Afternoon Brief, March 13th

North Coast Wine Industry Cautiously Optimistic as 2024 Grape Season Starts: Wine grape growers and vintners are cautiously optimistic as the 2024 season gets underway for the North Coast crop...

Ahead of a Not-So-Dry January, Renowned Napa Valley Winemaker Julien Fayard Introduces Les Vins Julien “Le Blanc Light,â„¢” an Intentional Low-Alcohol Wine

NAPA, CALIF. (December 14, 2023): Renowned Napa Valley winemaker Julien Fayard, along with accomplished sommelier Camille Gaïo, introduces Les Vins Julien “Le Blanc Lightâ„¢,” a bright, expressive white field blend […]

Lula Cellars 2020 Rescue Block Pinot Noir Takes Top Honors November 17, 2023 — Winners have been announced in the 2023 Harvest Challenge Wine Competition. After two spirited days of judging, Lula Cellars 2020 Rescue Block Pinot Noir took the top prize. It was also awarded Best Red Wine and Best of Anderson Valley AVA (Mendocino County, Calif.). Coming in at 98 points, judges praised the wine as “rich, ripe” and for its “Bing cherry,” and “hint of orange peel.”  Lula Cellars is a boutique winery located in California’s Anderson Valley. Its focus is on world-class Pinot Noirs both from its estate and across Anderson Valley, as well as other single-vineyard offerings from the greater Mendocino County. When preparing to plant their own vines, Lula owners discovered some-1,000 old vines “literally lying down, as if waiting to be rescued.” Lots of TLC later, these mystery Pinot Noir grapes have thrived. There’s no in

Afternoon Brief, August 29th

E & J. Gallo’s Luxury Wine Group Announces Acquisition of World-Renowned Rombauer Vineyards: E. & J. Gallo’s Luxury Wine Group announced today that it has reached an agreement with the Rombauer family to purchase Rombauer Vineyards, producer of critically acclaimed wines from Napa Valley, Sonoma County, the Sierra Foothills, and the Santa Lucia Highlands...

E & J. Gallo’s Luxury Wine Group Announces Acquisition of World-Renowned Rombauer Vineyards

NAPA, CA., Tuesday, August 29, 2023 – E. & J. Gallo’s Luxury Wine Group announced  today that it has reached an agreement with the Rombauer family to purchase Rombauer Vineyards, […]

The Flextank family is very pleased to welcome Steve Burch as our new sales representative for the California area. Twenty eight years ago, Steve moved to California from Ohio to expand his knowledge and satiate his passion for oenology by studying winemaking at UC Davis. After many years of working as a winemaker in Napa, Lodi and the Sierra Foothills, he was ready for a new challenge. A career in sales in the wine industry was a natural progression. “The application of true winemaking experience to the sale and use of winemaking equipment is invaluable.” Steve believes. His expertise in oak and desire to help winemakers make better wine through his first-hand experience with the products he sells is Steve's ultimate motivation in joining the Flextank team.

April brought some welcome rainfall to California’s Coastal growing areas: Up to five inches fell in some locations but, in most, rainfall was sufficient enough to get things looking nice and green but not enough to meaningfully replenish water reserves. Indeed, we are hearing that water usage curtailments in some Coastal areas will start in May, and allocations for the federal Central Valley water management project could be at 0%.  Given the ongoing drought conditions, tentative early expectations are for a 2022 crop shorter than average, though we have been seeing – and receiving reports of – healthy-looking vineyards with good cluster counts and sizes. The picture will be a lot clearer in June once veraison is underway. The Central Coast and Central Valley are slightly behind last year in terms of degree day accumulation, a reflection of the forecasted cooler-than-normal spring.  The early morning hours of April 12th brought a frost episode that had a pa

El Dorado Wine Family Captures Their Forested Vineyard Experience Through a Label Makeover

Pleasant Valley, El Dorado County, CA (January 13, 2022) It has never been more important to celebrate the beauty of El Dorado wine region, located in the rugged, pine-and-oak-studded Sierra […]