August, 17, 2019 Love it or hate it, oak is important in wine. Here are 5 things to know.

(WP) - Last month, in my list of five things to know about chardonnay, I argued that the wine “should not taste like a tree.” That was my lament not just that too many winemakers overdo the oak treatment so the wine tastes more of the barrel than the grape, but also that we consume...

August, 16, 2019 How to Order Natural Wine Without Sounding Ridiculous

(Eater) - Back in 2007, Joe Campanale could barely give away the natural orange wine on the menu at his first restaurant, Dell’anima. Now, at his Prospect Heights hot spot Fausto, serving regional Italian fare, and LaLou, a buzzy new natural wine bar, orange wine outsells rosé. ...

August, 16, 2019 Would You Drink the First (New) Chernobyl Vodka?

(WS) - No, you won't need a hazmat suit to stir your martini, and no, it's not a questionable merch exercise from a recent hit series: But yes, Chernobyl vodka is here. After years of research, rye grain grown on an experimental plot in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, where agriculture is otherw...

August, 08, 2019 California's Largest Legal Weed Farms Face Conflict In Wine Country

(NPR) - The Santa Rita Hills, nestled in Santa Barbara County, are ideal for pinot noir, a notoriously finicky grape. That's why Kathy Joseph came here to plant Fiddlestix Vineyard. "The plants are over 20 years old, which comes through in the wines we make. The topography is just right; the pro...

August, 08, 2019 A New Way to Determine When to Pick Grapes

(WB) - A new hand-held device that reads color accumulation in berry skins may become key to monitoring fruit maturity in the vineyard – and to determining when to pick the grapes. 360 viti, a division of Fruition Sciences, has begun selling the hand-held sensor known as a “bacc...

August, 08, 2019 SCIENTISTS DISTILL ‘VODKA’ FROM CHERNOBYL, FOUND CRAFT SPIRIT COMPAN

(TDB) - UK scientists have produced a spirit from crops grown in Chernobyl’s exclusion zone as part of a three-year research project to provide economic support to local communities. Researchers from the University of Portsmouth have bottled the radioactive-free ATOMIK vodka in the ho...

August, 08, 2019 When will the Supreme Court wine shipping ruling take effect?

(Decanter) - In the wake of the highly anticipated Supreme Court decision, about interstate wine shipping within the United States, the verdict is still out as to when—or if—wine retailers may actually start selling wine over instate borders. The Court’s June decision str...

August, 08, 2019 Canadian government reviewing court decision prohibiting West Bank wine labeled ‘Products of Israel’

(JNS) - Canada’s government has been “carefully reviewing” a federal court decision from last month that wine made in Judea and Samaria cannot be labeled as “products of Israel.” The Canada Food Inspection Agency  emailed  The Hill Times that &ld...