Wined Up Weekly

Fire and hailstorm: harvest updates in California and Valpolicella - Sales of travel drinks down 60%; Pernod Ricard profits fall 77%; UK wine drinkers trading up - UK distributor FMV likely to fold - Bordeaux harvest begins - New AVAs in the USA: Alisos Canyon in Santa Barbara and Royal Slope in Washington - Wine of the Week: a Savoie white

Wildfires sweep across California - Earliest harvest in Champagne, as harvests begin across France - Chinese open investigation on Australian imports as tensions mount - Ryan Reynolds's Aviation Gin bought by Diageo - And, as ever, our Wine of the Week: a Grenache/Syrah blend from California

Good news from South Africa, as sales of alcohol are allowed again - US 25% tariffs on European wine and spirits remain in place - Boxed wine on the rise in the UK, the USA, and Australia during lockdown - Margaret River sub-region classification rejected - And, as ever, our Wine of the Week: from California producer Littorai, but which one?

Bumper edition: Diageo profits fall by 47%, Heineken's by over 75% - News from Australia: exports steady, rise in boxed wine sales - UK sales of Tio Pepe up during lockdown - Spirit-infused ice cream made legal in New York - Japanese train station releases wine - Wine of the Week: Champagne made from Meunier

"Outstanding" results for Concha y Toro in the second quarter of 2020; in contrast, LVMH figures fall 28%, Campari 11.3% - Champagne yet to set yields for 2020 harvest - Emus banned from Australian pub - Wine of the Week: a 2012 Côte Rôtie

Coronavirus Latest:

Nearly 16,000 US restaurants have closed but off-premise sales up 27%;

South Africans protesting alcohol ban in the country;

Volume of Prosecco 2020 vintage to be reduced;

Pernod-Ricard more optimistic about 2020 sales figures

 

- More on Pernod-Ricard, who have also invested in a Mezcal brand (for more on Mezcal, read Katie's report on The Buyer)

 

- Champagne Taittinger's English winery gets approval

 

- Wine of the Week: a German Zweigelt

Coronavirus Updates: Indoor dining stopped in California; News from the UK; Sales of alcohol banned again in South Africa - US agrees not to impose 100% tariffs on French wine - Another celebrity wine...this time from Cameron Diaz - New wines from Bollinger and Torres - Man fined in the UK for drinking carrot juice - Wine of the Week: a maverick blend from South Australia

International drinks corporations pause social media advertising in protest at racist content - Delta airlines extend alcohol service on some flights - UK packaging company launches wine bottle made of paper - Another celebrity wine ... this time from Mary J Blige - Wine of the Week: a Brachetto from Piemonte

Master Sommeliers resign from the Court over inaction on racial equality - English hospitality industry to reopen on 4 July - £100 Turkish wine sells out -  Chinese Bordeaux counterfeiter sentenced to 18 months - Wine of the Week: a 1995 Cabernet Franc from the Loire

Bâtonnage://Connect women in wine forum launches - Airlines resume flights but mostly without alcohol - Threat of tariffs looms again - Wine of the Week: a rare indigenous variety from Greece