Afternoon Brief, January 11th

Southern Wine and Spirits Late Fees $5.5 Million Class Action Settlement: Southern Wine and Spirits agreed to pay $5.5 million to resolve a class action lawsuit claiming that it charged higher late fees than allowed by California law...

Afternoon Brief, December 22nd

California State Controller Weighs in on Napa Winery Dispute: In a letter shared with the drinks business, Malia Cohen, California State Controller, has demanded an explanation from Napa County as to why it is attempting to withdraw the right to hold tastings from three local wineries...

Unstable weather is making it increasingly hard to decide picking dates for grapes. We caught up with leading winemakers from Australia, France and the UK to find out how earlier harvests are impacting on grape quality. Having always been at the mercy of Mother Nature, winemakers are acutely aware of the impact climate change is having on their livelihoods. Temperatures aren’t only rising, weather patterns are becoming increasingly erratic and extreme, and incidents of devastating wildfires, floods, droughts and late spring frosts are becoming more commonplace in the world’s leading wine-growing regions. In 2021, France was besieged by a cocktail of climate catastrophes, from destructive spring frosts and raging wildfires to violent hail storms. The April frosts across swathes of French vineyard land were particularly brutal, resulting in losses of up to EUR 2 billion. Yields across France hit historic lows in 2021, down 30% on average, though losses were far worse in many

Afternoon Brief, December 13th

Oregon Welcomes Its 22nd American Viticultural Area (AVA): Lower Long Tom: The Oregon Wine Board announces the federal recognition of Lower Long Tom AVA, the tenth nested AVA in the Willamette Valley and the first AVA in the southern Willamette Valley...