Wine News: What I’m Reading the Week of 2/26/23

Hello, and 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.

How war, rampant inflation and earthquakes won’t stop a Syrian wine estate
Wine finds a way.

What do Fine Art and Fine Wine Have in Common?
Interesting bits of history.

Insider Talk
A lovely piece by Peter Pharos.

As Climate Change Ravages the West Coast, Winemakers Take Refuge in the Great Lakes
Midwest wine is a thing.

How Portland is becoming an urban hotspot for winemaking
Keeping it weird.

A brief history of Black winemaking in the US
Liz Thach offers the timeline.

Ukraine’s Wine Industry Ravaged by War: Wineries, Vineyards, and Equipment Destroyed
An industry that will need to be rebuilt.

Snowboarding through vineyards: Napa winemakers embrace the snow
That’s what I would have done.

Spain’s world-beating showcase of food and wine
Sounds… delicious. Major wine countries of the world, take note. The bar has been set.

Behind the bottle: Inniskillin Icewine
The story of one of the world’s most famous wines.

Believe it or not, Sauvignon Blanc may be the most exciting varietal wine coming out of California today.
The rise in popularity is mystifying. The rise in quality hasn’t caught up.

Sonoma’s Tug of Wine Rumbles On
Growing pains?

Pigs Called In To Deep-clean Champagne Vineyards
Cool. If only they’d eat all the plastic trash, too.

The ups and downs of agrivoltaics in the South of France
Quite a shame. It was a good idea.

Meteorite crater discovered in French winery
“Discovered” should read “Confirmed” and it’s now the best wine marketing story ever.

New Masters of Wine from Poland and the US announced today
Couldn’t be more thrilled for my friend Wojciech, Poland’s first Master of Wine.

Rivers Have Sustained Vineyards for Centuries, Now It’s Time to Return the Favor
Long past time.

More Than One Million Acres Burn in Chilean Wine Regions
Buy Itata wine.

300 hectares of old vines lost in Chile fires
Some irreplaceable treasures.

Looking back, looking forward with Ukraine
Miquel supports the struggle.

New Zealand Winemakers Wonder What They Can Salvage in the Aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle
Another industry that needs to rebuild.

Argentina’s ‘white revolution’ moves to newer sites
Not just Torrontes anymore.

Premiere Napa Valley Raises $3.4 million for Napa Valley Vintners
Buying demand back to heights not seen since 2015 or so.

In Berkeley, one winery is expanding fast. Another claims it was forced out.
Landlord problems.

Esk Valley winery digs out 12,000 bottles of wine from silt
One of many producers affected.

These two major vineyard sales mark a shift in Wine Country real estate
Those with the funds can afford to expand.

Raymond Trollat, Who Took a Hilly Wine Region to New Heights, Dies at 91
An influential producer gone.