In SevenFifty Daily, Sophia McDonald looks at how winemakers are adapting their growing practices and vineyard protections to changing winds. “As with other climate factors, the strength, temperature, and unpredictability of wind is expected to get more extreme as the planet warms. The winds in places like the Petaluma Gap and Van Duzer Corridor are the result of inland air warming and rising, which allows cooler air to flow in and take its place. In these places, the increasing temperature differential is likely to make this effect stronger.”

In Wine Enthusiast, Hillary Richard reports on the looming global Champagne shortage. “The CIVC sets Champagne production limits every year, singling out how much can be harvested, how much should be reserved for future multivintage blends and how much will be turned into vinegar. In 2020, as countries experienced lockdowns and demand fell, the board set the upper limit for Champagne production about 25% less than in 2019.”

Laurie Wilson explores the New England’s ice wine tradition in VinePair. “According to the German Wine Institute, the frozen grapes must be picked off the vine in the frigid early morning hours when the grapes are still frozen — before they thaw. It is a game of poker with sizable risks. New England, especially in northern states, has a winning hand in the game — wineries embrace winter and take pride in the wines they painstakingly proudly produce — but not every year. Some years you win, some years you fold.”

On his Wine Anorak blog, Jamie Goode offers notes on No es Pituko, “an exciting range of natural wines from Chile.”

In the Financial Times, Alice Lascelles profiles Dwyane Wade, who says he got into wine to “be a voice for the black winemakers and vineyard owners; to show how wine can be a gateway to careers that have never been presented as a real option in the community of color.”

Swiss wine is no longer a secret. In the Drop, Adam Lechmere explores the country’s two main winemaking regions.

Norm Roby offers an introduction to the Walla Walla Valley AVA on his blog.