Before I get underway, I want to congratulate Mikk Parre of Estonia, Martynas Pravilonis of Lithuania and Pascaline Lepeltier of France for their performance in the Association de la Sommellerie Internationale (ASI) competition for the Best Sommelier for Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Parre took home gold and Lepeltier silver, but, from all reports of the event, it was a very close call. You can watch it here.
California labour lawsuit
In August 2023 eight vineyard stewards employed by Dos Viñas Vineyard Management based out of Calistoga, California, and contracted with Foley Family were fired after asking for raises from $18 to $19 an hour and using paid sick leave.
In September 2023 a complaint was filed with the Agricultural Labor Relations Board against Dos Viñas and Foley Family which stated that the owner of Dos Viñas had told employees that were being fired because ‘they did not have a foreman (he had fired their foreman two days earlier) and because Foley requested that the crew be let go’. After a 10-month investigation the ALRB filed a formal complaint against Foley Family. On 21 October, Foley Family settled, agreeing to pay the eight workers $17,945 in lost wages and to respect workers’ rights, including contract workers.
I realise that abuse of workers is nothing new. However, successfully fighting that abuse is rare and I’d like to take a moment to toast the eight people who just made headlines that send a very clear message that the hundreds of thousands of farmworkers in California have a right to be treated like human beings!
However, I’d also like to drag up something that didn’t make headlines. Earlier this year, Foley Family settled a class action lawsuit involving 625 people who were employed for Ferrari-Carano (a Foley Family property) between 2017 and 2022 (Foley bought the brand in 2020). The plaintiffs in this case allege that, and I quote, ‘Defendants’ failure to pay minimum and straight time, to pay overtime wages, to provide meal periods, to authorize and permit rest periods, to timely pay final wages at termination, to provide accurate itemized wage statements, and to indemnify employees for expenditures, resulted in Labor Code and Private Attorneys General Act violations and unfair business practices.’ Foley Family and Ferrari-Carano settled for $1,050,000. I can only hope that, between these two settlements, Foley Family has learned to treat their many employees with more respect. Foley Family Wine & Spirits owns more than 30 brands including Chalone, Silverado, Banshee, Chalk Hill, Chateau St Jean, Ferrari-Carano, Cosentino and Cherry Pie.
France’s latest vine-pull
Back at the end of September I discussed that the European Commission had granted the French government €120 million in financial aid to grub up 30,000 hectares (over 74,000 acres) of French vineyards by paying growers €4,000 per hectare removed. Growers started applying in mid October. According to Decanter, applications are now closed, and 5,418 growers have agreed to pull up 27,461 hectares (67,858 acres) by 2 June. They are prohibited from replanting vines until at least 2029.
This is unfortunate but necessary considering the current state of the market.
Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars joins ROC
Napa’s Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, founded in 1970 by the Winiarski Family and, as of last year, owned in full by Italian wine company Marchesi Antinori, has achieved Regenerative Organic Certification. This means that they not only farm organically, but also have certified their commitment to animal welfare and social responsibility. The certification also requires that they have their soils tested regularly to show that they are actively building soil carbon and microbial diversity. Congrats to Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars!
There are now 27 ROC producers, from the US, Italy, Chile, Argentina, France, Canada, Australia and Austria.The full list is:
USA
California
Tablas Creek
Solminer
Bonterra Organic Estates (formerly Fetzer Vineyards)
Spottswoode
Donum Estate
Medlock Ames
Grgich Hills
Villa Creek Maha Estate
Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars
Jack Neal & Sons Family Vineyards
Booker Vineyard
Gundlach Bundschu
O'Neill Wines
Oregon
Ambar Estate
Troon
Washington State
Estelbrook Farms & Vineyards
Australia
Inkwell Wines
France
Domaine Mirabeau
Canada
Vignoble de la Bauge
Italy
Vigna Cunial
Austria
Weingut Zahel
Weingut Georg Toifl KG
Weingut Jurtschitsch
Weingut Winkler-Hermaden
Argentina
Domaine Bousquet
Bodegas Chandon
Chile
Viña Emiliana
That’s all for this episode of the wine news. Next week is Thanksgiving, where I’ll be building on the pie-and-wine pairing research that went into our recent pie-pairing guide so I won’t be bringing you the news again until 6 December. If you enjoy this newscast and would like to see it continue, please subscribe to JancisRobinson.com. And if you have breaking news in your area, please email news@jancisrobinson.com.
This is a transcript of our weekly five-minute news broadcast, which you can watch below. You can also listen to it on The Wine News in 5 Podcast. If you enjoy this content and would like to see more like it, please subscribe to our site and our weekly newsletter.
