Good Saturday morning! Here’s your list of the latest wine-related news I’ve been reading this past week. Hope this proves interesting, if not useful. Let me know your thoughts…
From the Press
Wine Institute: Tasting Samples for Virtual Winery Experiences Approved by TTB
In an effort to help stimulate DTC wine sales, Wine Institute requested that TTB and California ABC provide clear guidance on whether small containers of wine may be shipped to winery customers by common carriers for virtual tastings. During Shelter-in-Place orders, this would replace the traditional tasting room experience where visitors sample small quantities of wines at winery premises.
TTB and California ABC both confirmed that they will permit small containers of wine to be sent to consumers for virtual tasting under existing regulations, subject to meeting specific federal and state requirements. As of April 14, New York, Florida, Oklahoma and South Carolina will also permit shipping of tastings samples subject to their current DTC regulations and Wine Institute is working on getting approvals from other states that currently allow DTC shipping. For out-of-state shipments, tasting samples are reportable DTC shipments applied to a customer’s quantity limitations, and are subject to taxes and all other requirements of DTC shipments in each state. READ MORE…
SacBee: Disposable menus and temperature checks. A new normal is coming when COVID-19 restrictions lift
Restaurants could take your temperature at the door. Children might eat lunch in classrooms instead of cafeterias. Mass gatherings will still be off the table. We still don’t know when California officials will lift stay-at-home orders. But when they do, it’s clear life will look very different than it did before the coronavirus as the state gradually eases measures designed to slow the virus’ spread. “There’s no light switch here,” Newsom said Tuesday. “It’s more like a dimmer.” READ MORE…
Wine-Searcher: Covid Infects Logistics, Especially Independent Wineries
By Kathleen Willcox
The coronavirus has infected more than 1.5 million people, paralyzed travel, sent financial markets tumbling, put tens of millions of people out of work and caused central banks in many countries to hand out billions of dollars in relief. So it may seem rather petty to point out that your chances of getting your favorite indie producer’s rosé any time soon have been reduced considerably by Covid-19, but here we are. READ MORE…
Harpers: WSET fast-tracks investment for online delivery and digital learning
By Andrew Catchpole
In addition, the WSET is offering a “blended learning programme” for students, along with enabling providers to provide courses in local languages, allowing them to continue to learn via a mix of online digital classes, webinars and live Q&A sessions, with these enhanced digital options being made available to its 800 plus (now locked-down) course providers globally. READ MORE…
Wine Spectator: Would You Like Some Romanée-Conti with Your Fries?
Napa Valley Register: Napa’s Oxbow Public Market pivots during coronavirus outbreak
By Tim Carl
Napa food retail center, Oxbow Public Market, is one of those essential businesses, and while the market offers a variety of retail food, grocery items and prepared foods, it is also well known as Napa’s social hub and gathering place. For a community strongly discouraged from gathering, that’s not as beneficial as it used to be. “Oxbow is in a different place for sure,” said owner Steve Carlin. READ MORE…
Sonoma Index Tribune: Sonoma’s latest health order bans vacation rentals for tourism
By: Christian Kallen
With her second shelter-in-place health order, issued March 31, Sonoma County’s Health Officer Dr. Sundari Mase extended the term of the first order from its initial three-week period to a full seven weeks, to end May 3. Since that time she’s indicated it’s quite possible it will be extended again, perhaps, partially relaxed for some before it’s lifted for all.
But the second order also took an additional step that cuts to the heart of a significant part of the county’s income: “Short-term lodging facilities shall not operate for tourism,” the order states bluntly. Exceptions are made if used to shelter displaced people (including the homeless) and those requiring isolation because of coronavirus. READ MORE…
Wine Enthusiast: As Wine Sales Boom, Distribution Channels Scramble to Keep Pace
By: Jim Gordon
The novel coronavirus pandemic has boosted retail wine and spirits sales dramatically, but it’s a bittersweet benefit for the companies that get those wines to market. While business is booming for certain segments of the distribution system, others may soon be bankrupt. Importers, distributors and wholesalers have seen their businesses shift rapidly from a mix of off- and on-premise customers to a much higher percentage of off-premise accounts, as bars and restaurants have either closed or pivoted to takeout. READ MORE…
Blogs Worth a Read
I’m working on a new page to the website listing the Blogs I follow with regularity. Here are just a few posts from this past week I think are worth a read.
Wine Curmudgeon: The buying wine on-line checklist
More of us are buying wine on-line than ever before – Nielsen says e-commerce alcohol sales increased an unimaginable 291 percent in the 52 weeks ending in March. And direct sales from wineries were up by 40 percent over the same period.
But how do we know that we’re getting value when we buy wine on-line? Never fear; that’s why the Wine Curmudgeon is here. I’ve spent the past month buying wine on-line to see whether it’s a practical alternative during the duration. The answer, not surprisingly, is that it all depends, and it’s not necessarily about how much the wine costs. READ MORE…
Science & Wine: Do different panellists (experienced, trained, consumers and experts) evaluate white wine in different ways?
Generally, panellists involved in sensory panels can be selected from two categories based on the purpose of the study: either consumer panellists or trained panellists. Trained panellists are selected based on their sensory acuity for basic characteristics (tastes, odours and textures) and their ability to discriminate among products. Trained panellists receive training on the background of the food products being tested and method of evaluation, and can identify small differences in the food products. Conversely, consumers or untrained panellists are usually used to complete hedonic tests where they are asked to indicate their preferences. It is unlikely that the untrained panellists can differentiate the small differences between the products. READ MORE…
Jancis Robinson: Natural wine defined
The whole thing about natural wine, the increasingly popular ‘lo-fi’ wine made with minimal intervention, was supposed to be that it was made by a band of brothers, and the odd sister, all of them united by a common philosophy but not one they wanted to be strictly defined. READ MORE…
GuildSomm: Australian Chardonnay & Pinot Noir
The last few weeks, I’ve been wrapping my head around the new abnormal. This has included indulging in the smorgasbord of virtual wine events that have sprung up everywhere. They’re fairly easy to find via social media and handy calendar pages. But while several events, such as Master of Wine Rebecca Gibb’s Lockdown Wine Quiz, have been terrific distractions, most of the virtual wine tastings held by wineries have been absolute duds. Which has really bummed me out. READ MORE…
Tablas Creek: We’re not about to reopen. Which means it’s the right time to think about what that will look like.
What will a winery tasting room look like once we can reopen, whenever that is? It won’t, I don’t think, look like it did over the last two decades. We will almost certainly face restrictions to the activities we can conduct, and even if we don’t, we will need to operate responsibly. I’m thinking it may resemble the brief period after social distancing measures were announced but before all tasting rooms had to close. Restaurants removed tables. Our tasting room moved to tasting-by-reservation so we could keep six feet between groups. Everyone started cleaning and disinfecting much more rigorously. READ MORE…
Young Gun of Wine: Virtual Events—Bringing the Top 50 to Your Lounge Room
For the first time ever, Young Gun of Wine will host a series of virtual events in place of its annual Top 50 tasting events. Across the month of May, we will host seven experiential wine tastings with the Top 50 winemakers of 2020, along with other experts – Vanya Cullen, Prue Henschke and 2018 Young Gun Rob Mack, amongst others – with ‘attendees’ able to ask questions live during the broadcast. READ MORE…
Nielsen: Facts Not Fear: Asian Americans Doing Their Part
We’ve seen many headlines about Asian Americans falling victim to hate and harassment amid the COVID-19 pandemic. But we are not a community that will sit quietly and turn a blind a eye. We are one with a voice to be heard. READ MORE…
BriscoeBites officially accepts samples as well as conducts on-site and online interviews. Want to have your wine, winery or tasting room featured? Please visit the Sample Policy page where you can contact me directly. Cheers!