Wakefield Taylors Wines and 1800 Milenio Take Top Honors July 14, 2025 — Winners have been announced in the 18th annual Women’s International Wine & Spirits Competition (IWWSC). The competition, which took place recently in Santa Rosa, Calif., was founded on the premise that the majority of wine purchased for home consumption is bought by women. The IWWSC judging panels consist entirely of professional women in the wine and spirits industries — winemakers, distillers, marketers, buyers, sommeliers, educators and journalists.  This year, Wakefield Taylor Wines 2024 Estate Riesling and 1800 Milenio Extra-Aged Añejo took top honors. Wakefield Taylor, a heritage winery in Australia’s Clare Valley (a region known for quality Reislings), wowed judges with its “mouthwatering citrus blooms” and “gentle salinity.”  A representative from 1800 Mileno remarked, “1800 Milenio is backed by 11 generations of tequila-making e

JUNE 28, 2024 – Winners have been announced in the 17th annual Women’s International Wine & Spirits Competition (IWWSC). The competition, which took place June 10-12 in Santa Rosa, Calif., was founded on the premise that the majority of wine purchased for home consumption is bought by women. The IWWSC judging panels consist entirely of professional women in the wine and spirits industries — winemakers, distillers, marketers, buyers, sommeliers, educators and journalists.  “As always, the International Women’s Wine & Spirits Competition shined a spotlight on hundreds of deserving wines,” says Debra Del Fiorentino, owner of Wine Competitions Management & Production, which organizes and presents IWWSC. “And even though entry is open to all winemakers regardless of gender, I found it gratifying that six of this year’s sweepstakes wines were created by women. And our overall wine winner also was named Best Woman Winemaker

The California Department of Food and Agriculture’s preliminary 2023 grape crush figure, published February 9th, totalled 3,668,294 tons, in line with Ciatti’s pre-harvest projections of 3.5-3.7 million tons. The crop was 8% larger than 2022’s 3.39 million tons but the fifth consecutive crop to come in below the 4-million-ton mark. At least part of the shortfall was attributable to uncontracted grapes going unpicked: Many wineries were willing to receive grapes only to the contracted volumes and then held growers to that number.  Chardonnay’s total tonnage was up 24.1% versus 2022 to 651,610 tons, re-taking the crown as the state’s largest variety which it briefly lost in 2022 to Cabernet (itself up, by 14.1% to 646,941 tons). Versus 2022, some 66,000 extra Chardonay tons were harvested in Lodi and Clarksburg combined. Sauvignon Blanc experienced the same percentage growth as Chardonnay, up 24.1% to 162,765 tons, while Pinot Gris tonnage was up 19.1%

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

Good for the Earth & Good for Business To date, we have made significant progress by implementing several initiatives to reduce energy consumption and decrease potential adverse effects on the environment. Among them G3 has: Installed 650 solar panels used at the G3 Campus Saved 5.9 million kWh of energy annually through motion-detecting lights Diverted over 1,000 tons of waste material a year from landfill through well-established recycling programs Learn More G3's commitment to sustainability extends into its products and solutions: PACKAGING Over 50% of cork and capsule shipments use re-useable pallets. Origine by DIAM® cork is made from 100% bio-based products: cork, beeswax emulsion instead of microspheres and a binder composed of 100% vegetable polyols. GTREE™ labels are composed of 100% post-consumer waste (PCW) paper reducing GHG emissions by 100,000 lbs/year. Sierra White™ Paper is FSC® certified to be sourced according to sustainable practices, i

SIERRA WHITE™ WITH EARTHCOATING® The Sierra Nevada Mountains are renowned symbols of toughness throughout the world and recognized for their soaring snowcapped peaks and polished granite cliffs. Today, Sierra White™ with EarthCoating® serves to remind users of those demanding attributes through its ability to perform in the most trying of environments. Now with EarthCoating®, Sierra White™ has improved wet strength which results in increased durability and brand integrity in both ice bucket and cold box conditions that are comparable to weld labels. The brilliant white paper not only maintains its pristine look after exposure to cold and water, but it also provides for great color reproduction and high-quality printing for your labels each and every time. It is excellent for embossing depth, consistency and retention along with superior hot stamp design visuals. Request Sample Sierra White™ with EarthCoating® is eco-friendly paper manufactured

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

G3 is a wine industry leader providing oak products, integrated packaging, and logistics solutions with a drive for innovation and process improvement that benefits customers through a creative line of products, technical and logistic capabilities. Phenesse Oak Alternatives and Now Premium Barrels G3’s portfolio of Phenesse™ oak alternatives were designed to give winemakers complete control over their winemaking styles with a variety of tank staves, petite squares, and chips, and at the Unified Wine and Grape Symposium G3 completed their oak portfolio with the launch of Phenesse French Bordeaux oak barrels. The launch of Phenesse premium barrels means that G3 is now able to serve the oak needs of all wineries. Phenesse French oak barrels are developed in collaboration with a world renowned cooperage and the premium oak is sourced from sustainably managed forests in France. The barrels are toasted using the traditional wood fire method and produce three toast levels. P