Afternoon Brief
Afternoon Brief, November 19
Harvard Spent $100 Million on Vineyards. Now It’s Fighting with the Neighbors: Four years ago, Harvard University bought an old cattle ranch in the foothills of the Sierra Madre Mountains. On an arid expanse north of Santa Barbara, California, the schools endowment set out to make money from a notoriously tricky business: vineyards …
Afternoon Brief, November 16
Wine Spectator Reveals Wine of the Year – Wine Spectator, the worlds leading authority on wine, today announced …
Afternoon Brief, November 15
Smokey Summers a Winner for Wine Critics: California’s ongoing worst wildfires ever will not affect the 2018 vintage, which is now in tanks and barrels. In fact, California’s wines are better off than its people, as the inside of a stainless-steel tank might be the only place in the Golden State where you could breathe easily right now…
Afternoon Brief, November 14
Are Napa Valley Growers Smart to Rely so Heavily on Cabernet Sauvignon? : A panel of grape growing pundits held court last week during the Napa Valley Grapegrowers Rootstock trade show on the wisdom of relying so heavily on Cabernet Sauvignon…
Afternoon Brief, November 13
Malibu Coast AVA Devastated by Woolsley Fire – Some Structures Saved by Vines: Vineyards and wineries in the Malibu Coast AVA have been heavily damaged or destroyed by the still-raging Woolsey fire in the coastal hills west of Los Angeles…
Afternoon Brief, November 12
North Coast Wineries Bullish on Organic Grapes to Drive Growth: Walk down the aisle at the local Whole Foods Market or any other similar grocer. Almost everywhere you look, there are organic products on prominent display, from lettuce to macaroni and cheese to ice cream. But over at the wine section? Not so much…
Afternoon Brief, November 9
Scientists Find Compound in Red Wine and Dark Chocolate Could Reverse Ageing: In good news for hedonists, scientists have discovered a compound present in both dark chocolate and red wine may help you look younger by rejuvenating cells …
Afternoon Brief, November 8
New Mondavi Plan Upsets Some Locals: Despite the passing of its two iconic founding brothers Robert and Peter and the sale of the Robert Mondavi Winery in 2004, the current and third generation of Mondavi family members continues to show a keen interest in the wine business …
Afternoon Brief, November 7
Subscribe to the Afternoon Brief Trending Story: John Fetzer Sells Mendocino’s Saracina Vineyards to the Taub Family’s Heritance Vintners The Taub family, owners of Palm Bay International, one of the nations leading wine importers, is expanding its presence in California … Today’s News: California Supermarket Chain Raley’s Ups Its Game in Beverage Alcohol California-based […]
Afternoon Brief, November 6
Jim Bernau Responds to Copper Cane’s Joe Wagner: The article regarding Oregon Vintners Pushing Back on Copper Cane’s Labels generated a lot of interest, as did last week’s Joe Wagner Responds: Copper Cane owner explains his side of the story, published by the Oregon Wine Press and included the daily roundup …
Afternoon Brief, November 5
E&J Gallo Continues Its Push on Premium: Kozel’s focus, who joined Gallo 18 years ago, continues to be the company’s push on premium, which has seen it gradually move beyond big volume sub $10 wines to more premium, boutique labels, such as Orin Swift, J Vineyards and Talbott …
Afternoon Brief, November 2
Napa County Formulating New Rules for Winery Rule-Breakers: Once again, Napa County is poised to further deal with wineries that make too much wine, have too many visitors or otherwise break rules set out in their permits…
Afternoon Brief, November 1
Joe Wagner Responds to Copper Cane Controversy: Copper Cane founder Joe Wagner has largely stayed quiet and out of the press as controversy swirls around his using of Oregon place names on his wines. In early October, he agreed to a lengthy phone interview with Oregon Wine Press; what follows are excerpts from that conversation…
Afternoon Brief, October 31
Legal Strategies for Grape Growers When Wineries Talk ‘Smoke Taint’ After Wildfires: Following on last year’s Northern California firestorm in Napa, Lake, Sonoma, Mendocino, Butte and Solano counties, various North Bay regions have also seen wildfires in 2018…
Afternoon Brief, October 30
Napa Vineyard Worker Dies After Getting Pulled into Grape-Picking Machine: A worker was killed Monday afternoon at a Napa vineyard after getting stuck in a grape harvesting machine. The Napa man was working near the machine at Deconinck Vineyards when his clothing caught in it, pulling him in and killing him…
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