Wine's Ups and Downs
/
A new report from Silicon Valley Bank shows some concerning trends and a few rays of optimism
Read More
A special offer to help you make the most of learning!
/
I have a new slate of in-person wine classes coming up with many Covid-protections in place and the promise of finally getting to share wine together. AND, a special offer that gets you a free online class when you sign up for an in-person class!
Read MoreIt's Time for Something Nouveau
/
It’s that season again - Beaujolais Nouveau time and this year, there is an obstacle to its success in addition to wine snobbism
Read MoreSeeing Red
/
Can we make wine on Mars? Some scientists think there are good reasons for trying, so I’ve come up with some ideas to help them along.
Read MoreThe Art of Nouveau
/
Autumn is officially here - Beaujolais Nouveau was released today, the third Thursday in November. It’s more a cultural thing than a wine thing.
Read MoreReaching for a Cold One
/
Global warming is talked about a lot in wine circles, but now that it’s about to affect beer, maybe things will really heat up. Welcome to the grape/barley axis…
Read MoreAllors! Wine is not a criminal product!
/
Labels advising against drinking wine during pregnancy have been around for years, but a new proposal has French wine producers seeing red.
Read More100 Years Old and Forever Young
/
A centenary celebration for a whisky that is much younger than its bottle indicates - and that’s not a bad thing. Here’s a story of a surprising discovery - a fresh bit of the distant past for whisky lovers.
Read MoreWho's Buying?
/
Who's buying wine today, and what does that have to do with what we have available to drink? A new study explores the question and comes up with a surprising answer.
Read MoreThe Fires of Wine Country
/This has been a heartbreaking season - in the Southeastern US where I live, four hurricanes in less than six weeks have caused widespread damage along the Gulf Coast, South Florida and Puerto Rico. And now, California's top wine regions are on fire.
California is often the victim of forest fires when dry weather and high winds dramatically increase the risk of conflagration. This year's fires are particularly difficult because they are destroying not only wilderness areas but heavily populated areas as well. The news changes by the hour but as I write this on Tuesday afternoon, 15 people are reported dead and more than 150 are missing in the fires that have destroyed more than 1500 structures, and more than 25000 acres (10,000 hectares). A Wednesday update puts the number of dead at 21, the number of structures (homes and businesses) destroyed at more than 2,000 and the number of affected acres at 125,000 (50,000 hectares).
We know for sure that two wineries have been completely destroyed - Signorello Estate and Paradise Ridge Winery. Because so many people were forced to evacuate, often with only half an hour's notice, and because the fires are still burning, blocking many parts of Napa and Sonoma counties, there hasn't been a full assessment yet of the damage. We'll have bad news trickling in for days I expect.
To give you an idea of what is happening, here are two photos: on the top is the Jackson Family's Mount Veeder Vineyard a couple of weeks ago, and below that, how it looked last night.
Photo Credit: Jackson Family wines
Photo Credit: Jackson Family Wines
As the news is breaking quickly in California, here are two recent reports that I recommend checking out:
Click here to read a story in the Tuesday of The Drinks Business
And click here for the latest from Wine Spectator
I've spoken with many friends in the area; my friends are safe, but not a one of them has been untouched by the fires and many of them have close colleagues and acquaintances who have lost their homes in the blazes. It will be a long time recuperating from this disaster I'm afraid.