“A very natural wine.” (Flickr: Chris Pople)

Is natural wine a scam? Jesse Hirsch delves into the research in the New York Times. “If you enjoy how natural wine tastes, or if you want to support sustainable farming, then go ahead and drink it. But just know that it may not be the superior health choice you may have thought it was.”

Elsewhere in the New York Times, Valeriya Safronova explores Vienna’s wine taverns. “As fall and the harvest season arrive, the city’s residents grasp for one last bit of summer and head by the thousands to the vineyards to spend just a few more weekends drinking and eating in the sun. There to host them are wine taverns known as heurigen — a word that refers to both young wine and to the establishments themselves…Once the domain of the older generations, heurigen have begun to attract more and more young people.”

“Recent news from abroad has it that Eataly has had a change of ownership. Investindustrial, headed up by Andrea Bonomi, has acquired 52% (majority) share for about $200 million. Not a ridiculous amount for a concept that started almost 20 years ago,” reports Alfonso Cevola.

Decanter publishes an excerpt from Andrew Jefford’s new book, Drinking with the Valkyries. ““I urge every reader to enjoy wine thoughtfully, which means seeing it in its largest context: not only a way for us to celebrate what we have, but to ensure it has a future. Ground your wine-drinking in discovery; let it bring you closer to the earth, to the other, to difference and to place; use it to deepen friendship, family ties, shared experiences, human solidarity, planetary custodianship.”

In Eater Chicago, Chasity Cooper highlights the Midwest’s best wineries to visit in Michigan, Missouri, Ohio and Wisconsin.

In Bloomberg, Elin McCoy on the drama, heartbreak, and hope that comes along with wine harvest season.

In the Wall Street Journal, Nick Kostov reports on how French growers are changing the grape varieties they grow and reshaping landscapes in an attempt to protect their vineyards from rising temperatures.

Jessica Dupuy offers a complete guide to orange wine in VinePair.