Papapietro Perry Winery and Four Roses Bourbon Take Top Honors (March 6, 2026) — Winners have been announced in the fifth annual Los Angeles Invitational Wine & Spirits Challenge. A pinot noir from Papapietro Perry (Sonoma County, Calif.) and a small batch bourbon from Four Roses Distillery (Lawrenceburg, Ky.) topped their fields to be named Best of the Best. The competition was established in 2022, in conjunction with Los Angeles-based beverage professionals (representing both the on- and off-premise channels), to highlight the best of the best wine and spirits producers in the world, and to introduce those producers to the largest market of consumers in the United States. Judging took place February 18-19, 2026. Competition this year was stellar, says event producer Debra Del Fiorentino of Wine Competitions Management & Production: “Year after year, our judges continue to be impressed with the depth in each category. The quality of product was fantastic!” Wh

Afternoon Brief, March 12th

Illicit Alcohol Worth Millions Found in South Africa Warehouse: The discovery of millions of rand in wine has been found in a warehouse in South Africa by law enforcement...

Crush is upon us.  Crews are working through the nights to harvest the grapes, and vineyard managers have their hands full orchestrating all the moving parts. Communications that aren’t essential to getting the grapes from the vines to the winery can end up waiting until the vineyard manager stops to take a breather — often not until the next day.  Process2Wine centralizes all these communications on its platform, automatically synchronizing calendars, operations, and notations (text & email) between the desktop or laptop computers and mobile devices. That way, everyone can tune into what’s happening in real-time, no matter where they are. 3-tier communications with Process2Wine– Every step of the way Better communication means better planning and quality control The Process2Wine solution is the only software that treats communication as a 3-tiered system that maintains that essential link between the winemaker, vineyard manager, and gen