What I'm Reading --

Last Call in Wine Country

Have California's agricultural lenders finally decided that the turnaround everyone has waited for isn’t coming anytime soon? And, having decided this, will they start to call in loans? And, if so, will that force the sales, foreclosures, and bankruptcies that the industry has been waiting for since at least 2023—but hoping against hope would never happen?  “What I’m hearing is, ‘I don’t know when this slowdown stops'," one attorney says. (Meininger's)

The Man Who Held the World's Most Expensive Vineyard for Ransom

In January 2010, a letter reached Aubert de Villaine: 1 million euros, or Romanée-Conti dies. Two vines had already been drilled and injected to prove the threat was real. (Polished Palate)