(Photo from Nonfiction Wine)

Is organic production becoming a prerequisite for fine wine? In the Drinks Business, Arabella Mileham looks at the rise in consumer demand for organic wines.

In the New Wine Review, Virginie Boone tells the story behind the cult California sparkling wine Ultramarine. “What seemed to light up so many of Ultramarine’s admirers wasn’t just its ability to stand next to France’s best independent sparklers, though it certainly did that. It was that Ultramarine achieved the clarity and brilliance of the best site-specific Champagnes, but used those traits to showcase its distinctively Californian attributes.”

Two years after the death of her husband, Benjamin, Ariane de Rothschild — and the couple’s daughters — is expanding the wine empire he started, reports Suzanne Mustacich in Wine Spectator. “…in the two years since, they have been moving that empire forward. They may be the least-known branch of the Rothschild family in the wine world, but they are making a mark.”

Do we need new grape varieties? A recent panel of experts at UC Davis recently discussed the question.

In Food & Wine, Ray Isle goes into everything you need to know about pét-nat.

In the Wine Independent, Lisa Perrotti-Brown profiles Argot Wines.

In Wine-Searcher, W. Blake Gray reports on the ongoing fight for interference-free wine shipping by looking at two in Rhode Island and Iowa.

Bordeaux is drowning in downy mildew, reports Meininger’s.