I want to start with a brief statement about the New York Time’s piece that came out this week, revealing the testimonials of 21 female wine professionals who have been sexually abused by their male superiors. I can’t eloquently put into words all the feels I’ve been feeling since reading the article: sad, angry, hurt, betrayed, confused are just a few that come to immediate mind.
I am a woman who has always worked in male-dominated industries. Previous to becoming a part of the wine industry, before my career as a writer and editor, I was a professional fitness trainer. And even as a young person, student, child, the nature of my—I don’t know—attitude, personality, or something, is one in which I always found myself involved in things that are male dominant.
But I am one of the lucky ones. I am one of the lucky ones who have not been so brutally abused as the women in this article.
Liz Mitchell, Jane Lopes, Victoria James, Courtney Schiessl, Madeleine Thompson, Christina Chilcoat, Rachel van Til, Rania Zayyat, Ivy Anderson, Victoria James, Liz Dowty Mitchell, Alexandra Fox, J.R. Ayala, Courtney Keeling, Kate Ham.
I say their names because they deserve to be recognized for being strong in the face of adversity in its most disgusting form. For standing up when those who felt entitled enough to decide what these women were worth decided that they weren’t worth more than a body, a form, a thing to play with and throw away. For speaking up, not just for themselves, but on behalf of all women so things like this WILL NOT HAPPEN AGAIN.
I say their names because I am one of the lucky ones—but if one thing had been different, one decision made or not made, one circumstance shifted slightly, I may not have been that lucky. Would I have been strong enough to say something?
I’m not sure what will happen from here, but my hope is that we will evolve. Not just as an industry, but as a people. That from hearing these horrific things, maybe we can learn to respect each other. Maybe we can remember that Women’s Rights are Human Rights; Black Lives Matter; No Person is Illegal; Diversity Makes Us Stronger; Love is Love; and Kindness is Never Wasted.
Wine Enthusiast: “I Love This Industry From the Bottom of My Heart,” Says Heidi Scheid, Person of the Year | Wine Enthusiast’s 2020 Wine Star Awards
When Scheid first came on board at Scheid Vineyards as the director of planning in 1992, the Salinas Valley-based estate was a grape-growing and -selling venture. Taking on the executive vice president role in 2017, Scheid has overseen the company’s quick evolution into an estate vineyard and winery that now produces a broad portfolio of its own-labeled wines as well as a series of private labels for retail clients. READ MORE…
SevenFiftyDaily: Why the Alcohol-Free Category Is Thriving
Many assumed the pandemic would end the sober-curious movement. They were wrong
At the start of 2020, the sober-curious movement seemed poised to be the beverage world’s biggest story. Refreshingly flavorful nonalcoholic beers, spirits, and cocktails were arriving in bars, restaurants, and grocery stores across the country, helping to remove the stigma of removing alcohol.
Then COVID-19 hit, which seemed likely to squelch the zero-proof momentum. In today’s tense nation, which has been engulfed by wildfires, racial injustice, and a pandemic, would consumers really be reaching for a nonalcoholic IPA?
It turns out they are. READ MORE…
SOVOS/ShipCompliant: 5 Myths Surrounding Retailer Direct-to-Consumer Wine Shipping
No one who pays attention to the ongoing political and legal battles over direct-to-consumer (DtC) wine shipping will doubt that this is a contentious area of the law. Claims concerning retailer wine shipping emerge from every corner of the regulatory landscape including the wholesale tier, the retail tier and even from attorneys general and alcohol regulators. Sometimes these claims propagate myths that have the potential to become accepted as truths.
Here are five myths about retailer DtC shipping, debunked. READ MORE…
WineTitles Media: Global demand is steady for Australian wine
Steady demand for Australian wine around the world has seen growth in value to all top-five export markets and a four percent increase in overall value to $2.998 billion, according to Wine Australia’s latest export report.
In the 12 months ending in September 2020, the average value of Australian wine exports increased by four percent to $3.89 per litre, matching the growth of overall value. The volume of exports declined slightly by 0.4% to 771 million litres (85.7 million cases).
Wine Australia chief executive officer Andreas Clark said the overall value is at the highest level since exports reached $3 billion in the second half of calendar year 2007.
“Despite the unprecedented disruption that we’ve seen in markets around the world, Australian wine export volume has held reasonably steady and it is particularly pleasing to see both the overall value and the average value of exports growing during these challenging times,” Clark said. READ MORE…
Decanter: US start-up makes aged spirits in ‘days not years’
A Silicon Valley-backed start-up says its technology can replicate the flavour of barrel-aged spirits within a matter of days.
US-based Bespoken Spirits said its new ‘sustainable maturation process’ could save the spirits industry $20bn by replacing the ‘wasteful’ barrel-ageing process; a reference to the ‘angels’ share’ lost via evaporation during maturation.
It said the patent-pending technology can enhance a spirit’s aroma, colour and taste, ‘enabling almost limitless recipes within days, not years’. READ MORE…
Wine Spectator: Ken Evenstad, Co-Founder of Oregon’s Domaine Serene Winery, Dies at 77
After building his fortune in pharmaceuticals, Evenstad and his wife, Grace, helped create one of Willamette Valley’s most prominent wineries
Ken Evenstad, who made his fortune in the pharmaceutical business before building one of Oregon’s most prominent wineries, Domaine Serene, died at his home Oct. 21 after a long history of chronic pulmonary issues. He was 77. READ MORE…
Decanter: New Côtes du Rhône Villages appellation granted – Nyons
After more than twenty years, and from a pool of over 90 communes that produce wine under the Côtes du Rhône-Villages AOC, Nyons has been promoted and awarded the 22nd Côtes du Rhône named village.
The new appellation of Côtes du Rhône Villages Nyons was officially granted by the Institut National des Appellations d’Origine (INAO) on 15th October 2020, bringing the total number of Côtes-du-Rhône-Villages with a geographical name to 22. READ MORE…
The Cut: This Crock-Pot Facebook Group Drama Is the Best Drama on the Internet Right Now
On an internet constantly buffeted by screenshots and receipts of various byzantine dramas, it’s rare to come across something new, a niche drama that manages to be captivating but not soul crushing. This lovely rarity occurred last week, when writer Sarah Hollowell unearthed a stern message from the admin of a Crock-Pot Facebook group admonishing self-proclaimed masters of the craft for judging themselves above the noble masses of struggling “new crockstars.” READ MORE…
Blogs Worth a Read
Taken from the list of Blogs I follow regularly, here are just a few posts from this past week I think are worth a read. Shoot me a note if you have suggestions of blogs to follow or want your blog included on that list.
SpitBucket: An Apology to the Pretty Influencer on Instagram
I thought about you when reading The New York Times yesterday.
Reading the words of the brave women featured in Julia Moskin’s piece, I couldn’t help but put you in there. As a young somm starting out in a place like Las Vegas, how much of their story is yours as well?
Thinking of that made me cry.
I cried because in the same breath that I ardently wish for things to be different and despair that they’re not, I know that in my own way I’m complicit. I may speak the right words and do the right things to build up other women, but I know in my heart that I’ve also torn them down.
While that makes me feel immense guilt, there’s also immense rage when I think of the perverse privilege at play. No, I’m not talking just about male privilege. READ MORE…
Vino Joy News: China’s top oenologist: natural wine is the future of wine industry
Li Hua, known as China’s “father of modern Chinese wine” has endorsed natural wine and said it is the future of wine.
The 61-year-old oenologist in his speech says natural wine will help ensure a sustainable and high-quality wine production in the country. According to him, the rapid development of global wine industry is partly a result of the scientific research and use of yeast cultivation, but the standardization of winemaking has also become a double-edged sword. READ MORE…
WSET Global: The wines of India: Another country on the world map of wine
Historical and literary sources may trace wine in India back to the 13th century bce, but the origins of the contemporary Indian wine industry lie in the early 1980s when two pioneering industrialists and businessmen, Shymarao Chowgule and Kanwal Grover, set themselves the task of producing their own wines on Indian soil. The entry of Sula Vineyards, the largest Indian wine producer today, in the market in 2000 symbolised the optimism of the times. Maharashtra was the first state to introduce a wine policy in India in 2001, leading to a large number of new wineries being established. Three other states introduced wine policies: Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu in 2006, and Karnataka in 2007. READ MORE…
Jancis Robinson: Carbon-friendly ways of packaging wine samples
Two new ways to package and deliver small quantities of wine that look seriously promising … and deeply sustainable.
As outlined in Glass dismissed? glass bottles account for wine’s biggest contribution to carbon emissions by far. So I’m rather excited about two new forms of low-carbon, space-saving, lightweight packaging suitable for the small samples of wine that have become so popular for the online tastings that have proliferated during the pandemic. READ MORE…
Vino Joy News: Prosecco on Lees
Proprietor Winemaker Christian Zago pays tribute to his grandfather in the way he makes his Prosecco “Col Fondo”.
Proprietor Winemaker Christian Zago returns to the traditions of his grandfather to make Prosecco Col Fondo.
The wine finishes its fermentation in the bottle. This is the traditional, ancestral way of making Prosecco.
The result is a delicately fizzy wine that is just slightly cloudy with a bit of the sediment still in the bottle, a characteristic previously, commonly found in Prosecco until the 1970s when pressurized tanks were introduced to make the wine sparkling or spumante. READ MORE…
The Wine Gourd: Should we worry about Artificial Intelligence in wine writing?
Should we worry about AI in wine writing? Only if the readers want no social contact with another human being. A blog post concerns human communication, for example, as do YouTube videos, FaceBook messages and Twitter tweets. The world is full of noise, of course, but in amongst it there are some real attempts at communication. READ MORE…
Tim Atkin: The Things That Remain
In 2006, during Lebanon’s short but destructive war with Israel, we lost our home but managed to save eight bottles of wine from the rubble including a 1988 Dom Pérignon Champagne from my birth year. At the time, I was 18. I had just graduated from high school and I didn’t know about or care much for wine. Neither did my parents: the bottles were stored in a dark living room cabinet. That might work elsewhere, but not here off the humid Mediterranean coast.
When I opened the bottle that we accidentally aged for over three decades, the cork was a shrunken black pellet. As I don’t know what explosive was used to make my building collapse, I was too afraid to taste the contents. I dumped it in the sink and the effervescence made me regret being such a coward. The empty bottle still sits in my bookcase with its shield-like label facing outward, a symbol of defiance. It’s a piece of my personal history and evidence that I am still here – that we are all still here. READ MORE…
Vinous: 2018 Santa Lucia Highlands: What a Difference a Year Makes
Following the epically hot 2017 vintage, Mother Nature paid Santa Lucia Highlands growers and winemakers back, with interest, by delivering a picture perfect season and abundant crop of healthy grapes in 2018. The wines feature distinct energy and fine definition, with expressive fruit, well-integrated tannins for the red wines and relatively uncommon nerviness for the whites. READ MORE…
The Wine Economist: Wine 2020—A Guide for the Overwhelmed
I’ve been thinking about what the global wine industry will look like when 2020 finally draws to a close and I’m feeling overwhelmed. So many challenges. So much to digest. Maybe you feel overwhelmed, too? READ MORE…
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