Earlier this year, winemaker Patrick Cappiello of Monte Rio Cellars, a small producer of wines from Lodi and Mendocino in California, made a dramatic plea in an Instagram post to his 37,000 followers.

“American wineries are struggling right now,” he said. “We have a huge amount of inventory and a huge decrease in sales… Drink our wines, buy our wines,” Cappiello implored, challenging his followers to “buy only American wine for two months.” Because otherwise, many American wineries you love will go out of business, he warned.

Cappiello’s appeal sparked widespread discussion in an industry facing a glut of global production coupled with sharp downward trends in consumption. Globally, wine consumption has decreased by 13% in 2023 from peak figures in 2007. And in the U.S., where the number of wineries has increased 4% annually since 2010 to over 11,000 wineries in 2022, wine sales have faltered as increasingly health-conscious consumers are drinking less alcohol, or seeking alternatives to wine like spirits, cannabis or premade canned cocktails.

Cappiello’s message struck an alarm for the dire situation of many small American wineries, but it also sparked concern about whether “Buy American” as an ethos makes sense when it comes to wine.

Wine, unlike most consumer goods, is uniquely celebrated for its diversity — the vast, kaleidoscopic landscape of regions, grapes and styles associated with it. “The magic of wine is the ability to expand people’s horizons with stories of all the different places and people that produce it,” explains Isabella Tenorio, the head sommelier for RPM Restaurants, a restaurant group with multiple restaurant concepts throughout Chicago, Las Vegas and Washington, D.C. Narrowing the scope with a directive to buy American hits differently than it does with appliances or automobiles, she suggests.

Polls indicate that Americans generally prefer to buy American-made products. Beyond patriotism, buying American — whether a Ford F-150 pickup or a Whirlpool washer — implies quality or longevity for many consumers. For many, that feel-good sense of supporting homegrown products and local communities appeals.

“If you look at U.S. wine consumption, the vast majority of what Americans consume is, in fact, domestic wine,” explains winemaker Nova Cadamatre, a Master of Wine and owner of the wine brands Trestle Thirty One in the Finger Lakes region of New York and Fiadh Ruadh in Napa. After all, imported wine comprises just 30% of the U.S. wine market by volume.

But among the many challenges that small American producers like Cappiello or Cadamatre share is that the wines they craft are inherently more expensive to produce than the wines American consumers purchase most often. About 73% of wines in the U.S. market are sold for under $8 — the kind of cut-rate, often generic wines that only corporations large enough to maximize massive economies of scale can deliver.

Certainly, in Chicago’s many steakhouses, premium American wines, especially California reds dominate offerings. “Our top-selling wines at RPM Steak are American, specifically California cabernet, and in all of the RPM restaurants, within the top five there are usually two Americans, usually a cabernet and a chardonnay,” Tenorio says.

Domestic wine on display for sale at the Printers Row Wine Bar and Shop. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)

But for small producers making wine outside marquee regions like Napa (where the average sales price for a bottle now exceeds $100), decreased wine consumption is exacerbated by the proliferation of high quality, inexpensive imported wines, as well as the influence of wine professionals who often favor European imports.

“There’s absolutely a bias towards European wines,” says Lee Gusman, the wine director at Printers Row Wine Shop, describing the preferences of American distributors, buyers and sommeliers who funnel wines to end consumers.

It’s a bias that stems from a multitude of sources. Traditional wine education has long centered on European wines. And particularly among wine pros, preferences for high-acid, mineral-driven wines with moderate alcohol content associated with Europe have endured.

It’s a bias that Gusman has been guilty of too, he admits, so much that American wines represent just 15% of sales at Printers Row. “Wines from European countries like France and Italy are so culturally revered,” he explains. They’re so deeply intertwined with history and culture, he suggests, “those chateaus and rolling hills where generations have stewarded the same land… It’s just sexier,” he said laughingly.

As a directive, “Buy American” would be a tough sell for shops like Printers Row where consumers demand both diversity and discovery when purchasing wines. But Gusman does agree that greater recognition is due, particularly to the many American winemakers who “are redefining the landscape of what American wine can be today.”

“There’s a wonderful irreverence here unlike anything in Europe, a distinctly American spirit of discovery that can make our wines really fun and adventurous, sometimes weird and unexpected too,” he says.

A person walks through the door at the Printers Row Wine Bar and Shop on June 16, 2024. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)

Unfortunately, “many of America’s most phenomenal wines are simply not making it into the hands of consumers,” says Grant Barnow, the wine director at The Oakville Grill & Cellar in Fulton Market. Oakville is one of few restaurants in the Chicago area that serve only American wine, more specifically, from California. Beyond the big brands or famous appellations, “we wanted to celebrate the depth and breadth of wine available in California,” says Barnow, “phenomenal wines from smaller growers and wineries that are often tiny in production.”

It’s compelling as a single restaurant concept, but even Barnow doesn’t think ‘Buy American’ is a good take on wine in general. By focusing on exclusion rather than exploration and discovery, “you lose out on the beauty of wine, this gorgeous celebration of the global tradition of winemaking,” explains Barnow.

“It’s definitely a tough market,” particularly for small wineries in America today, says Cadamatre.  And in its purest form, supporting American wine “takes advantage of the things you have locally, and encourages money to stay in local economies,” she says. “The value of supporting small domestic wine producers is that every bottle sold makes a really huge difference in our lives, it puts food on my table, it goes directly back into my business,” she says.

As an industry though, Cadamatre feels “the bigger war at hand isn’t domestic versus imported wine,” but rather, restoring consumer interest in wines overall, “coming together to convince consumers that wine in moderation is part of a healthy lifestyle again.”

In the meantime, it’s never been a better time to drink American wines, if only for the sheer pleasure and discovery of doing so.

Monte Rio Cellars 2023 Lodi Sauvignon Blanc $24 at Monte Rio Cellars 

Cappiello produces an innovative array of California wines, from uniquely fresh-fruited zinfandel sourced from centenary vines in Lodi to a cherry-stained mission, a grape introduced to California by Catholic missionaries in the 18th century. This salt-edged sauvignon blanc made from organically farmed grapes is an exceptional value likely to outperform Sancerre sold at double the price.

Bergstrom 2021 Cumberland Reserve Willamette Pinot Noir $43 at Vin Chicago 

“Oregon is a really beautiful bridge between Old World and New World styles,” Tenorio says, adding “It’s always my top choice for domestic wines, especially for pinot noir and chardonnay… Bergstrom, especially, makes a beautiful pinot noir that has a little bit more ripeness and oak than Burgundy would, but that’s mineral-driven and judiciously made.”

Stolpman Vineyards 2021 Ballard Canyon Syrah $33 at Uncork It! Liquor Store 

While “Santa Barbara is a distinctly cool-climate region in the Central Coast of California, if you go a bit farther inland into Ballard Canyon or the Happy Canyon, you get wonderful syrah that’s very much of the Northern Rhône style,” Tenorio says. “Stolpman Vineyards, particularly, makes a lovely syrah” with richness and ripeness calibrated with vitality and freshness.

Trestle Thirty One 2022 Finger Lakes Chardonnay $38 at Trestle Thirty One 

“Anyone who’s a die-hard white Burgundy fan would love our chardonnay,” Cadamatre says of this supple but briskly balanced wine sourced from Seneca Lake in New York’s Finger Lakes region. “It’s an amazing value for the quality compared to what you’re getting from Burgundy,” she says.

Rasa Vineyards 2019 Veritas Sequitur Walla Walla Syrah $135 at Rasa Vineyards

“If you’re a Northern Rhône drinker, you need to go drink Washington syrah,” Cadamatre suggests. “The best examples share a concentration and intensity that really do rival the Rhône.” Her favorite is produced by fellow Master of Wine Billo Naravane, owner and winemaker at Rasa Vineyards in Walla Walla.

The Martha Stoumen 2022 Post Flirtation California Red, left, and the Kelley Fox 2022 Mirabai Dundee Hills Pinot Noir at the Printers Row Wine Bar and Shop in Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)

Martha Stoumen 2022 Post Flirtation California Red $36 at Printers Row Wine Shop 

Sonoma-based winemaker Martha Stoumen makes “exceptional wines that are super approachable, fun and energetic,” Gusman says. This bright, juicy blend of zinfandel, pinot noir, carignan and petite syrah sourced from Mendocino and Contra Costa County explodes with “super high-toned fresh fruit,” he says.

Kelley Fox 2022 Mirabai Dundee Hills Pinot Noir $45 at Printers Row Wine Shop 

“I get so excited about wines from Oregon and Kelley Fox is a really beautiful spirit making the most amazing wines,” Gusman says. “Pinot noir from the Willamette Valley is distinctly American in that they’re more prominent, more powerful in taste, but there’s an elegance and energy to these wines.”

Matthiasson 2022 California Rosé $34 at Verve Wine 

For Barnow, winemakers Jill and Steve Matthiasson represent not only a unique take on Northern California wine, but “their importance to sustainable viticulture is bar none. … Their rosé is racy, mineral and citrus-driven, and maybe the best accompaniment to a summer day,” he says.

Tatomer 2022 Steinhügel Santa Lucia Highlands Riesling $22 at In Fine Spirits 

Graham Tatomer does incredible work translating “Austrian stylizations of riesling and grüner veltliner,” Barnow says. “I’m a sucker for acid and Graham’s wines always leave me craving more.”

Whitcraft 2019 Sanford & Benedict Vineyards Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir $74 at Independent Spirits 

Drake Whitcraft’s perfumed, bright-fruited pinot noir offers glimpses of Burgundy but remains firmly set in Santa Barbara, suggests Barnow. “Set in traditions of low-intervention winemaking, (Whitcraft) is the ferryman guiding wines to their gorgeous, elegant destinations,” he says.

Anna Lee Iijima is a freelance writer.

John Daley, Colorado Public Radio | (TNS) KFF Health News

G Kumar’s vaping addiction peaked in college at the University of Colorado, when flavored, disposable vapes were taking off.

“I’d go through, let’s say, 1,200 puffs in a week,” Kumar said.

Vaping became a crutch for them. Like losing a cellphone, losing a vape pen would set off a mad scramble.

“It needs to be right next to my head when I fall asleep at night, and then in the morning, I have to thrash through the sheets and pick it up and find it,” Kumar recalled.

They got sick often, including catching covid-19 — and vaping through all of it.

Kumar, now 24, eventually quit. But many of their generation can’t shake the habit.

“Everyone knows it’s not good for you and everyone wants to stop,” said Jacob Garza, a University of Colorado student who worked to raise awareness about substance use as part of the school’s health promotion program.

“But at this point, doing it all these years … it’s just second nature now,” he said.

Marketing by e-cigarette companies, touting the allure of fruity or candy-like flavors and names, led many teens to try vaping. As more high schoolers and younger kids experimented with e-cigarettes, physicians and researchers warned it could lead to widespread addiction, creating a “Generation Vape.”

Research has shown nicotine is highly rewarding to the brains of young people.

New data on substance use among adults ages 18-24 suggests that many former teen vapers remain e-cigarette users. National vaping rates for young adults increased from 7.6% in 2018 to 11% in 2021.

It’s not surprising that many of them start in high school for social reasons, for all sorts of reasons,” said Delaney Ruston, a primary care physician and documentary filmmaker. “And many of them now — we’re seeing this — have continued to college and beyond.”

Her latest film is “Screenagers Under the Influence: Addressing Vaping, Drugs & Alcohol in the Digital Age.”

In Colorado, the share of those 18 to 24 who regularly vaped rose by about 61% from 2020 to 2022 — to nearly a quarter of that age group.

“That’s an astounding increase in just two years,” Ruston said.

Trends in that state are worth noting because, before the pandemic, Colorado led the nation in youth vaping among high school students, surpassing 36 other states surveyed.

Nationally, vaping rates among high schoolers dropped from 28% in 2019 to 10% in 2023, according to the Annual National Youth Tobacco Survey. But for many young people who started vaping at the height of the trend, a habit was set.

Heather De Keyser, a pediatric pulmonologist at Children’s Hospital Colorado, points to the X-ray of a lung of a young adult damaged by vaping. (John Daley/Colorado Public Radio/TNS)

At Children’s Hospital Colorado, pediatric pulmonologist Heather De Keyser displayed on her screen a clouded X-ray of the lung of a young adult damaged by vaping.

For years, doctors like her and public health experts wondered about the potentially harmful impact of vaping on pre-adult bodies and brains — especially the big risk of addiction.

“I think, unfortunately, those lessons that we were worried we were going to be learning, we’re learning,” said De Keyser, an associate professor of pediatrics in the Breathing Institute at Children’s Hospital Colorado.

“We’re seeing increases in those young adults. They weren’t able to stop.”

It’s no coincidence the vaping rates soared during the pandemic, according to several public health experts.

For the past couple of years, undergraduates have talked about the challenges of isolation and using more substances, said Alyssa Wright, who manages early intervention health promotion programs at CU-Boulder.

“Just being home, being bored, being a little bit anxious, not knowing what’s happening in the world,” Wright said. “We don’t have that social connection, and it feels like people are still even trying to catch up from that experience.”

Other factors driving addiction are the high nicotine levels in vaping devices, and “stealth culture,” said Chris Lord, CU-Boulder’s associate director of the Collegiate Recovery Center.

“The products they were using had five times more nicotine than previous vapes had,” he said. “So getting hooked on that was … almost impossible to avoid.”

By “stealth culture,” Lord means that vaping is exciting, something forbidden and secret. “As an adolescent, our brains are kind of wired that way, a lot of us,” Lord said.

All over the U.S., state and local governments have filed suits against Juul Labs, alleging the company misrepresented the health risks of its products.

The lawsuits argued that Juul became a top e-cigarette company by aggressively marketing directly to kids, who then spread the word themselves by posting to social media sites like YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok.

“What vaping has done, getting high schoolers, in some cases even middle schoolers, hooked on vaping, is now playing out,” said Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser.

Juul agreed to pay hundreds of millions in settlements. The company did not respond to requests for comment on this article.

R.J. Reynolds, which makes another popular vape brand, Vuse, sent this statement: “We steer clear of youth enticing flavors, such as bubble gum and cotton candy, providing a stark juxtaposition to illicit disposable vapor products.”

Other big vape companies, like Esco Bar, Elf Bar, Breeze Smoke, and Puff Bar, didn’t respond to requests for comment.

“If we lived in an ideal world, adults would reach the age of 24 without ever having experimented with adult substances. In reality, young adults experiment,” said Greg Conley, director of legislative and external affairs with American Vapor Manufacturers. “This predates the advent of nicotine vaping.”

The FDA banned flavored vape cartridges in 2020 to crack down on marketing to minors, but the products are still easy to find.

Joe Miklosi, a consultant to the Rocky Mountain Smoke-Free Alliance, a trade group for vape shops, contends the shops are not driving vaping rates among young adults in Colorado. “We keep demographic data in our 125 stores. Our average age [of customers] is 42,” he said.

He has spoken with thousands of consumers who say vaping helped them quit smoking cigarettes, he said. Vape shops sell products to help adult smokers quit, Miklosi said.

Colorado statistics belie that claim, according to longtime tobacco researcher Stanton Glantz. The data is “completely inconsistent with the argument that most e-cigarette use is adult smokers trying to use them to quit,” said Glantz, the former director of the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California-San Francisco.

For recent college graduate G Kumar, now a rock climber, the impetus to quit vaping was more ecological than health-related. They said they were turned off by the amount of trash generated from used vape devices and the amount of money they were spending.

Kumar got help from cessation literature and quitting aids from the university’s health promotion program, including boxes of eucalyptus-flavored toothpicks, which tasted awful but provided a distraction and helped with oral cravings.

It took a while and a lot of willpower to overcome the intense psychological cravings.

“The fact that I could just gnaw on toothpicks for weeks on end was, I think, what kept me sane,” Kumar said.

____

This article is from a partnership that includes CPR News, NPR, and KFF Health News.

___

(KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs of KFF — the independent source for health policy research, polling and journalism.)

©2024 KFF Health News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Hunter Boyce | The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (TNS)

As temperatures continue to rise, so will cases of migraine headaches. That’s the latest from a new study helmed by University of Cincinnati College of Medicine researchers.

The discovery comes just days before the official kickoff of summer.

With global temperatures more than 2 degrees warmer than the 20th century average, last year was Earth’s hottest on record. And May 2024 was a record-breaking month, marking the 12th consecutive month of record high temperatures.

According to Dr. Vincent Martin, MD, director of the Headache and Facial Pain Center at University of Cincinnati’s Gardner Neuroscience Institute, president of the National Headache Foundation and lead author of the recent study, these temperatures are going to mean more painful headaches for some Georgia residents.

“Weather change is one of the most common trigger factors for migraine,” he said, according to a university news release.

The study, produced by Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, tested the efficacy of a new preventive treatment on headaches caused by rising temperatures by cross-referencing regional weather data with 71,030 daily diary records of 6,060 migraine patients. The researchers discovered there was a 6% increase in headache occurrences for every 10 degrees the temperature warmed.

“What we found was that increases in temperature were a significant factor in migraine occurrence across all regions of the United States,” Martin said. “It’s pretty amazing because you think of all the varying weather patterns that occur across the entire country that we’re able to find one that is so significant.”

Migraines affect at least 39 million Americans, according to the American Migraine Foundation. The World Health Organization reported that headache disorders as a whole affect around 40% of the world population, or 3.1 billion people as of 2021.

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Migraines are characterized by severe throbbing pain caused by the activation of nerve fibers within the wall of brain blood vessels. Left untreated, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke said attacks can last several hours or even days.

Those suffering from the condition often experience a sensitivity to light, noise and odors — as well as nausea and vomiting. Among the many possible migraine triggers, which range from hangovers to skipping a meal, the institute said a sudden change in weather is a common culprit.

“Hippocrates, the father of medicine, believed that weather and medicine were intimately linked,” former U.S. Department of Agriculture chief meteorologist and study co-author Al Peterlin told the university.

“A couple thousand of years later, we are proving that weather matters in human health,” he added.

©2024 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Visit at ajc.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

By Nicole Dow | NerdWallet

Personal loans and personal lines of credit are both helpful tools to cover large expenses. These financing options have similar benefits, like no collateral requirements and low rates for well-qualified borrowers, but deciding which is right for you comes down to how you prefer to receive and repay the funds.

Learn the similarities and differences between personal loans and personal lines of credit to determine which is right for your plans.

Personal loans and lines of credit: How they’re similar

Personal loans and personal lines of credit are typically unsecured, meaning you don’t have to pledge an asset as collateral in order to borrow. It also means the lender will rely mostly on your credit, income and existing debts to determine whether you qualify.

When you apply for either financing option, the lender will pull your credit report to examine your creditworthiness and how you handle existing debts. Applicants with good credit and low debt-to-income ratios have the best chances of qualifying and getting the lowest rates.

“The qualifications for both loan types are determined by an individual’s credit experience, employment stability and ability to repay the debt,” Jean Hopkins, director of consumer lending at WeStreet Credit Union in Tulsa, Oklahoma, said in an email interview.

Banks and credit unions offer personal loans and lines of credit, while online lenders offer personal loans, but usually not credit lines. Qualified applicants may be able to borrow up to $100,000 with either type of financing.

With both options, borrowers repay the debt, plus interest, over time. Missed payments are typically reported to credit bureaus after 30 days and can negatively impact your credit score.

Key differences between personal loans and credit lines

Though qualifying for these two financial products can work similarly, they are two different types of credit. A personal loan is a type of installment loan, and a personal line of credit is a type of revolving credit.

With a personal loan, you receive funds as a lump sum and make payments in even installments over a fixed term, typically two to seven years.

Interest on personal loans is charged on the entire loan amount at a fixed rate.

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Personal lines of credit are revolving credit, so you can borrow against your predetermined credit limit as needed and access more money as you make payments.

“When payments are applied to the principal balance of a line of credit, that amount is made available to borrow again,” Hopkins said.

A personal line of credit generally has a “draw” period and a “repayment” period, Katherine Fox, certified financial planner and founder of Sunnybranch Wealth in Portland, Oregon, said in an email.

The draw period is when you can access money from the credit line and make minimum monthly payments or interest-only payments, depending on the lender. This period typically lasts from two to five years. Once the draw period is over, you’ll enter the repayment period, when you can no longer withdraw money and must make payments until the end of the term, which can be up to 10 years.

Personal lines of credit have variable interest rates, and you only pay interest on the amount you draw. This means the monthly payment on a personal credit line can fluctuate.

Finally, the fees are different on personal loans and personal lines of credit. A personal loan may come with an origination fee, which the lender typically takes from the loan before sending you funds. A personal line of credit may have an annual maintenance fee as well as withdrawal fees every time you access funds.

When to consider a personal loan

A personal loan is a good idea when you know exactly how much you need to borrow and want a predictable repayment schedule. It can be ideal for:

A large purchase.
Debt consolidation.
A one-time emergency.

“If you have an immediate need for a specific amount of cash, it makes more sense to get a personal loan,” Fox said. “You get all the cash you need at once and you will pay it back with a fixed interest rate.”

A personal loan may also be cheaper in the long term because you lock in an interest rate for the full loan term, Hopkins said. If the federal funds rate rises while you’re repaying a personal loan, for example, your rate and monthly payment won’t increase.

Additionally, while interest rates are heavily based on the borrower’s credit and income, starting rates may be lower on personal loans than on personal credit lines.

Pros and cons of personal loans

Pros

Fixed interest rates keep monthly payments predictable.
Low interest rates for borrowers with good or excellent credit.
No collateral needed.

Cons

Bad credit may prevent you from qualifying.
Possible origination fee.
Can’t access additional funds after borrowing.

When to consider a personal line of credit

You might consider opening a personal line of credit if you need ongoing access to cash. This financing option may be ideal if you expect your expenses to fluctuate over time. Examples of expenses that may be right for a personal line of credit include:

A home renovation project.
A cross-country move.
A wedding.

“If you are uncertain if you will need cash, uncertain about how much you will need and/or uncertain when you will need it, a personal line of credit may make more sense” than a personal loan, Fox said. “It gives you the flexibility to pull out more or less cash on your own timeline, rather than getting a single lump sum that you are responsible for repaying.”

Pros and cons of personal lines of credit

Pros

Easy access to money as you need it.
Only pay interest on what you borrow.
Low interest rates for borrowers with good or excellent credit.
No collateral needed.

Cons

A variable interest rate means payments may be harder to budget for.
Bad credit may prevent you from qualifying.
Possible annual and withdrawal fees.

Nicole Dow writes for NerdWallet. Email: articles@nerdwallet.com.

The article Personal Loan vs. Line of Credit: How to Choose originally appeared on NerdWallet.