Happy New Year—I hope everyone is off to a safe and healthy start to 2022. The early part of the year certainly is jam-packed with newsy items to report—so hope you poured yourself a large glass to enjoy as you scroll through.

A few items I’d like to call out—Wine Industry Advisor has announced its top 10 “Most Inspiring People in Wine” awards. I’m super impressed by the diverse group of people included on this list. I, myself, am responsible for the write-up on the beautiful Ali Smith Story. But be sure to check out the features on Marty Clubb, Cathy Huyghe, Ron Rosenbrand, and Alex Ryan as well. The publication will release articles on the last five awardees next week.

Also, a huge congratulations to a personal role model of mine, Elaine Chukan Brown, for becoming a full-time member of the Jancis Robinson editorial staff. She’s now the executive editor of the website’s US coverage. Full press release is below.

And in the entertainment sector—I am super curious: What do you all think about this new TV series Grand Cru? Is it a good representation of the wine scene? Are you upset that all the actors hold the stemware incorrectly and that one of them seems to be drinking water while the others sip on cranberry juice? Or, is it just a comedy plain and simple—enjoy the laughs and, like, why so serious? If you’ve watched it, let me know your thoughts.

Tis all for now. Happy weekend-ing!

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Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

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There’s only 1 week until Christmas! How’s everyone doing this Holiday Season? Me, I’m doing the whole “hurry up and relax!” routine. Trying to close out all projects so I can think about maybe perhaps taking a wee bit of a break.

Not sure if this is helpful or not, but for anyone who is interested I’ve added a “News” section to the menu bar above ⬆️. [Booze—Wine—News] So you can easily access all my posts that are ‘news’ related.

Speaking of news, of course I have your weekly round up here. All good stuff, but a few of my favs:

• Meininger’s Wine Business International: What fresh hell is this? Wine that tastes of cookies?
• Randy Caparoso: Are Wine Consumers Stupid?
• Eater: QR Codes Are Here to Stay… but They Kinda Suck

If anything, the titles alone make me giggle.

Have fun everyone—Merry almost Christmas!

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Hello everybody. Did you miss me? I feel like it’s been awhile since I’ve posted anything. Thanksgiving was a fun and relaxing week for me. Then the next week was a bit crazy-go-nuts prepping for and then presenting my panel on regenerative agriculture for the WINExpo. What a great event—it was so nice to finally see my fellow wine industry folks in person for the first time in like 2 years. Kind of makes me excited for Unified in January, where I’m sure I’ll see even more of you.

This week has been jam-packed with wine news—local, national, and international. Wow, there’s so much here, I don’t think I can sum it up in brevity. A few pieces I’d like to call out, though, as I found them particularly interesting, insightful, and/or helpful:

• Wine and NHL mogul Bill Foley buys Sonoma’s Chateau St. Jean with plans to restore its former glory

• Robin and Andrea McBride—Committed to Innovation and Accessibility

• Old & Obscure Is New & Cool in Wine Country

• Taking responsibility for artistry in the vineyard

• Inside story: from student to educator, Richard Lane DipWSET

And there’s loads, loads more. So, sit back, relax, have a sip of this, that, and the other (because, heck, it’s the holidays and the list really is that long), and enjoy. Hope everyone out there is having a great start to their Holiday Season. Cheers my friends!

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Hello everybody! This week has been so crazy I didn’t think there was any way I’d be able to keep up with the news. I did, though! Like last week’s post I’ll be highlighting a few projects at the top. Most importantly—this weekend is your last chance to submit nominees for Wine Industry Advisor’s Most Inspiring People awards. So if there’s someone in the wine industry that’s been particularly inspiring to you, please submit his/her/thier name here.

Below that, there’s loads of interesting wine-related news. And of course don’t forget to check out independent media (aka the Blogs), and even a few interesting Press Releases.

NOTE: I will not be posting again until following the Thanksgiving holiday. That being said, you can reach me at any time—and don’t hesitate to do so. I love hearing from you all, even if it’s just a quick hello.

Cheers and have a fab weekend and excellent Thanksgiving. Be kind to one another.

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