Winebits 813: Gallup poll, vine disease, wine terms

This week’s wine news: Gallup says we’re drinking less. plus NASA lends a hand in detecting vine disease, and the Old World-New World wine term debate

• Gallup poll: The 2023 Gallup alcohol survey, released on Monday, didn’t reveal many surprises — mostly just more of the same. Abstention increased from 33 percent to 38 percent, while “overindulging” remained at near historic lows (so much for all our pandemic binging). Winedrops to third behind beer and spirits in popularity, and remains a drink for women and the wealthy. I’ll have an analysis of what this all means on Thursday.

• Up in the air: An airborne science instrument developed at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California may help researchers spot a grapevine disease called leaf roll – not the worst of the bunch, but bad enough, causing billions of dollars in annual crop damage. The remote sensing technique may be able detect leaf roll symptoms like discolored foliage and stunted fruit a year before the signs are evident on the ground. The instrument uses infra-red imaging to search the vineyards for signs of disease.

• Wine terms: Emily Saladino, writing in Food & Wine, does a nice job dissecting the Old Word/New World wine terms dilemma, given that technology and climate change have altered the assumptions the terms are based. She does such a nice job, in fact, the WC will forgive her for using the word “schema.” As she writes: “It rather haphazardly draws lines around what is and isn’t ‘old,’ and ignores all the ways that factors like climate change, technology, and international trends shape which styles of wine are made where and how.” This was evident during the Trump wine tariff, when some European producers boosted their alcohol content to 14.5 percent to avoid the 25 percent charge. The wine they were making was hardly old word.