Way too excited for the weekend. How is it that four-day work-weeks can actually be more stressful than a full one? Whatever. Me, I plan to wear my lazy pants and do what lazy pants do best…laze.
I highly recommend the stretchy fluffy kind as you lounge about and read some of this week’s booze news. Snarky comments are all my own. ✌️🥂
Hello, and welcome (back) to your weekly dose of what-I’m-reading, weekly-wine-headlines extravaganza. Not an exhaustive list this week, as I literally decided to (re)start doing this, um, yesterday. 🤷♀️😂
What is up with me, you ask? (Or not, too bad.) Working away on more freelance stuff (yay) that I hope to be sharing soon(ish) and also chipping away and cleaning up this old-lady of a website. No major revamp in the near future, but at least get her up and running again. ie: A wee bit ‘o’ botox, not a full on facelift.
Also contemplating other fun, independent social engagement…things and stuff. I don’t know—how would you all feel about a podcast?
Just throwing it out there.
Anywho…for now please enjoy a few newsy items below. Happy weekending.
Hello—does anyone visit anymore? I know I haven’t in a long while. Hah. Well for those of you that do, thank you. Appreciate you. I’ve written loads of articles since my last post, and I should (will!) update my portfolio soon enough. But, in the meantime, I want to blast out about a podcast I was recently a guest on. If you listen (and I hope you do), let me know how you liked it.
Below is a link to the podcast homepage, but of course you can listen to it on Apple, Spotify or wherever you prefer listening to your casts. Please enjoy and thanks for listening!
Stacy Briscoe, Managing Editor of Wine Enthusiast Magazine, joins Laura this week to share her journey into wine journalism and wine education. She tells us how she got her start and discusses her focus on regenerative agriculture, which she has written about extensively. Laura and Stacy discuss the experience of being a woman in the wine industry and the importance of having a supportive network, and Stacy shares some of her favorite wine recommendations.
Stacy joined Wine Enthusiast in 2022 after freelance writing for the publication for several years. Previous to this role, she was the managing editor for Wine Industry Network, the assistant editor of Wine Business Monthly and staff writer of Wines & Vines magazine. She has also written freelance for numerous publications including SevenFifty Daily, Sonoma Magazine and the SF Chronicle, among many others. Stacy regularly speaks at wine industry events, has completed her WSET Diploma, teaches WSET courses at the Napa Valley Wine Academy and, most recently, has been accepted as a Master of Wine Stage 1 student. Listen here.
Happy Saturday all. Hope you don’t mind, I took a few days off following my birthday/WSET Diploma Level 1 exam…extravaganza weekend. But I have, of course, been keeping up with the latest wine (and food) news. So let’s take a look at what’s going on lately.
Locally, Sonoma (finally) has implemented fines for breaching (what I call) COVID-courtesies. So mask up if you’re coming up to Wine Country or pay the price—literally. In spite of that, a common phrase around here is, “The grapes don’t know there’s a pandemic.” True enough, and harvest has officially kicked off. If you’re in the industry getting ready for harvest, be sure to check out the Wine Institute’s harvest protocols webinar materials. Also of interest my industry readers may be Nielsen’s latest data on COVID impacts on on-premise sales and UC Davis’s white paper on developments in remedying smoke-tainted grapes.
Looking around the world, Japan has a fun new canopy management situation; Portugal is making waves as a leader in the fight against climate change; and the quality of the Chinese wine-scene may be on the rise.
And don’t forget to scroll down to the Blogs for some independent insight and fun, including a top 16 list of the best wine-related documentaries to watch.
Lastly, on a personal note, if you haven’t seen the latest in my video series with Wine Industry Network, check out my interviews with Dry Creek Vineyard President, Kim Stare Wallace, and Tablas Creek General Manager/Proprietor, Jason Haas. More to come, so keep your stations tuned to WIN.
And I have received a few inquiries about my posts chronicling my WSET journey. I’ve pulled them down for now—the goal is to edit and consolidate for clarity and organization. So if you are/were looking for those or wondering what the story is, that’s it. I’ll try to get them back up if/when I can. Thank you for your patience with that.
That’s all for now. Hope everyone’s doing well. Don’t hesitate to leave a comment, write me a note, connect with me on social. Would be nice to hear from you.
Cheers.
Happy weekend my friends. I’m going to keep my intro here pretty short because, as you may or may not know, tomorrow is my birthday. My birthday present: sitting my first WSET Diploma Exam. Wish me luck.
For those of you following along on my WSET Exam-Type Questions series, never fear. These will continue for a few more weeks, as I’ve written out several that still need to be posted.
Regarding current events, the food and wine industry (like so many others) continues to be in a state of flux. COVID cases continue to rise here in wine country, as with the rest of the country. Tariff drama remains. US alcohol shipping laws seem to be going sideways. And the fight to create and celebrate a more diverse professional food and wine industry continues.
Scroll through. There’s some fun stuff too. Veraison in Lodi’s looking good. There’s some new wine literature for your fellow wine geeks. Take a photo tour of Sicily. And anybody want some tennis shoes made from wine? Here yah go.
Enjoy your weekend reads. Stay safe, stay healthy, and be kind.
Cheers.