Daniel Sena, the head of strategic marketing at Interscope Records, has taken a detour from music to promote his new product: Electric Sky Wine. Noticing the popularity of both music festivals and wine among the millennial demographic, Sena has capitalized by designing a product specifically designed to be consumed at Coachella. [The New Yorker]
After returning to her home country two years ago, Alexa van Sickle, a native Austrian, began a road trip to reconnect with her roots. Making stops at the world’s first “beer spa,” a family-owned whiskey distillery in the Dachstein glacier and the vineyards of lower Austria, van Sickle explores the country through its drinks. [Roads & Kingdoms]
According to the New York Times, the United States exported $82 million of wine to China last year—a sevenfold increase from the decade prior. But with greater visibility has come higher stakes. Natalie Kitroeff reports on the California vintners who are becoming the unexpected victims of a trade war with China. [New York Times]
In Brooklyn, a growing number of neighborhoods have begun to gentrify, among them, Bed-Stuy and Crown Heights. But several recently opened businesses are seeking to reclaim the space. Muna Mire profiles three black-owned restaurants and bars—Sisters, Ode to Babel and Bed Vyne Brew—within that corner of the borough. [Eater]
Fifty years ago, California voted to preserve Napa Valley’s land for agricultural and, more specifically, viticultural use. Today, however, winemakers are facing an upcoming vote to curb vineyard development in the Valley. Esther Mobley on the decision that currently divides the county, and will have a hand in determining the fate of the California wine industry. [San Francisco Chronicle]
In the late 1800s, Alfred Barnard set out across Britain to research and report on the many whiskey distilleries that dotted the country, which culminated in his substantial book, The Whiskey Distilleries of the United Kingdom. Two centuries later, Liza Weisstuch has set out on a similar journey, with Barnard’s book in hand as a point of comparison, as she explores Islay and its many distilleries. [New York Times]
As the head brewer and master blender at Baghaven, the Mikkeller-owned brewery dedicated to farmhouse saisons, Ehren Schmidt is responsible for sourcing yeast for wild fermentation. Lars Hinnerskov Eriksen profiles Schmidt, the 32-year-old self-professed “yeast hoarder.” [Munchies]
