Recent news headlines out of France regarding wine barrel management and leasing mainstay H&A Group have sparked concerns within the global wine industry, with potential significant impacts to the domestic and local wine industry’s barrel financing programs. H&A, a Bordeaux‑based barrel leasing company with a substantial international footprint, has reportedly been placed into judicial liquidation by the Bordeaux Commercial Court in early April, after unsuccessful restructuring efforts.[1] With thousands of clients worldwide—including wineries in California—the liquidation of H&A may have significant legal, financial, and operational implications for wine producers that relied on its barrel leasing and financing structures. For approximately two decades, H&A operated as a specialized financer of wine maturation, allowing wineries to access barrels without the need for substantial upfront capital expenditures. Through barrel lease and resale agreements, H&A worked

A draft Napa County Regional Climate Action and Adaptation Plan (RCAAP) has been released for public comment. The draft and related documents can be found at https://climateactionnapa.konveio.com/  Comments are due by September 30, 2025. This draft has been in development for many years, and covers the County of Napa, the Cities of American Canyon, Calistoga, Napa, and St. Helena, and the Town of Yountville. It includes Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emission reduction targets of up to 85 percent by 2045. At the same time, it aims to achieve “carbon neutrality” by 2045, primarily by reforestation of burned areas of the County to promote natural carbon sequestration and removing GHGs from the atmosphere. The draft discusses 21 GHG reduction strategies with 46 GHG reduction measures across seven emissions sectors, (though the draft only quantifies the impact of 17 of those measures). The seven sectors, in declining order of their listed percentage of GHG Emissions, are: On-Road Tr

Wine fulfillment isn’t just about getting bottles from point A to B—it’s about delivering an exceptional customer experience while keeping costs under control. In this Wine Sales Symposium session, Devin Joshua and Jim silver from WineDirect will break down the key strategies wineries can use to streamline fulfillment, minimize expenses, and enhance customer loyalty. From smart inventory management to optimizing packaging, discover how the right fulfillment approach can drive both efficiency and satisfaction. Join us at the Wine Sales Symposium, May 14 at the Hyatt in Santa Rosa. The Secret to Seamless Wine Fulfillment: How to Reduce Costs While Improving Customer Satisfaction Register with promo code: WINEDIRECT2025 to get $20 off the ticket price Devin Joshua, VP of Fulfillment Sales Devin Joshua is a seasoned wine industry executive and currently serves as Vice President of Fulfillment Sales at WineDirect. With more than 25 years of experience across nearly every t

Ecosystem Science combines biology, chemistry, and physics to model and predict responses like wine grape yield forecasting, water management, and disease vector mapping.  Joshua Fisher, Associate Professor of Environmental Science & Policy, at Schmid College of Science and Technology, Chapman University, and science lead at Hydrosat explains how high-resolution data from space helps farmers plan for climate change.  His research uses satellites to help growers understand how to change their practices to succeed in their current location and predict future winegrowing regions around the world. LISTEN IN Resources: 199: NASA Satellites Detect Grapevine Diseases from Space 191: CropManage: Improving the Precision of Water and Fertilizer Inputs Hydrosat Joshua Fisher Joshua Fisher on LinkedIn Joshua Fisher on Twitter Martha Anderson, Research Physical Scientist, USDA-ARS NASA Acres - applying satellite data solutions to the most pressing challenges facing U.S. agriculture

ATTENTION: The following proposed measures will impact existing groundwater pumpers in the Napa Valley Subbasin. Napa County’s Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) was approved by the California Department of Water Resources on January 26, 2023. The approved GSP identified the need to develop a Water Conservation Workplan and Groundwater Pumping Reduction Workplan. The GSP also identified data gaps in evaluating the depletion of interconnected surface waters and groundwater dependent ecosystems, and proposed the preparation of a workplan to address such data gaps. These three plans have now been prepared by Napa County’s Groundwater Sustainability Agency and are available for public review and comment. All public comments on these three plans are due by January 30, 2024. General information on the scope of the three workplans is below: Groundwater Pumping Reduction Workplan:This plan identifies a goal to achieve a 10 percent reduction (about 15,000 acre feet) in pumping re

Originally published in AJEV. Joshua C. Reynolds, R. Cole Meusel, Anibal A. Catania, L. Federico Casassa Am J Enol Vitic. April 2022 73: 75-92; published ahead of print January 25, 2022 ; DOI: 10.5344/ajev.2021.21035 This article explores the impact of fermentation/maceration temperature on phenolic extraction and chromatic characteristics of three distinct Pinot Noir clones from California's Central Coast. The study revealed that fermentation temperature significantly influenced phenolic extraction, with higher temperatures resulting in increased extraction of phenolic compounds. EnartisFerm D20 successfully completed alcoholic fermentation across all temperature regimes. Additionally, variations in phenolic content and color characteristics were observed among the Pinot Noir clones, with Clone 777 displaying the highest phenolic content. The findings highlight the roles of fermentation temperature, vintage, and clone in phenolic extraction and color expression in Pinot

Under New Leadership, Sullivan Rutherford Estate Receives Accolades from Top Voices in Wine

(August 26, 2022; Rutherford, Calif.)—Joshua Lowell, General Manager of Sullivan Rutherford Estate, is pleased to announce that the Napa winery has been recognized by Wine & Spirits Magazine as one […]

On, April 5, 2022 the Napa County Board of Supervisors adopted a new “Micro-winery Ordinance”, allowing Napa Valley winegrape growers to produce and sell wine at their family farms. The Ordinance will go into effect May 5, 2022. The Ordinance will amend the Napa County Code to allow farmers to obtain a use permit for a “micro-winery” via approval by the zoning administrator, instead of the planning commission. This change allows applicants under the Ordinance to avoid public hearings, potentially reducing costs of acquiring a use permit. Note however that a new winery application, even without a planning commission hearing, is still complex, requiring detailed materials from architects, engineers, and potentially other experts. The Ordinance allows micro-wineries to produce small amounts of wine primarily made from estate-grown fruit, provide limited on-site tastings, and make direct consumer sales. Applicants must follow the below requirements to qualify: Zonin

US Treasury Alcohol Reform Report—Wine Industry Implications

Expect to see the federal government try to make significant changes in the way wine is marketed and distributed in the wake of last week’s Treasury Department report on concentration […]