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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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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Happy weekend, all. Happy Three-Day Weekend, in fact. There’s been so much going on in the news lately, it was almost hard for me to keep up this week. But I’ve done it, and hopefully I can help you catch up on anything you may have missed.

Of course, with selfish self-promotion, I’d like to point to my article speaking to vintners from Napa’s Spring Mountain AVA who are still cleaning up after the 2020 fire events that nearly destroyed the mountain top region. I report this, with respect to those who are currently battling the Caldor Fire and am happy to say, at least thus far, it seems El Dorado and Amador vintners remain optimistic. (Though the resulting smoke from these fires seem to be affecting our Canadian neighbors to the north.) Here’s how to help Caldor fire victims.

For a bit of dual fun-education, check out my Wine Basics feature for Wine Enthusiast answering the question: What does ‘Reductive’ Mean in Wine? And if you didn’t see my Wine Basics feature last week defining ‘mid-palate,’ take a read, and then check out this ‘critique’ of my article from Edible Arts’ Dwight Burrow.

Wine Industry folks: Ticket registration has opened for the second largest wine industry event in the US—WinExpo—and yours truly is moderating a panel discussion on regenerative agriculture. Sign up, join me, let’s learn how to save the earth one vineyard at a time.

What else? Well, it looks like the future of the US wine industry just may be based on *gasp* hybrid grapes. And, opinion time, what do ya’ll think about ‘hot climate’ wine regions? Oh, and if you like shopping at those small, independent wine shops, here’s an inside look at just how hard it is for producers to assert themselves onto those shelves.

I also have to include a few blog call outs:

With the abortion ban in Texas, my gal Amber asks the hard question—how is the wine industry going to respond?

James Suckling posted about the Top 10 wine instagram accounts the same week Wine Market Council released their data answering the question, “Does Social Media Impact Wine Choices.” Interesting juxtaposition.

And no worries, my fellow wine students, Jancis Robinson has no intention of retiring any time soon.

But wait! There’s more!!! If all that’s not enough booze news for you scroll through, there’s so much more that’s been reported this week. Did I miss anything? Let me know. Thanks for popping by. Cheers!

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Hello, happy weekend, hope everyone is staying safe and healthy out there. Lots of good newsy stuff happening in the world of wine: From health and wellness to (of course) climate change and the latest development in smoke taint research. In shameless self-promotion, I’d like to highlight my first article for the new media outlet The Drop—Meet the California Winemakers Turned Firefighters.

I’ve been keeping busy continuing to freelance with all my regular outlets as well and am enjoying my new post as Wine Industry Network’s new Managing Editor. AND (because that’s not enough) I’m moving forward with my WSET Diploma and beginning my studies for the next section: D4 Sparkling Wines of the World. Have a shipment of bubbles coming my way today, actually. Hoping I’ll find the time to post what I learn from my tasting experience—I know many of you are fans of the WSET-related content on this site. (PS If there’s something specific you’d like me to write about, please don’t hesitate to drop me a line—always like hearing from you all.)

That’s all from me. Have a fab weekend.

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