Meadowood Co-Owner Bill Harlan
Bill, as usual, thinks 20 years ahead.
Can California’s wine country survive the climate crisis?
Not if it burns to the ground.
Why is One of Champagnes Biggest Groups Breaking Up?
Deep look into the business of bubbles.
Anson: Living through wartime Bordeaux
An excerpt from Anson’s book.
Penfolds: the best winery in Australia or a Louis Vuitton wannabe?
Everyone is a brand these days.
A running list of Napa Valley wineries that have been damaged or destroyed in the 2020 Glass Fire
The list continues to grow.
How Microagressions in a Sonoma Winery Made a Black Winemaker Question Her Profession
This is what structural / systemic racism looks like – insidious, tiny little things that add up to an atmosphere of “you don’t belong here.”
Meadowood Resort, Newton Vineyard, Burgess Cellars Among Napa Wildfire’s Many Victims
Spectator rounds up status as of Tues, 9/29.
