Afternoon Brief, May 15
U.S. Wineries Cautiously Begin Reopening Phase: As several states schedule a May end to their COVID-19 shutdowns, local vintners predict a gradual transition rather than a grand opening...
Afternoon Brief, May 14
Oregon Wineries Begin Reopening, Kicking Off with Those in 28 of 36 Counties: After having closed tasting rooms for almost two months to on-premise wine tastings and consumption, on May 7th, Oregon Governor Kate Brown announced the plans for the Phase One reopening of Oregon wineries and tasting rooms...
Afternoon Brief, May 13
Wine Adjusts to Evolving Marketplace Amid Pandemic: Virtual vineyard and winery tours, dinner-and-wine kits, and supper-at-home have replaced the pre-pandemic Lets eat out tonight adventures, and Ciatti, Global Wine and Grape Brokers based in Novato, Calif., say that trend is reflected in their latest California Report...
Afternoon Brief, May 12
LibDib Launches in Illinois: LibDib, the web-based wholesale alcohol distributor, today announced that the company is now licensed to operate in the state of Illinois...
Afternoon Brief, May 11
What Will Bay Area Wineries Look Like After Coronavirus? 'Very Different,' Industry Expert Says: As California begins reopening, a major question is how the Bay Area's wine industry will bounce back...
Afternoon Brief, May 8
California's Cabernet Glut Deepens: The latest Vineyard Economics Symposium revealed big challenges for some US grapegrowers...
Afternoon Brief, May 7
Pandemic Makes Winery Buyers Skittish About Buying Grapes During Upcoming Harvest: The disruption triggered by the coronavirus pandemic adds uncertainty to a domestic wine sector already grappling with an oversupply of grapes and bulk wine, making regional wineries even more skittish to commit to buying fruit during this year's wine grape harvest, a top industry analyst said Wednesday...
Afternoon Brief, May 6
Sonoma Wineries Are Itching to Open Up Their Doors and Invite Back Visitors: The shelter-in-place order has been hard on wineries that rely on tasting room and on-premise sales as well as their front line allies, tasting room staff and waiters, who have been out of a job...
Afternoon Brief, May 5
US Drinkers Have Increased Wine Consumption During Lockdown, Led by More Involved Drinkers, as Interest in Locally Produced Wine Surges: America's 77 million regular wine drinkers upped their frequency of wine consumption during the pandemic lockdown, despite the closure of many on-premise establishments, according to new consumer research out this week...
Afternoon Brief, May 4
A $7 Million Fund for Out-Of-Work Bartenders Could End up Not Helping Most Applicants. Why?: For Bay Area bartenders, the world changed on March 15 when Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered all bars in California to close...
Afternoon Brief, May 1
Oregon Aims to Include Brewpubs, Wineries in Reopening: Oregon is planning to allow its famed microbreweries and wine tasting rooms to reopen when it starts loosening stay-home orders, rejecting a federal recommendation that bars remain closed...
Afternoon Brief, April 30
The Disintegration of the Wine Tourism Economy: The welcome mat for Sonoma County’s wine country was rolled up several weeks ago in the midst of the COVID-19 shelter-in-place, and there is no prediction of when it might be rolled out again...
Afternoon Brief, April 29
Defending 'Butter' Wines: Napa's Jam Cellars Goes Back to Court to Defend Trademarked Brand: Napa-based JaM Cellars Inc. is suing Livermore-based The Wine Group LLC, one of the largest vintners and maker of the Franzia brand of value wines, alleging trademark infringement...
Afternoon Brief, April 28
Increase in Number of Alcohol Buying Consumers Drives Off-Premise Growth: Nielsen Beverage Alcohol Practice reports total alcohol sales are up 15.9% in Nielsen off-premise channels for the week ending April 18, 2020 compared to the same week last year, though -0.6% from the previous week...
Afternoon Brief, April 27
Next in Sport: Worldwide Wine Trends: South Africa was struggling to export wine even before the pandemic, while France, Italy and... wait for it... Canada were booming. These are some of the takeaways from statistics released this week by the OIV (International Organization of Vine and Wine)...
