Merlot cluster.

Northern California wineries that rely on Merlot for Bordeaux-style blends and varietal wines are struggling to secure enough high-quality grapes. What’s driving this shortage and what can be done to fix it? Sophia McDonald investigates in SevenFifty Daily.

“A state representative from Western Pennsylvania has proposed a constitutional amendment that would ban the state from the booze business,” reports the Philadelphia Inquirer. “It’s a new approach to a goal sought by generations of Republicans in Harrisburg: ending the state’s monopoly liquor business — exercised through the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board — which has been in place nearly since the end of Prohibition in the 1930s.”

Growers are trying to remain resilient despite winegrape prices being far outpaced by rising costs of production.

“It’s interesting times for English still wines at the moment, and one variety catching the eye is Chardonnay,” writes Jamie Goode on his blog.

Jancis Robinson remembers Bordeaux’s Anthony Barton.

In the Paso Robles Press, Mira Honeycutt looks at how Paso winemakers are embracing the art of amphora-vinification.

In the Drop, Wink Lorch explores the virtues of Trousseau.