Vermentino. (Wikimedia)

In Wine Spectator, Robert Camuto highlights a Vermentino from the South of France, and gets into why it can’t actually be called that on the label. “All seemed to be going fine until the just-bottled 2022 vintage, when an Italy-instigated, European Union rule took full force; it banned the use of the name Vermentino on wines from outside of Italy (except for three countries that negotiated exceptions: Australia, the U.S. and Croatia).This, by some twisted logic, is supposed to protect the names of Sardinian appellations with the “Vermentino” embedded in them: Vermentino di Gallura and Vermentino di Sardegna,” he writes. “Vermentino deserves to be more widely planted and enjoyed. Sardinian versions of the wine are different from Corsican, Ligurian and those of Napa or Continental France. The more good Vermentino that’s out there, the more its international profile will be raised.”

The central question when it comes to climate change and wine is whether we are looking at a “predictable march toward a warmer world”or “a radical rise in uncertainty arising from more extreme weather—hot and cold, wet and dry,” says Michael Summerfield in the World of Fine Wine.

Is California considering getting into domestic cork industry? “…there are whispers that wine companies in California are making moves to establish their own domestic cork production industry, with the likes of E & J Gallo rumoured to already be actively purchasing raw oak material,” reports Sarah Neish in the Drinks Business.

Elin McCoy highlights great Burgundy wines under $70 in Bloomberg.

Antonio Galloni offers his notes on new released from Coastal Tuscany in Vinous.

In the Robb Report, Mike DeSimone and Jeff Jenssen explore the importance of acidity to a wine’s flavor and agreeability.

VinePair highlights Muscadet, which it calls a “quintessential summer white wine.”