Author Picks: Favorites I Wrote About for Wine Business in 2023

Here are some of my favorite stories from the year that was–they were stories that I learned the most from researching and writing or that reflected BIG trends in the wine industry. 

• Napa Valley Grape Growers Cut Roundup Use in Half, Evaluate Weed Control Strategies Amidst Shifting Consumer and Community Opinions

Who knew (until the Napa Valley Grapegrowers' data analyst presented the numbers) that the county's growers had cut their Roundup use in half in the last five years. 

• Fire Insurance Expert Panel Tells Wine Execs - "Mitigate, Mitigate, and Then Mitigate Some More"

The Wine Industry Financial Symposium each year presents an outstanding program of business-oriented topics and this was one of the best of the 2023 event. There is hope –and action–by telling your story. I was impressed by what local agents are doing to persuade insurers to rethink the numbers.

• Supermarket Giants Safeway and Albertsons Enter the World of Online Fine Wine with Direct Shipping

For most people, the supermarket IS their wine store, so how exciting to see the megachain taking its wine marketing muscle to a broader audience. It will be interesting to see how successful Safeway et al are. Since most wine is sold at supermarkets, wineries should be excited, too–a big opportunity to increase upsell. 

• The California Race to Stop the Invasion of the Dreaded Spotted Lanternfly

It sounded like sci fi but it wasn't. Until the international biodiversity report on invasive alien species came out I, like most wine writers/journalists (and I'm sorry to say this) have not paid attention to the fact that most chemical agriculture exists to counteract the impact of invasive species. And then in the country's sites–the potential scourge of the spotted lanternfly is on the horizon. While industry leaders bemoan declining wine sales, the lanternfly threat is far more serious, if less immediately apparent. It could wipe out the entire wine industry in a flash. Let's hope, of course, that it doesn't get that chance. Some scientists are focused on solutions.

• Nonalcoholic Wines: Emerging Innovators and Big Guns Enter the Growing $56 Million+ Category

This story seemed to have hit a nerve, as it showed up as the most popular one on WineBusiness.com for days and days after it was first posted. Once dismissed as irrelevant and for teetotalers only, this segment is grow grow growing. And for reasons, people didn't usually think of–like, I want to keep drinking with my friends, I have to drive home, but I'll just make my third glass of wine NA.  

• From Wood Chips and Mushroom Extracts to Vintner Coalitions: Government Funded Ecosystem Restoration Projects Enhance Vineyard Resilience

A fire remediation story no one has written about, but everyone should be writing about. Let's chart a better roadmap to resilience than the conventional "wisdom" offers.  

• California Pesticide Regulators Set a New Course to Reduce Toxic Chemicals

In keeping with the international move to safer conventional farming, California's collected a diverse group of what I call "the lambs and the lions"–i.e. a wide spectrum of opinions and needs on conventional farming chemicals. This groundbreaking consortium laid out policy recommendations that the ag industry can expect to see implemented. Subsequent signaling from DPR shows that fumigant reduction tops the list.