Oeno-File

The Oeno-File: Walgreens Makes Red Wine, Emilio Estevez Also Making Wine

Please sir, don't hurt us.
Please sir, don’t hurt us. Photo: iStock Photo

• Walgreens has launched their own private-label red table wine called Colby Red, with Australian winemaker Daryl Groom. This follows on the pharmacy chain’s forays into beer-making and sushi, and their affiliate Duane Reade selling refillable growlers in Williamsburg. [CSP]

• Emilio Estevez becomes the first of the Brat Pack to turn gentleman farmer and hobbyist winemaker, starting with grapes outside his Malibu home, under the label Casa Dumetz. [NYT]

• Good/bad news from a wine industry symposium this week in California: Production across the state was down fourteen percent last year due to the weird weather, but that could level out supplies with demand. Also, grape growers are uncharacteristically bullish for the future. [Sac Bee, Wines & Vines]

• Dominari Winery near downtown Napa has been in some serious financial trouble, to the tune of $3.3 million, and one woman has been picketing outside to make sure everyone knows how many growers they’ve stiffed. [Napa Valley Register]

• FYI: Grapes don’t have sex. [NYT]

• The sommelier at Meadowood in St. Helena, Rom Toulan, age 32 and born in Vouvray, France, brainstorms about 30 different wine pairings every night, which account for 70% of the restaurant’s wine sales. [Napa Valley Register]

The Oeno-File: Walgreens Makes Red Wine, Emilio Estevez Also Making Wine