Afternoon Brief

Shocking Working Conditions in Champagne: An Arte report sheds light on the working conditions of harvest workers in Champagne...

Genetic Diversity of Wild North American Grapes Mapped: Research identifies traits that could advance grape breeding, sustainability...

British Man Accused of Swindling Nearly $100 Million in Wine Fraud Case Pleads Not Guilty : A British man accused of allegedly defrauding investors of nearly $100 million through a Ponzi-like scheme involving nonexistent luxury wines pleaded not guilty in a U.S. court on Saturday...

WSTA Debunks Pesticide Report: Recent results from a UK government testing programme have suggested a dramatic increase in the proportion of wine that contains multiple pesticide residues – up from 14% in 2016 to 50% in 2022...

Winemaker Mike Grgich, Who Grabbed Worldwide Attention with His Napa Chardonnay, Dies at 100: After emigrating from Croatia, the winemaker worked at top Napa cellars like Beaulieu Vineyard, Chateau Montelena and Robert Mondavi Winery before founding his own winery...

Study Reveals More Than Half of Wines Sold on the British High Street Contain Toxic Chemicals: Unsuspecting members of the public could be sipping down toxic chemicals as they enjoy their favorite tipple this Christmas. That's because wines sold on the British high street by the likes of Sainsbury's, Marks and Spencer and Asda contain cancer-causing pesticides, a study shows...

DRINKS Partners with Sovos to Offer a  Full-Service Solution for Wineries and Alcohol Retailers on Shopify: New partnership streamlines e-commerce alcohol sales, tax compliance and reporting by integrating the best-in-class solutions for alcohol merchants...

The California Wine Industry Is Facing Unprecedented Challenges, Causing Many Winery Owners to Consider Acquisitions: Consolidation is nothing new for the wine industry, but the pace of change has accelerated in recent years as interest rates have risen, costs of labor and supplies have jumped, and demand for wine has softened...

Additional Layoffs at Ste. Michelle Indicate On-Going Struggles: On December 6th, Ste. Michelle Wine Estates (SMWE), the largest winery in the Pacific Northwest, announced a substantial layoff. The layoffs impacted approximately 7% of the company’s staff...

Why Napa Green’s Glyphosate Ban Is Such a Big Deal: Last month, Napa Green, a sustainable wine-growing certification for Napa Valley vineyards, announced that members must phase out the use of the herbicide glyphosate, the active ingredient in popular weed killer Roundup...

New Lawsuit Challenges Protectionist California Wine Distribution Law: The National Association of Wine Retailers announced its support today for a lawsuit challenging a discriminatory and protectionist California restriction on out-of-state wineries selling directly to California retailers and restaurants...

AI Can Tell a Wine’s Vineyard with 100% Accuracy: AI may have just replaced another profession: wine tasters...

Washington Winery Wants Answers as to Who Drained Thousands of Gallons of Wine Estimated at over $600K: Investigators have not made any arrests and have no suspect information...

NYC Wine Shop Faces Panicked Customers Who Fret Their Prized Vintages Are Lost or Sold:

US Ramps Up Wine Exports: American producers are finally starting to take the international wine market seriously and looking beyond their own borders...