Hello and happy spring! Hope everyone is staying safe and healthy out there. I’ve got your weekly round up of wine-newsy content from the past week, including a piece by yours truly on the California wine grape crush report.

A few other highlights—the WSET holds its first virtual diploma graduation and plans to keep the format for the future as well (I personally hope that I will be able to travel to London for the in-person event if/when that time comes); the European wine industry is in the midst of one of the worst droughts in history; restaurants are opening up for indoor dining all over the country—but it’s still risky business for workers and patrons alike; and industry pros debate whether we need better labelling on wine bottles.

Those are just a few of the top stories, but scroll through—I’ve included some fun articles surrounding St. Patrick’s Day, there’s some great independent insight in the Blogs, and actually quite a few informative press releases.

Have fun. Stay safe. Stay healthy. And drink good wine.

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Welcome to your weekend edition of wine news. I’ve got everything from interesting press releases, gender equality, women in winemaking, Covid, tariffs, Japanese and Chinese wines….there was a lot going on this week both in traditional press and in the blogging world.

In the midst of it all, the wine industry lost a legend on Tuesday with the death of Steve Spurrier. I only met the man twice, so I’m not going to feign an intimate relationship that didn’t exist. But I think it’s fair that anyone with a career in wine and wine writing was in some way influenced and inspired by his great work. I’ve included a whole section with other writers’ rememberings of Steven below.

Lastly, with a shameless self-plug, the grape growing conference in which I moderated a session all about regenerative viticulture is now live on YouTube. I’ve provided the video below as well.

If you missed any of this week’s posts, I’ve got wine reviews and tasting notes from Domaine de la Pousse D’or 2018 Vintage, Sokol Blosser’s 50th Anniversary, and Alma Rosa Spring 2021 Releases—all with insight from recent associated media tastings and interviews.

Thanks as always for hanging out with me. Hope you find some good news, interesting news, and maybe a few laughs in the links I’m sharing with you today.

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I’ll keep this intro short and sweet. By the time you read this, I’ll be sitting in another WSET course, studying away. This week I’ve pulled a good variety of wine related news from around the world, incorporating everything from the wines of Greece, cork production, New Zealand red wines to watch for, modern day Douro wines and winemaking, the stink bug that’s invaded UK vineyards, and so very much more. Hopefully you have some time to relax, scroll through, and read what suits your fancy. Enjoy!

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You made it through another week! Hope you have something amazing to pour in the glass to celebrate. Me? I’ve got so many bottles of wine after doing some conjunctive tastings along with my Portugal and Greece studies this past week. (To be released in the coming weeks). In case you missed my Italian notes: DipWSET Theory and Tasting—Piemonte , DipWSET Theory and Tasting—Valpolicella , DipWSET Theory—Southern Italy , and DipWSET Personal Theory and Tasting—Gavi di Gavi.

Below I’ve got this week’s round up of wine industry news. A few highlights—looks like there’s some new data/research surrounding the loss of smell due to Covid; John Fox, who ran the world’s largest wine Ponzi scheme, is officially out of prison (hold on to your magnums!); we’ve got Argentinian wine aged under the sea, the latest on Brexit, and the seemingly endless tariff wars between Australia and China.

And for for all my wine grape growing friends or those interested in learning more about California viticulture: I’ll be leading a panel discussion on regenerative agriculture at the upcoming Vineyard and Grower Conference. Other sessions include a look at the CA Crush Report and a deep dive into the latest research on smoke taint. Find out more and sign up here. I’ve also included some additional details below.

That’s all from me for now. Happy weekending. Cheers.

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Hello and happy weekend. I’ve got your weekly round up of newsy wine items. Lots of great stuff both in traditional media and inside the blogs. So have a fun scroll-through.

For those of you following along on my WSET Diploma Studies, this past week we hit Italy (DipWSET Theory and Tasting—Central Italy (Part 1) DipWSET Theory and Tasting—Central Italy (Part 2)  [Paired with Metalica] DipWSET Theory and Tasting—Umbria ) and will continue with that massive, detailed country into next week.

Until then…cheers!

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