Afternoon Brief

Restaurant Failures in 2020 and Beyond Hurts Wine: Yelp research showed that 17% of all businesses that closed in March 2020 were restaurants; since then, more than half the restaurants have closed permanently...

California Winery Claims Storage Fees Hike Is Virus Price-Gouging: A winery told a California federal court Friday that the new company managing its storage facility has jacked its rates by more than 1,000% on $7 million worth of wine, violating the state of emergency declared to prevent price-gouging during the COVID-19 pandemic...

New Winery Wastewater Regulations Could Cost Small and Midsize Wineries Thousands Every Year: The California state water board is working on an update to the winery general order to provide a permitting process with water discharge requirements (WDR) that make sure wineries are in compliance with water quality regulation and allows them a pathway to compliance...

2020 DtC Wine Shipping Mid-Year Report: Since we released the annual Direct-to-Consumer Wine Shipping Report in partnership with Wines Vines Analytics back in January, a lot has changed when it comes to how consumers are getting their wine...

Phylloxera Breakthrough Brings Hope to Vineyards: A breakthrough study in Europe could open the door to an end to the curse of phylloxera...

A Game Changer for Wine & Spirits Distribution: The wine and spirits business continues to evolve, with producers and buyers alike looking for more service, more flexibility, and more choice...

Foley Johnson Winery in Napa Valley Closes After Worker Tests Positive for Coronavirus: Foley Johnson winery in Napa Valley, part of the portfolio of Foley Family Wines of Santa Rosa, has temporarily closed after an employee tested positive for the coronavirus, the company said Monday...

California Sparkling Wine Pioneer Barry Sterling, Founder of Iron Horse Vineyards, Dies at 90: The attorney turned vintner positioned his winery among California's top sparkling wine houses...

After Reopening Rollbacks, Napa Valley Tasting Room Visitation Comes in Waves: Chairs sat more than six feet apart; tables were thoroughly sanitized. Staff had been trained and masked. Now all that was left to do was wait for visitors to arrive...

Dry Creek Vineyard Engaging the Wine Trade Virtually: COVID-19 has affected more than winery relationships with consumers—it’s affected relationships with distributors, wholesalers, sommeliers, and retail market trade as well...

Quintessential Acquires U.S. Brands from Accolade Wines: Family owned-and-operated fine wine importer Quintessential will become the custodian of all U.S.-produced wines within the Accolade Wines portfolio...

Ohio Attorney General Cries Foul on Wine.com and Other Wine Retailers: The state's attorney general is attempting to use a 21st Amendment power to stop direct deliveries from out-of-state retailers, raising new questions about Ohio's alcohol shipping laws...

Napa County Questions How Walt Ranch Vineyards Will Mitigate Greenhouse Gases: Developers of the planned Walt Ranch have more work to do before the controversial vineyard targeted for the mountains northeast of Napa Valley can become reality...

Wineries Scramble for Digital Marketing Tools in Pandemic: Hardy Wallace, vintner of Napa's Dirty and Rowdy brand, still holds 900 cases from the 1,200-case March release of wines destined for specialty shops and restaurant by-the-glass programs. It's a run that is usually sold out by Memorial Day in the typical year. But 2020 is anything but typical...

In Wine Country, Coronavirus Cases Rise in Cramped Farmworker Housing: As Eppie Ordaz, a grape grower in Sonoma County, readies his vineyard for the late August harvest season, he is stocking masks and gloves for employees, planning empty rows to allow workers to keep their distance, and putting extra disinfectants and sanitation stations into place...