Willamette Valley vineyards. (Wikimedia)

Oregon winemakers share a community, can-do approach. Can it survive the arrival of big players from outside? Jancis Robinson surveys the scene in the Financial Times. “There has been extraordinarily rapid expansion. Admired vintners such as John Thomas of Thomas and Doug Tunnell of Brick House used to grow vines in splendid isolation in the Dundee Hills and Ribbon Ridge appellations respectively. Today they’re surrounded by other vineyards, many of them extremely young and some owned by people who live elsewhere. French interest from the likes of Drouhin, Méo-Camuzet, Jadot and more recently Bollinger, who bought Ponzi in 2021, has generally been seen as benign. The Rothchilds of Ch Lafite have been sniffing around; such interest from a Bordeaux first growth will presumably be viewed as a compliment.”

As the en primeur campaign looms, this year’s could be make it or break it for the entire Bordeaux system, says Margaret Rand in Wine-Searcher.

The global bulk wine market continued to be slow through March into early April, as the ongoing economic uncertainty around the world compounds a longer-term structural weakness specific to the wine industry, according to a recent report on the global wine industry from Ciatti Global Wine & Grape Brokers.

Protesters in Paris forced their way into the headquarters of luxury giant LVMH, on the day shares in the company – which owns brands such as Louis Vuitton and Moët – jumped to a record high. “If Macron wants to find money to finance the pension system, he should come here to find it,” Fabien Villedieu, a union leader, told CNN affiliate BFMTV outside the LVMH building.

“Champagne Billecart-Salmon has added a numeric code to its bottles in a bid to bring “greater transparency” for consumers,” reports Patrick Schmitt in the Drinks Business.

“The brothers behind award-winning Paso Robles winery Daou Family Estates will soon be making some of their vintages overseas,” reports Kathe Tanner in the San Luis Obispo Tribune. “Co-proprietors Daniel and George Daou recently purchased a 173-acre property in Italy.”

In Wine Enthusiast, Jim Gordon explores the importance of diurnal shift in wine.