NEWSFETCH – May 6, 2011

TOP NEWS

• More consumers plan to drink this year
• Research Finds Only One in Four Willing to Pay More for Eco-Friendly Products
• Kosta Browne, The Barlow To Build Winery In Downtown Sebastopol, Calif
• US Spirits & Wine Ad Spend Up For First Time Since Recession Onset
• Is Australian wine poised for a comeback?
• WA: Retiring winemakers find it tough time to sell
• Central Coast wine grape frost to cause lack of harvest uniformity
• West Sonoma Coast: Investing in Marketing over AVA Recognition
• Calif bill could speed Tesco US exit
• $5 drop beats $600 Grange in blind test
• US Wine Exports to Canada Increase Amid Strong Trade Relations
• U.S. ag profits as China rises
• It’s Not Unnatural to be Wine – A Skeptic’s View
• Grape producers take shot at truffles
• Mike Lee died helping a friend
• Quirky laws let microbreweries also sell booze

PUBLIC COMPANIES & INVESTING

• Lot 18 and the Art of New Market Models
• FITCH affirms Foster’s at ‘BBB’; outlook stable
• Diageo sales up but Europe still lags
• Diageo and Pernod Ricard shares jump as sales soar

HEALTH

• Red wine and chocolate are healthy for the mind
• MommyJuice just a label, not an enabler
• Cancer experts give Aussies tough warning on the grog
• Aussie Winemakers fear cancer report backlash

DIRECT SHIPPING

• Maryland Wine Lovers Rejoice as Governor to Sign Direct Shipping Bill

MEDIA MATTERS

• Worst News Release Of The Year (so far): ShopDragon & World of Wine Festival
• Does Posting Things to Twitter Make You a Journalist?
• Blog de Blogs

WATER

• Delta plan blasted over omissions by scientific panel
• Calif. PUC endorses removal of Klamath River dams

AROUND THE STATES

• IA: Stone Cliff Winery Up for Sale
• PA: Wine and spirits at beer distributors?
• PA: Liquor Prices Going Up
• VA: Law Allowing BYOW, Corkage Fees Takes Effect July 1

ACADEMIA

• First week going well for new Umpqua CC president

EUROPE

• Parker: 2010 Bordeaux offers fewer potential 100-pointers than 09
• Bordeaux: The Fix Is In?
• Bordeaux 2010 – guide to Jancis Robinson’s coverage

THE UK

• Baile to secure Oddbins sites by next week
• Wine trade gears up for charity bike ride
• Top merchants seminar on the do’s and don’ts of expanding your business

DOWN UNDER

• OZ: Exporters show off Coonawarra wines
• NZ: Foley Family to buy Rangatira’s stake in winery

SOUTH AFRICA

• Training the next generation

ONLINE, TECH & SOCIAL MEDIA

• The PR Pro’s Guide to Facebook
• The 2nd Wave of Location-Based Services

NOT JUST FOR THE TRADE

• Wine is Sexy. Wine made by a woman is Sexier.
• Should We Buy Expensive Wine?
• Erickson leads an effort to keep wine’s cutting edge sharp
• High alcohol: The controversy continues
• Wine Rides the Rails

AG, GROWER & CELLAR NEWS

• Frost damage advice offered at Central Coast seminar
• Farmworker health: Weather getting hot!

APPOINTMENTS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

• Winemaker Clark joins Krug Winery team

THIS MIGHT BE NEWS ... But it’s hard to tell because anything a reader might give a damn about is buried beneath a long, wandering headline.

• Simon Green, spokesman for consumer pressure group, Wineoption.org; wine trade you’re letting us consumers down