Preserving the Montado: A Commitment to Biodiversity and Culture On this International Day of Forests, we celebrate the Montado, one of the world's most precious and biodiverse ecosystems. This unique landscape, found in southern Portugal and other Mediterranean regions, showcases a harmonious blend of nature and human ingenuity. The Montado is an agro-silvo-pastoral system that has thrived for centuries. Protected by some of the world’s oldest laws—dating back to the 7th century and refined in the early 13th century—its cork oaks and holm oaks are cherished cultural and natural treasures. These trees not only support local livelihoods but also provide critical environmental benefits. Beyond its rich cultural significance, the Montado plays a vital role in carbon sequestration, water regulation, and biodiversity conservation. Its tree cover helps absorb COâ‚‚ from the atmosphere, mitigating climate change, while its unique ecosystem maintains soil health, prevents

The Political Tug-of-War The title of this post reflects the actions the Surgeon General is promoting. It's part of a long-term, well-thought-out, and well-funded campaign against consuming alcohol - any amount of alcohol. The campaign runs circles around anyone wanting to point out the other positive health science behind moderate consumption. But this report shouldn't be a surprise to anyone.  In a  September 2019 blog post titled "Get Ready For Cancer Warnings on Wine Labels," I discussed the developing impact of the Cumulative Negative Health Message spread by neo-prohibitionists. Even then, there was a growing push to add enhanced cancer warning labels. By now, you've undoubtedly heard the latest iteration of this skirmish, but if not, let me get you up to speed. On January 3rd, when many were resetting their circadian clocks back to work time after an extended holiday break, the outgoing Surgeon General released an advisory about alcohol consumpti

Afternoon Brief, April 29th

Labor Department Sets Sweeping New H-2A Foreign Guestworker Rule: The U.S. Department of Labor has adopted a new rule it said will protect foreign seasonal farmworkers from being abused, imposing sweeping regulations the head of an agricultural employers association called "offensive."...

Afternoon Brief, March 19th

Should SVB Continue to Produce the Annual DtC Report?: Silicon Valley Bank goes to great lengths and costs to provide this report to the industry gratis. Still, it's a partnership with you: Without survey responses, they can't produce this industry resource...

M. A. Silva USA was the first California cork supplier to join the ClimateSmart™ program and receive the Green Business certification. Our beliefs in sustainability are shown through our actions, and are proven through the quality of our cork stoppers, the partnerships we build, and our contribution to an increasingly greener world. M. A. Silva is dedicated to protecting the environment, and helping our customers do the same.  We invite you to learn more about the importance of the worlds cork forests and the vital role they play in environmental sustainability. Cork Forests: Guardians of Ecological Balance Cork forests, often overlooked in discussions about the world's ecosystems, play a vital role in maintaining the delicate balance of our planet's ecology. These unique forests, found predominantly in the Mediterranean region, are home to a myriad of species and offer an array of environmental benefits. In this blog, we will explore the importance of cork fore

Afternoon Brief, October 23rd

Feds Sue Total Wine in Southern Glazer’s ‘Antitrust’ Case: The Federal Trade Commission has filed for a federal court order to force Total Wine to comply with requests for documentation in an ongoing investigation into US distributor Southern Glazer’s...

In our regular market update conversations with our global bulk brokerage partners, the concerns over the lack of consumer demand for value wine continues to increase in each region. The decreasing consumer sales dynamic has led to slow bulk wine markets for larger volumes of value wine regardless of country, varietal, or vintage—especially for red wines. To try to stimulate the market, asking prices for bulk wine are down. This has not yet incentivized opportunistic buyers to come to the market as it has in past cycles.  Historically when faced with oversupply, wineries have resorted to discounting casegoods to stimulate sales, but there are many challenges to do this in today's economic environment. Many wineries have inventory at higher costs as a result of inflation. Additionally, cash positions are compromised by slow sales making them reluctant to lower prices and reduce any margin they may still have. In past challenging economic times, consumers kept buying wine

Afternoon Brief, April 21st

The Wine Industry Remains Resilient: This year's OIV estimates a look into the industry's challenging state. From the USA overtaking Germany as the world's largest wine importer, to China's wine market continuing its decline...

As we continue to celebrate our 50th anniversary, we have been looking back at the history of the Turrentine Market Update Newsletter for previous analyses that also could apply today. Below is from a 2001 Newsletter that we feel resonates with the current conditions: A thousand brands have a bright idea, a bright idea to preserve margins. And it’s a bright idea nobody else has thought of. They are all going to sell less but upgrade quality. At the same time, everyone is producing more grapes and more wine. You may wonder, of course, how that’s going to work. Everyone makes more and everyone sells less but, through the magic of modern finance, it all works out. Somehow. The key is that THE OTHER GUY WHO HAS NOT FIGURED OUT THE PROGRAM will buy all of the excess and will sell it in some previously unknown market east of Kurdistan. Apparently, it’s a big secret exactly who THE OTHER GUY is. It is so secret that THE OTHER GUY doesn’t even know who he is. Someone sh

Afternoon Brief, November 17th

Pilot Project for California Grape Growers Gets into the Weeds on Regenerative Agriculture: As popular as the term “regenerative agriculture” has become, there is little consensus on the definition of climate-friendly farming or how to adapt principles developed with commodity crops in mind to permanent crops such as wine grapes...