Afternoon Brief, December 13th

Study Reveals More Than Half of Wines Sold on the British High Street Contain Toxic Chemicals: Unsuspecting members of the public could be sipping down toxic chemicals as they enjoy their favorite tipple this Christmas. That's because wines sold on the British high street by the likes of Sainsbury's, Marks and Spencer and Asda contain cancer-causing pesticides, a study shows...

Groth Recruits Shannon Muracchioli as Chief of Marketing

OAKVILLE, NAPA VALLEY, Calif. (December 7, 2023) — Shannon Muracchioli brings over 20 years of experience and expertise in wine marketing, hospitality and wine sales.  Her history within the industry […]

Afternoon Brief, June 7th

Pix Poised to Re-Emerge Despite Legal and Financial Challenges: Paul Mabray started Pix in late 2020 and launched it the following year. The company cut most all its writers and editors in August 2022 after a round of funding didn’t materialize, but next week a customer-focused website portal for vintners and retailers called Pix Business is set for rollout...

Afternoon Brief, June 6th

Global Grape Production in 2022 Reached the Second Highest Peak of the Last Twenty Years: Since 2000, the share of non-pressed grapes has significantly increased, mainly due to the rise in production of table grapes that has almost doubled in twenty years...

To toast or not to toast, that is the question. No, we aren’t talking barrels in general (those always taste better toasted, trust us), but we are talking barrel heads! There are a lot of ways to customize wine barrels to your exact preference: toast type, toast level, oak species, oak seasoning, and today’s topic – head toasting. Let’s explore the history and chemistry of barrel head toasting. Traditionally, in the times of ships and casks, wine barrel heads were left untoasted. Why? Well, logistically it is extremely difficult to evenly toast a flat piece of wood. French and Eastern European oak were the primary wood species used in premium wine production for a long time and they tasted quite nicely with untoasted heads. No need to change what isn’t broken, right? BARREL HEAD TOASTING ON AN INFRARED EMITTER AT MISSOURI COOPERAGE As winemaking and coopering techniques evolved, toasting the heads became an exploratory question worth pursuing. The qu

Ted Henry Joins Groth as Director of Winegrowing 

OAKVILLE, NAPA VALLEY, Calif. (July 6, 2021) — Ted Henry has been named Director of  Winegrowing at Groth Vineyards & Winery in Oakville, Napa Valley. Henry comes to Groth from Clos  du Val, where he served for over five years, most recently as Director of Winemaking. Prior to that he  was Winemaker at Jarvis Estate, […]

Afternoon Brief, July 6th

Delicato-Coppola Collaboration: Industry Implications: The wine world raised eyebrows when, on June 24, Francis Ford Coppola Winery announced its deal-in-progress to sell Sonoma County wine properties to Delicato Wines and take a seat on the company’s board...