September, 22, 2018 Sonoma County Wine Auction raises $5.7 million for charitable causes, including post-fire housing

(PD) - Recovery from October’s devastating wildfires will be prolonged, painful and costly, leaders of the region’s wine industry stressed Saturday as the Sonoma County Wine Auction raised a record $5.7 million for charitable causes, nearly half of which will be targeted to assist ...

September, 22, 2018 Hybrids, Crossings and Foxy Wines

(Wine-Searcher) - Recent user feedback prompted a discussion at Wine-Searcher regarding a range of viticultural terms.   A user approached Wine-Searcher recently and queried whether the Niagara grape variety is a hybrid or a crossing. The answer, at least as I understand it, to that part...

September, 22, 2018 Wine grapes become alternative crop in dry conditions

(Lubbockonline) - Cotton is king on the South Plains, but the Texas wine industry is becoming a more desirable alternative as the business continues to grow and succeed in harsh climate conditions. “I think producers looking for alternatives to use the limited, declining water in ways that...

September, 21, 2018 The World's Most Expensive Barbarescos

(Wine-Searcher) - In our search for the world's priciest wines, we find bargains among Piedmont's other great red. Although cut from much the same cloth as its more famous Piedmontese neighbour Barolo, Barbaresco can offer all the complexities and nuance of the Nebbiolo grape at a signif...

September, 21, 2018 Large German wine harvest expected in 2018

(DW) - The unusually hot German summer was a hindrance to many farmers, but Germany's winemakers aren't complaining. Estimates show there'll be no shortage of German wine next year — cheers to that! Germany's winegrowers can expect an above-average harvest this year, the government st...

September, 21, 2018 Did winemaker Joe Wagner misrepresent where his Oregon Pinot Noirs came from?

(SFChronicle) - If a bottle of Oregon Pinot Noir has the word “Willamette” on its front label, would you assume that it comes from the Willamette Valley? Probably, but if the bottle in question happened to be the 2017 Willametter Journal Pinot Noir, you would be wrong. Although the b...

September, 19, 2018 Large Wineries Are Rejecting Smoke Exposed Lake and Mendocino County Grapes

(WB) - Large wineries, most notably Constellation Brands and Treasury Wine Estates, are now exercising the option to skip a vintage with many growers. They’ve been rejecting a significant share of the wine grapes they source from Lake and Mendocino counties, two counties hit by wildfires this...

September, 19, 2018 Judges sip and spar at Sonoma County Harvest Fair Wine Competition

(PD) - Nineteen judges practiced the art of persuasion as they sipped through a pool of more than 1,000 wines at Tuesday’s 2018 Sonoma County Harvest Fair Wine Competition. The three-day contest, which began on Monday and ends today, tests the judges’ capacity to sway fellow panelist...