San Rafael, Calif.—The U.S. Navy’s newest and most sophisticated nuclear attack submarine launched earlier this month after being christened with Illinois sparkling wine.

First Lady Michelle Obama smashed a bottle of Illinois Sparkling Co.’s limited release “Blend 786” on the hull of the USS Illinois SSN 786 during an Oct. 10 ceremony held at a shipyard in Groton, Conn.

In a video released by Cuvaison Estate Wines, winemaker Steve Rogstad discusses the processing equipment on the crush pad at the winery’s facility in Carneros. Cuvaison purchased what likely was one of the first optical sorting machines in California back in 2010 and upgraded to the second generation of the Pellenc sorter for this year’s harvest. The winery uses the sorter for all its red varieties and runs the grapes through Pellenc's destemmer as well. 

 San Rafael, Calif.—It’s now a little easier for wineries, breweries and distillers in California to communicate with their customers about where to buy their products, thanks to a new state law.

On Oct 1., Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law Assembly Bill 780 that allows a winery or other beverage alcohol business to let a consumers know about two or more unaffiliated on- or off-premise retailers that sell their wares provided the communication, or listing, meets the following conditions:

Middletown, Calif.—The current tally of destruction from the Valley Fire still burning in Lake, Sonoma and Napa counties is 73,700 acres burnt, 585 homes and 150 commercial properties destroyed. The fire still threatens thousands more structures and it is only 35% contained. The fire has also claimed three lives.

Despite a rainstorm that came through the North Coast on Wednesday, the fire is still raging. One of the biggest effects on the area’s wineries and growers is that the blaze blocked roads limiting access to vineyards with grapes that are either ripe or just about ready to pick.

Santa Rosa, Calif.—The Sonoma County Winegrowers group estimates harvest is 50% to 60% complete and should be done by the end of October.

 Growers report yields are less than normal and the overall harvest in the county could be about 30% to 35% less than the previous year, according to the winegrowers. The report out of Sonoma is similar to what Wines & Vines has hearing from growers and winemakers throughout California. All are reporting that yields are down on average from 20% to 30%, the grapes ripened about three weeks earlier than normal and quality has remained strong. In the photo to the left, workers with Bevill Vineyard Management harvest Chardonnay in the Alexander Valley on Sept. 10.