Another week has passed and slowly, slowly things seem to take a turn for the better on the road back to (some kind of) normality. Bars and pubs have already reopened and there’s talk that the curfew is going to be faded out, too, over the coming weeks. So, let’s focus on other news than Covid in this latest edition of the JollyCellarMaster Weekly:
An update on the notorious regulatory US system and more
Tempest in a Teapot
Last week, we talked about an EU initiative that resulted in a virtual uproar in Italy and other parts of Europe. You know, the one where lawmakers as part of an action plan to improve the health of European citizens were considering the possibility of adding water to wine? Well, I closed with the words more to come and indeed it did: Brussels had already been seen to be backtracking, but in reality it was more a tempest in a teapot since the discussion concerns dealcoholisation only and the EU according to Italian newspaper Il Giorno reassured winemakers and industry stakeholders that it has no intention to water down wine regulations (no pun intended) – at least not at this stage. The backlash to the alleged idea though shows the sensitivity of the subject and the real issue. That is, that we find ourselves in a discussion that like so many others in our times is not based on facts and values opinions but driven by hearsay and the power of those that make the most noise. It is indeed concerning that you too often get the feeling that wine consumption should be considered as damaging as cigarettes or drugs. I do not dispute the danger of alcohol but merely support an honest and open dialogue, which unfortunately is not always a matter of course. Anyway, we are getting carried away. With regard to the EU initiative, it remains to be seen what comes of it and not until we see the finalise paper will we know more, but again I’d like to say: More to come for sure.
The American Way
I just keep running with another story about wine regulations if you don’t mind. America’s system is notorious for making things difficult for the industry, so every news about new rules can be perceived as a glimmer of hope that things might change for the better. Last week then saw three U.S. states making amendments to the status quo and let’s being in alphabetical order: Alabama has introduced a new law that will allow wine to be shipped directly to your door, but only from certain places. It was a bit of an interesting situation since you could ship to up to 30 different states but not within the state, but according to a report seems to be fixed now. Kentucky seems to be making similar amendments with a new DTC law that was approved by state legislators last week. And then there is the case of Louisiana with the Senate bill 178 that allows a delivery company or a third party platform the delivery of restaurant prepared food and alcohol malt beverages, sparkling wine, and still wine, meaning more ways to get wine delivered to your doorstep. Good news for the citizens of these states, I suppose.
More Stuff
And there has been more interesting stuff in the world of wine in the past seven days like the proposal that you should freeze leftover wine to reuse it for cooking at a later stage, which I found on one hand terrifying but on the other hand it appealed to something deep down inside of me that believes that no drop should go to waste – the eternal struggle, right? The Guardian published a story that seemed to confirm that old vines really do make the best wines, which got me thinking where I could find an abandoned vineyard myself (By the way, the image at the top is of a vineyard here in South Tyrol called Versoaln where we had the party after our wedding -apologies for the random details – which is more than 350years old and still in production. That’S only second place though since according to Wikipedia the oldest know grape producing vine is in Maribor and goes back to the 17th century). Plus today was the first day of OENOVITI International Symposium that kicked off with a couple of interesting conversation and lastly, the news that ProWein is currently accepting registrations for the 2022 edition. I’m not promoting ProWein though I would be, of course, be open to proposals, but it is simply an expression of hope and joy that next year things will return to normal for wine events, which means we made the full cycle back the intro. Not bad, eh?
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Well, that’s all for this week. If you have an interesting story, connect on Twitter and if you want to stay in the loop about things happening at the JollyCellarMaster and the world of wine, make sure you sign up to our newsletter.
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