NEWSFETCH – November 28, 2011

TOP NEWS

• Treasury targets top end with fine wine unit
• Crimson Wine investment group keeps a low profile
• Aussie wine industry digests unpalatable truths
• Boisset Buys Skalli Family of Wines in the Rhone Valley and Languedoc
• European wine regions oppose ‘catastrophic’ EU expansion plans
• Chinese Bank Loans to Wine Buyers Say ‘Drink Now, Pay Later’
• Asian boom in luxury demand to continue
• Ortman Family Wines in Paso Robles falls prey to rough economy
• OZ: Staff flee Margaret River wineries as bushfire looms
• Farmers, outside investors bid up Calif ag land
• South Korea approves U.S. free trade deal
• Restaurants should have happy holiday sales
• California voters could be asked to scrap environmental laws
• Drinking rules: Behind Utah’s Zion curtain
• Sanliang Gu, Fresno Professor, Works To Grow A Later And Tastier Grape
• Tales from a Wine Event Planner

DIRECT SHIPPING & PRIVATIZATION

• Idaho unlikely to end liquor monopoly soon
• Wholesaler Hypocrisy: Not CAREing About States’s Rights & Four Loko?

PUBLIC COMPANIES & INVESTING

• Accolade receives £150m from GE Capital
• Time for a Margin Call on your Wine?
• Italian Consumer Products Group Purchases US Wine Import Company
• Zacks Investment Research Analysts Reiterate a “Neutral” Rating on Diageo ADR
• Australia approves $11 billion Foster’s sale to SABMiller
• India: Valle de Vin set to merge with Grovers Vineyards
• Liv-ex: L-WIN gains increased support, richer data
• Yquem trade hits new record
• Bidder up: Notes from a Bordeaux-heavy wine auction in Beijing
• New Diageo cooperage opened due to to rising Scotch demand
• Chateau Haut-Brion 1945 Vintage Leads $334 Million Auction at Christie’s

MEDIA MATTERS

• Old World vs. New World Wine Journalism
• A juicier take on wine writing
• Winery P.R. tools embrace much more than social media

MATTERS OF TASTE

• Now it’s coffee Snobs threatening us
• Does wine taste better in the village in which it is made?

WATER

• Oregon dam removal may cost California water
• Ag conservation not the key to solving California’s water woes
• Aussie water reforms to cost 29,000 jobs
• San Joaquin Valley water district might finally get US to pay

U.S. REGIONAL WINE NEWS

• MI: Flying Otter Winery to open Saturday
• PA: Buy More, Drink Less, Embrace Hypocrisy!
• TX: Drought hurts yield, but helps quality of state grapes
• WA: City codes threaten winery
• WA: Raise a glass to state’s wine industry
• WA: Walla Walla winery visitors to get break on baggage fees

AUSTRALIA

• Ailing wineries uncork the web
• Glass is half empty for wine exports
• Refund for grape growers
• About to die on the vine
• Grape growers act against mildew threat
• Accolade sets its stall out
• Too early to assess Margaret River damage
• WA premier urged to sack minister over bush fires
• Bushfires – minimal impact on wineries?

ASIA & PACIFIC RIM

• Tang confirms bid to be Hong Kong’s next leader
• Yao Ming Courts China’s Wine Boom
• Parker smells potential in China’s wines

EUROPE

• Why we should support plans to lift restrictions on EU vineyard planting
• A French Wine Region Changes Its Name, but the Taste Remains the Same
  
• The Battle Over the Future of Spanish Wine
• Albiera Antinori (video interview)
• McGuigan confirms Dublin City Vineyard

THE UK

• Majestic trials TV ads
• Xmas drink driving campaign targets office parties
• Fladgate Partnership Touts 2009 Vintage

LATIN AMERICA

• Argentina’s Malbec Boom
• Eastern Europe in Argentina’s sights

SOUTH AFRICA

• Hans Astrom appointed Managing Director of Klein Constantia

AG, GROWER & CELLAR NEWS

• Wine Scientists Focus On Sensors
• Aussie Scientists crack brett gene code

NOT JUST FOR THE TRADE

• Store provides a space to make wine
• Real Men Drink Port
• Best wines go for top dollar
• For toasting, America’s Cup makes ‘obvious choice’