Category: US Wine

Oregon Welcomes its 23rd AVA “Mount Pisgah, Polk County – Oregon”

Mount Pisgah, Polk County, Oregon, the newest appellation in Oregon and nested American Viticultural Area (AVA) in the Willamette Valley, has received federal recognition as an official AVA. Drawn to reflect distinct soil, topography and climate attributes.

This new AVA becomes the 23rd federally recognized winegrowing region in Oregon and the 11th nested AVA within the Willamette Valley. The new nested AVA was granted approval by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) on June 3, 2022 ,and takes effect on July 5, 2022.

Located in Polk County, the Mount Pisgah, Polk County, Oregon AVA is characterized by the warmth of the nearby Willamette River, the mild influence of the Van Duzer winds, and the rain shadow of Laurel Mountain to the west. It is the Valley’s second smallest AVA at 584 planted acres but one of its most densely planted. Mount Pisgah was formed 65 million years ago as a sea floor volcano and has since been covered by marine sediment which pushed up out of the ocean. This unique geology allows the grapes to develop a deep complexity in the region’s shallow soils.

Brad Ford, of Illahe Vineyards petitioned the TTB five years ago for the addition of the AVA to the wine country map. Ten vineyards and three wineries join the new Mount Pisgah, Polk County, Oregon AVA.

“Thanks to an excellent group of growers who helped identify the most important aspects of our little mountain, I have no doubt we will continue to work together to build a beautiful destination for people willing to go the extra mile,” said Ford.

“Recognition of Mount Pisgah, Polk County, shows again how we continue to learn about, and appreciate, new areas of viticultural distinction in Oregon. Each one adds its own chapter to Oregon’s story of unique soils, unmatched geology, topography and globally recognized wine quality” said Oregon Wine Board President Tom Danowski. “These federal AVA designations take years to achieve as the standards are rigorous for establishing a region as clearly differentiated.”

“We’re so excited to see Mount Pisgah, Polk County, Oregon AVA recognized in the larger story of the Willamette Valley,” said Morgen McLaughlin, executive director of the Willamette Valley.

Details of Mount Pisgah, Polk County, Oregon AVA

Official date of recognition: June 3, 2022

Final rule is effective: July 5, 2022

Total acreage: 5,530

Planted acreage: 584

Number of wineries: 3

Number of vineyards: 10

Varieties: Pinot noir, Chardonnay, Pinot gris,
Tempranillo and Pinot blanc

Soil: Marine Sedimentary

Wineries

Illahe Vineyards

Open Claim Vineyards

Amelie Robert Estate

Vineyards Include

Illahe Vineyards

Ash Creek Vineyards

Open Claim Vineyards

Erratic Oaks Vineyard

Freedom Hill Vineyard

Croft Vineyards

Fern Creek

Amelie Robert Estate

Mistletoe Vineyards

Cooper Hollow

#ORwine #OregonWine #wine #winetime #winelover #winery #Oregon #WinesofOregon #winesofinstagram #winetasting #oregonwinecountry #TravelOregon #USwine @oregonwineboard

Wine News: NFL signs E. & J. Gallo as official wine sponsor

This past week the National Football League (NFL) and E. & J. Gallo Winery announced that E. & J. Gallo will be the official wine sponsor of the NFL.

The multi-branded, multi-year partnership is uniquely structured to engage NFL fans and will include opportunities for local team activation, player imagery and appearances, on-site presence at premiere events, and broadcast, digital, and social content from NFL Kickoff through the Super Bowl. Through this partnership, Gallo will implement 360-degree programming, creating surround sound for its brands all the way throughout the consumer purchase journey.

Barefoot, will kick off the partnership. Barefoot brings more consumers into the wine category than any other brand thanks to its long-standing efforts to demystify wine and make it accessible to everyone through inclusivity and celebration.

“Gallo is thrilled to be uniting America’s most loved winery with America’s most popular sport,” said E. & J. Gallo Chief Marketing Officer, Stephanie Gallo. She added, “As an industry leader our role is to welcome new consumers to the wine category in unique and relevant ways. This partnership will do just that by bringing our avid fan bases together. The notion of togetherness seems more relevant now more than ever.”

“We are excited to partner with E. & J. Gallo to bring more choices for our fans,” said Tracie Rodburg, NFL Senior Vice President, Sponsorship Management. “We look forward to pairing E. & J. Gallo’s extensive portfolio of wines, including its iconic brand Barefoot, with our fans, clubs and premiere events for memorable NFL experiences.”

#nfl #football #sponsor #wine #footballfans #lifeatgallo #ejgallowinery #winelovers #winenews #winesponsor #vino #winetime #sports #footballnews #winelover

@nfl @lifeatgallo

Washington Wine Allocated Almost $1 Million to Wine Research

The Washington State Wine Commission (WSWC) was awarded almost $1 million in research grants for the upcoming year through the statewide grape and wine research program, along with its own grant program. The broad research projects aim to improve wine quality by tackling high-priority vineyard and winery issues.

The WSWC Board of Directors approved 24 projects totaling $994,184 for the upcoming fiscal year (July 2022-June 2023). Research grant awards have grown by 30% since 2015.

The research theme for the coming year is sustainability. WSU is working to develop cutting-edge, sustainable management strategies and tools that wine grape growers can use in the newly launched Sustainable WA certification program.

Scientists will evaluate innovative techniques to control pests and diseases, such as combining attractants with drone aerial release of beneficial predators, using pheromones to disrupt the mating of grape mealybug, trialing UV light in vineyards to control powdery mildew, and growing cover crops to trap or trick nematodes that feed on grapevine roots. A long-term research vineyard will be planted in 2021 to study the effects of traditional and novel viticultural practices on soil health.  Winery projects will include developing a predictive model of Raman spectroscopy and machine learning to make wine analysis faster and easier, mitigating potential impacts on grapes from smoke exposure, and using native yeasts to reduce wine alcohol concentrations.

Through the WSWC’s own research grant program, research teams from WSU and University of California, Davis are collaborating to better understand condensed tannins and develop a novel approach to analysis of tannins in wine. The WSWC also awarded one-year demonstration grants to study acid timing on sensory perception of wine and fund evaluation of different irrigation sensors in a WSU Smart Vineyard.

Wine research in Washington is funded through several competitive grant programs. A statewide program administered by WSU combines public, private and industry monies to support viticulture and enology research at WSU. Four entities fund the statewide program: the Washington State Wine Commission, Auction of Washington Wines, WSU’s Agriculture Research Center, and state wine liter taxes (1/4 cent per liter of all wine sold). Additionally, the WSWC administers a competitive grant program to support short-term, demonstration research at Washington community colleges and studies beyond state borders.

Return on investment from previous research has helped growers and wineries improve wine quality, reduce pesticide inputs by up to 80 percent which saves the industry $35 million annually, conserve up to 50% irrigation water from deficit irrigation strategies, and make informed frost and cold protection decisions using a cold hardiness model. Current research projects have significant potential for economic benefits, including sustainable nematode management tools for replant situations to protect an estimated $44 million in annual replanting costs, helping growers assess risk for phylloxera to prolong replanting with rootstocks, which costs $25,000 per acre.

Learn more about the research projects at Washington State Wine Commission website.

#wine #winelovers #wineresearch #winescience #wineries #winegrowers #wineeconomics #vineyards #sustainability #USWine #wawine #washingtonwine #washingtonstatewine #winenews #USwineindustry #winetrade@wa_state_wine

 

SVB Wine Report: The US wine industry sees some challenges in 2022

According to the latest Silicon Valley Bank Wine Report shows that although 2021 proved to be a good year for the US wine industry, several serious challenges signal uncertain times ahead.

The report points out that underlying trends remained a big concern, with the most serious being that younger consumers are not getting interesting in wine, and wine is losing market share to spirits, craft beer, RTDs and other alcoholic drinks.

“This issue has yet to be addressed or solved, and the negative consequences are increasingly evident,” Rob McMillan, EVP and Founder, Premium Wine Division warned in the report. “Wine as a product has lost the lustre it once had with the consumer 20 years ago and is probably entering a phase of negative volume growth.”

“By 2025, 27.9 million Americans will cross normal retirement age at 66, while 30.3 million will cross age 40.5. That will be too many consumers leaving their best buying years, and too many consumers entering their best buying years, to ignore,” McMillan states.

The report also points out out the homogeny and lack of transparency of many entry level wines that was failing to appeal to younger, more health-conscious potential wine drinkers, who wanted to drink less but better, while the high price of more premium offering was another deterrent.

“Premium wine producers haven’t figured out how to produce their wine for an entry-level consumer. Without an on-ramp, it’s going to be hard to grow the wine category,” McMillan further states.

Declining volume sales

Across the on and off-trade, data from SipSource shows that growth in wine compared to spirits stalled at the onset of 2021, having both shown comparable volume growth during 2020. As the report showed, when businesses reopened in January 2021, that comparable trend took a dramatic turn and while spirits finished the year in 6.1% growth, wine was down -8.9%.

Although the report highlighted a number of tailwinds, it criticized the “lack of leadership within the wine industry to counter these obvious trends and cooperate to form a marketing organization to promote the wine category”.

This points to the potential decline of restaurants as an important channel for the wine industry in the US, the report also warned.

“The restaurant industry will likely continue to decline in its importance to the wine industry as a viable sales channel due to overpricing on the menu and consumers who value other alcoholic beverages over wine,” the report said. “Restaurants may find that wine is not in demand at the prices charged and that the cost to maintain deep stocks of wine is becoming senseless.”

There was evidence that the amount of wine sold through the wholesale channel fell throughout the year despite tasting rooms, restaurants, hotels and travel resuming business. This indicates that as restaurants reopened, wine inventories are being streamlined into smaller wine lists.

“The investment in long wine lists might be limited going forward,” McMillan said.

Other highlights:

• Consumer behaviour has irrevocably changed as a result of the pandemic – the switch to homeworking is set to stay, and the move to online purchasing is also set to remain.
• Premiumization has continue to accelerate, however the higher price points are being offset by lower total volumes.
• The industry needs to invest to accelerate, looking at online and ecommerce driven by data, rather than focusing on more traditional channels, such as the cellar door.
• A key warning came around anti-alcohol messaging, which it said continued to grow while guidelines from a variety of government and health organizations “loosely apply science to influence consumption and taxes”. However the greater threat was a push to place “additional and more dire cancer warnings on wine”. “The industry can’t allow that to become a reality.”

#wine #winetrade #winenews #wineeconomics #wineindustry #winelovers #SiliconValleyBank
#USwinemarket #SipSource #instawine #vin #instawine

2022 Oregon Wine Symposium – February 15-17, 2022

Ice storms and restrictions on public gatherings can’t stop the demand for Oregon wine education, and in the case of the Oregon Wine Symposium, the show must go on. The annual event, held virtually for the second time in its 17-year history, is shaped by industry volunteers who make up the Education Committee that carefully evaluates and designs the curriculum around the most pressing needs of the industry. Driven by this input along with qualitative feedback and marketplace trend analysis, the Symposium strives to provide maximum value to attendees. More than 30 seminars and presentations by global wine experts are offered with three days full of information for $79 for registrants between now and January 14, 2022.

The 2022 Symposium will be organized in the familiar format of three separate tracks: Viticulture, Enology, and Business of Wine.

Some seminars to note are as follows:

In the Viticulture track, Drought in Oregon will present perspectives on one of the most serious environmental issues faced by many in the industry. Dr. Alec Levin and Chad Vargas will discuss the issue in depth and will be joined by Gregory Gambetta from the Bordeaux region of France. Gambetta will explore how common maladies like trunk disease and vine decline are being linked to the effects of long-term water stress.

Examining more topics within the water management arena, the Enology track offers two critical seminars on Tuesday, February 15: Winery Sustainability and Best Practices for Water Management in the Cellar and Diving Deep Into Winery Water Usage & Treatment at 10:45 and 11:45 am.

The Business of Wine track has several standout seminars for 2022. Benchmarking Oregon’s DTC Landscape will explore how Oregon-wide Community Benchmark DTC data can supply tasting rooms with opportunities for activating positive change and increasing channel growth. Regional associations will also discuss insights they’ve gathered from this regional benchmarking and what it means for their success.

The second day will take a two-pronged approach to media relations with back-to-back seminars; PR 101: Inside PR & Communications Strategies and Building your Media Relations Tool Kit: A Playbook for Successful PR & Communications Strategies as presented by Oregon wine PR veterans Kelli Matthews, Michelle Kauffman and Ryan Pennington.

Instead of just one Keynote speaker, the 2022 Symposium will extend the excitement by featuring a different Keynote address each day. This Keynote series will kick off with the return of Rob McMillan from Silicon Valley Bank, who will deliver the annual State of the Industry. As Oregon continues to be one of the hottest commodities in North American wine in the mergers and acquisitions (M & A) space, Kevin O’Brien of Zepponi & Company and Erik McLaughlin, CEO of METIS will together cover M&A Trends & Positioning for Sale.

Day three will feature a double dose of Dr. Greg Jones (pictured at right), who will highlight his riveting Climatology Report and the Vintage Report in his Keynote speeches. Dr. Jones’ highly anticipated seminars provide excellent educated glimpses into the future of Oregon Wine by examining our immediate past.

Participants are encouraged to register before January 14, 2022 to take advantage of the full-access admission reduction of 25% for early bird pricing, putting admission cost at only $79 for three full days of education and networking. Group admission for four or more drops to $69 apiece, and $25 admission for full access to viticulture seminars and general sessions with Spanish interpretation. This year, a new feature has been added—the Group Spanish Speaker Interpretation at $125 – which grants access to all virtual Viticulture sessions, Enology sessions on day 2, and OWB Research Updates for all company employees.

For more information on further discounts, preliminary programs, speakers, and special events, visit www.oregonwinesymposium.com.

#oregonwine #oregon #wine #winelovers #instawine #winenews #wineeducation #ORWineSymposium
#winebusiness #winetasting #viticulture #enology