The world’s biggest collection of vines is to be frozen in the hope that long-lost grape varieties could eventually be revived if grapes fall victim to climate change. The vines are among the plants due to be placed in a €10.4 million low temperature conservation center opened this month by the French National Institute for Research into Agriculture, Food and the Environment.

In the San Francisco Chronicle, Esther Mobley reports that winemaker Pax Mahle and entrepreneur Baron Ziegler have purchased California’s Halcón Vineyard, widely celebrated for its Syrah vines.

“After debuting with a 1972 Cabernet that was included in the famed Judgment of Paris tasting, winemaker Bernard Portet and the Goelet family were off and running. The winery based itself in the Stags Leap District, eschewing Oakville or Rutherford, and was credited with being among the first to use Merlot prominently in blends with Cabernet Sauvignon…By the 1990s though, Clos du Val had fallen into a slump,” writes James Molesworth in Wine Spectator. “Now, with a new generation of ownership and another winemaker change, Clos du Val is making a concerted effort to get back in the game.”

In the New York Times, Amy Tara Koch look at how winegrowers in Sonoma County are embracing regenerative agriculture.

“Glassy-winged sharpshooters, the invasive pests that terrorized Wine Country in the early 2000s, are back in Solano County,” reports Tara Duggan in the San Francisco Chronicle. “The shimmery brown and yellow insects are feared because of their ability to spread Pierce’s disease, which is devastating to grapevines.”

In Wine Enthusiast, Jill Barth explains the differences between new, old, and neutral oak.

In the Drop, Jeff Siegel highlights the sparkling wines of Michigan and the Finger Lakes.