In recent years, the increasing frequency and intensity of wildfires have posed significant challenges for winemakers and grape growers. One of the most pressing issues is the impact of smoke exposure on grapes, which can lead to undesirable flavors and aromas in the resulting wines. This document aims to provide winemakers and grape growers with a general understanding of their options for evaluating smoke-tainted grapes. “With localized testing now available at ETS, a winemaker can make more informed decisions on whether to harvest the grapes or write them off,” says General Manager Kyle Crowley of VA Filtration USA. By exploring various assessment methods and mitigation strategies, the industry can make informed decisions to ensure the quality and marketability of their wines despite the challenges posed by smoke exposure. Pre-Harvest: Pull grape (berries) samples to test before harvesting all your grapes for fermentation production. ETS offers an excellent smoke panel t

The ninth annual Rich Smith Award of Excellence for outstanding contributions to the American grape and wine industry was presented today to Emily Hodson, the winemaker at Veritas Vineyards and Winery, a co-owner of Flying Fox Vineyards and Winery, and an active leader in the Virginia wine industry. Members of the Smith family and sponsoring organizations present the Rich Smith award to Emily Hodson (third from left). The prestigious award annually reflects the spirit and accomplishments of the late Richard (Rich) Smith, founder of Valley Farm Management and Smith Family Wines in California’s Santa Lucia Highlands wine region in Monterey County. Rich was first and foremost a family man, but also a successful grape grower and winery owner, and a highly respected colleague known for the combination of passion, commitment and collaboration which helped advance the American grape and wine industry. Ever since Rich passed away in December 2015, three organizations—WineAmerica, N

Looking back over a challenging 2024 and ahead to 2025 This month’s California Report looks back at the year just passed and ahead to the new one: Read on below for an in-depth review of the bulk wine and grape markets in 2024, as well as bulk inventory charts for a range of periods and an updated bulk/grape market activity barometer. A Q&A with Ciatti broker Johnny Leonardo, discussing the current market situation, will be published in the coming days, together with the first packaging bulletin of the year from our friends at Saxco. For California’s wine industry, the year 2024 was defined by a painful but necessary right-sizing as the industry evolves into one better suited to delivering to the US market something like 350 million 9-liter cases of wine per year instead of the 400 million cases of the past. Rationalization of businesses and vineyard area took greater hold – there was a marked rise in wine-related property on the real-estate market and a shortage

At Casa Cristal we have a passion to assist growers placing grafting orders better understand the extensive quality control protocols they place on fulfilling these needs. With three generations growing grapes and making wine in California, we understand the importance of grower relations and dependability when it comes to offering healthy true-to-type vines.    Grower Relations Coordinator Sara Du Bois is always available to help growers navigate solutions to meet their needs. She can be reached at sdubois@casacristal.com, or (209) 919-4401.

Celebrating its 41st year, the Aspen Food & Wine Classic is a leading culinary, wine, and spirits event that consists of three incredible days of cooking demonstrations, wine & spirits tastings, and panel discussions led by world-class chefs and beverage experts. This year, 4,000 consumers, media, and sommeliers attended the festival, and Sonoma County Winegrowers was able to highlight Sonoma County wines by being the exclusive partner at the invite-only Welcome Party to kick off the weekend’s festivities, hosting a VIP Happy Hour with American Express for the trade track at the Classic, and pouring at all three days at the Grand Tasting. Thursday, June 13th  Welcome Party This year, Sonoma County Winegrowers was the exclusive wine sponsor of the Welcome Party, kicking off the three days of amazing wine and food. This invite-only party welcomed 300+ VIP attendees to the Classic, exclusively featuring Sonoma County wines, showcasing the region’s diverse grape

Afternoon Brief, April 28th

Traditional Method and Charmat Do Not Produce Different Sparkling Wines: Researchers from the University of Rio Grande in Brazil claim that secondary fermentation produces the same wines, irrespective of whether they are produced using the traditional method, in bottles, or in closed tanks, using the Charmat technique...

by Steve Fredricks We are now well past a relatively uneventful and smaller harvest, particularly in the North Coast, mask mandates have been lifted in most areas, and on-premise sales continue to rebound. Overall, the industry seems to be a taking a collective deep breath to assess the current market dynamics, but remains unable to relax totally or look too far ahead. The market disruptors of Covid-based channel shifting on the consumer side and short crops from drought and fires on the supply side have been exacerbated by geo-political, supply chain, and inflationary issues. The net effect is that supply excesses are down and more in balance to demand. In many ways it feels like the market is more ‘normal’ than it has been for quite some time. At the same time, one must ask: Is this really a return to normalcy, or are we adapting to new normals? This issue will focus on what we are currently seeing in the bulk wine and grape markets, and will offer an early look at the So