NEWSFETCH – October 24, 2011

TOP NEWS

• Going into holiday season, consumer confidence still weak
• More Than Half Of Americans Didn’t Dine Out Last Year
• Mexico lifts 20 percent tariff on Golden State wine
• CA Warehouse Issued $499K Fine for Wage Statement Violations
• Diageo boss Paul Walsh threatens to cut top jobs in UK over 50% tax
• French Tax Code Change Could Prompt Imminent Vineyard Sales
• Brauer To Lead Beringer As Part Of Treasury Revamp
• Wineries Seeking Capital: Back to Basics
• Sonoma grape growers sue state to block frost protection rules
• Americans Grow More Negative About Their Personal Finances
• Congress drafting new farm bill in secret?
• Carbon Footprints & The World Bulk Wine Exposition
• Interview with Dennis Overstreet, Of The Wine Merchant Beverly Hills
• Are rappers advertising alcohol to teenagers?
• A trillion reasons to find Indian partners
• California chefs consider foie gras ban challenge

PUBLIC COMPANIES & INVESTING

• Pernod’s Escape From Junk Cuts Bond Rate to Record Low: Corporate Finance
• Diageo boss Paul Walsh on how top rate tax is damaging Britain
• Jim Beam Inviting Biggest Liquor Takeover Since 2005
• Drinks companies show growth despite crisis

MORE DIAGEO

• Court suit history repeats on Diageo
• Diageo chief’s tax tirade is no empty threat
• Diageo says 20 pct vote against directors’ pay
• Diageo ‘could leave UK’ if 50p tax rate remains

HARVEST 2011

• Wine prices and the 2011 California grape harvest
• Oregon growers trying several tricks to salvage wine grape growing season
• Mendo Grape pickers in short supply
• Peninsula wineries make do after difficult growing season
• Harvest 2011 in Paso Robles
• Vinography Images: Noble Rot
• Napa: What can we expect from this vintage?

HEALTH

• Doctors urge two or three-day break from alcohol

MEDIA MATTERS

• 10 Things I Learned In the Wine Business
• On pro golf, Lafite and “positive contagion” on wine
• My Local Wine Store: New Website, New Book

MATTERS OF TASTE

• Darling…Be Natural, take your clothes off ! Show me your Terroir.
• Why People Buy Expensive Wine

U.S. REGIONAL WINE NEWS

• ID: Local wineries and vineyards
• MI: Which are Michigan wines? To be sure grapes are home-grown, Read labels
• NJ: Mays Landing wine festival gets cash flowing for other events
• OK: Strong beer and wine sales on hold
• PA: Will Liquor Liberty Have to Wait Another Year?
• SD: Project seeks to expand wine industry
• TX: The grapes of cash: Retired couple discusses the Texas vineyard industry
• VA: Afton man named to State Wine Board
• WI: Winemaker Seeks Wisconsin Ledge AVA

WASHINTON STATE

• WA: Taking a closer look at liquor privatization initiative
• WA: Replacing Hundreds of Winery Signs in Yakima County
• WA: State stores keep liquor serious
• WA: Focusing on Initiative 1183 Part III
• WA: $3.1M Focused on State’s Specialty Crops

EUROPE

• Battling for Bordeaux
• German Pinot Noir quality put to the test
• The Fate of Sweet German Rieslings
• Port wine cherishes its past, looks for a future

THE UK

• UK is number one market for Chilean wine
• Alcohol consumption keeps declining: Portman Group
• Oddbins insists the price is right as wine shops tackle supermarkets
• Alcohol Concern loses its CEO

CANADA

• Canada’s winemaking regions just need time to ripen
• BC: Wine culture reaches sweet maturity

DOWN UNDER

• OZ: No Liquor Discounting, No Price War

ASIA & PACIFIC RIM

• China passing off Australian wines as their own
• Ice wine well suited to Chinese food
• Hong Kong Wine & Spirits Fair Now Asia’s Largest
• Westerners find a challenge in popular Chinese booze

SOUTH AFRICA

• There are still very few black or mixed race winemakers in South Africa
• Have talent, will make wine making work

ONLINE, TECH & SOCIAL MEDIA

• Nielsen Infographic: The Most Valuable Digital Consumers

NOT JUST FOR THE TRADE

• Wild West Pinot Draws Banker to Vineyards Among Cannabis Crops
• On Self-Actualizing Wine Interest, Purple Pages, the Kindle Fire and Gutenberg
• Long history of Pagani Ranch
• Wine Geek – Know Thyself!
• Wine of Biblical Proportions!
• An America Without Italian Wine