VinoWeek - Episode 51 - PG&E Facing More Scrutiny

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Sonoma County wine world recently lost another former winery owner. Chris Smith of the Press Democrat pens an obituary about Robert Rue, who was farming old Zinfandel/ field blend vineyards as a side hustle before the term was popular.

We’ve suspected that litigation of this sort was on the horizon and now we have two sizable California vintners suing several insurance companies. The vintners claim that the insurers have failed to reimburse them for smoke taint damages as a result of the wildfires in October 2017 in Northern California. Lewis Perdue of Wine Industry Insight scooped this story that we will be following closely.

Mel Christopher, a top PG&E gas executive is no longer with the company. J. D. Morris of the Press Democrat provides the details.

PG&E wants to use a portion of Terry Gard’s vineyard property in Calistoga for a liquid natural gas plant claiming eminent domain and Mr. Gard is having no part of it. They are both headed to court. I guess you could say PG&E has made him and offer he can refuse, at least for now. Cynthia Sweeney of The Weekly Calistogan penned the story.

The Trump administration is adding more fuel to the tariff wars, this time targeting France, Germany and Spain. We’ll have to wait to see if those countries retaliate with their own tariffs on American goods. Meanwhile, get ready for wine and food products from the European Union to climb upward. W. Blake Gray explores a possible way for Bordeaux winemakers to bypass the additional tax. It’s clever but will it change the way Bordeaux wine are perceived?

Eric Asimov of the New York Times writes his first of a four part series exploring the impact climate change is having on modern viticulture.

Bill and I discuss these items and more in this week's addition of VinoWeek. Thanks to everyone for listening. Cheers!