The Youths Have Soured On Grapes

Happy Friday!

There was a meteor shower this week, Europe experienced a beautiful eclipse and the top trending viral recipe was “viral yellow cake mix recipe” which increased +550% over the past week. We’ve got the recipe below.

Ready to feel a wee bit old? Kaia Gerber (Mom Cindy Crawford’s clone) and Homer Gere (Richard’s son) have graced the cover of Vogue this month.

The two star in FX’s new Ryan Murphy show “The Shards” based on the Bret Easton Ellis novel, about 80s serial killers.

Emily here: I caught the first couple episode of The Shards, and it’s worth a watch, especially for Kaia and Homer. But, as long we’re shouting them out, let’s please not forget this gem from 1992:

Everything old is new again. Now let’s get into some pressing news.

Pour One Out For The Grapes

So the youths are turning their back on alcohol and unlike their lush-elders (hey, girl hey 👋🏻) they have found some pretty good reasons for taking a pass:

Wellness: hangovers are out, feeling good the next day is in.

Inflation: a cocktail in a coastal city can run $16 - $22. And in the Midwest and smaller metros, you are looking at around $10 a pop.

Health Concerns: Warnings about alcohol and its connection to cancer are becoming harder to ignore.

Alcohol Alts: Non-alcoholic beverages and cannabis have officially entered the chat.

Sales have also suffered as many younger drinkers have found traditional wines stodgy and difficult to understand, and preferred canned cocktails, seltzers and nonalcoholic beers and spirits. - NYT

Between the hangovers, the expense and the desire to wake up and feel good (novel), the youths are not reaching for the drink menu.

Honestly, makes perfect sense. It also helps explain why the California wine industry is taking a major hit. So what’s happening to the vineyards?

They’re rotting, burning and they’re being fallowed!

Due to lack of sales some growers are leaving grapes to rot on the vine. Actually harvesting and processing them would cost more than the grapes are worth. Others are ripping out entire vineyards. California has lost around 7% of their vineyard acreage in a year, with 40,000 acres being removed.

And “fallowed”? That’s agriculture talk for — letting land just sit. Opting to let it be rather than plant and produce.

So wait, are vineyards really being burnt down like the headlines indicate? Not exactly. In one highly publicized case, Sarmento Vineyard pulled out its vines and then burned the piles of discarded vines.

Someone call Paul Giamatti, we need Sideways 2 stat!

But to be fair, as much as we hate to see an industry in trouble, a decrease in alcohol consumption does seem like a great development. Unfortunately not all non-alc drinks are thriving. Alex Cooper please come to the front of the class.