News

This is the news we’re thinking about here at SevenFifty Daily.

Tuesday,
September 26, 2017
1. The Drinks Business

Beaujolais: largest estate sold for the first time in 300 years

Château de La Chaize, which has been in the hands of its founding family since the 1670s, has been sold to the Maïa Groupe—a Lyonnais construction, infrastructure engineering, and hospitality group—for an undisclosed sum. The château, which is situated at Odenas, comprises 99 hectares of vines set within the 250 hectare estates and produces exclusively gamay grapes, with 50 percent of the vines aged over 40 years old. It produces around 8 percent of the total production of wine in the Brouilly appellation.

2. Wine Business

Napa Valley growers gearing up for second half of 2017 harvest

Napa Valley grape growers are gearing for the second half of the 2017 harvest. As of Friday, most growers reported 35 percent or more of their fruit. Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay yields are said to be lighter than expected. Small berry size and complete phenolic development indicate high-quality fruit, according to the Napa Valley Grapegrowers.

3. CraftBeer.com

Breweries, led by Houston’s Saint Arnold, raise $35,000 for Houston Food Bank

In the days immediately following Hurricane Harvey, Brock Wagner, the founder and owner of Houston’s Saint Arnold Brewing, put together #ReliefBeers, a campaign where participating breweries donated one dollar from each pint of beer sold in their taprooms on Friday, September 8. While a majority of the breweries were from Texas, brewers from across the country, including Colorado, New Jersey, and Georgia, were part of the campaign.

4. The Drinks Business

Champagne growers say "harvest started too late"

Despite being one of the earliest start-dates on record, growers in Champagne may have begun harvesting too late, according to Olivier Krug. He said that the responsibility should lie with decision-makers among the grower-community in each village, who, he said, are tempted to wait until September for the start of the harvest to save on paperwork. According to Bruno Paillard, due to late-spring frost, summer-time hail storms, and the need for rigorous grape selection following a wet August, yields would be lower than last year, and may fall short by as much as 20 percent of the official marketable yield of 10,800 kilograms per hectare – which was set for the region on 21 July.