Give a gift they’ll savour all year long. Gift a Membership Now

Smoke taint looms large in CA

California 2020 grapes from Bar None’s Canyon vineyard on the ground

California vintners are being forced to learn about a whole new threat. Rosés and bargains are likely to abound from the 2020 harvest.

It has now been six weeks since the successful containment of the Glass Fire, a 67,484-acre (27,310-ha) blaze that burned in both Napa and Sonoma Counties. Despite the first winter rain having fallen in California a week or two after containment, an official end to the fire season has not yet been declared. Nonetheless, wine producers across northern California are moving on with the vintage, though that means many different things to many different people.

Official information...