NEWSFETCH – January 5, 2012

TOP NEWS

• What Wine Varieties Did Consumers Favor During the 2011 Holidays?
• Constellation profit plummets 25% on poor wine performance
• Self-Checkout Purchase of Alcohol Still Prohibited Despite California Grocer’s Petition
• Lafite ’08 down 45% as fine wine prices plummet
• Restaurant traffic levels mixed across the globe
• Chinese producer Changyu plans to double output by 2015
• Wine prices in 2012: Consumers search for value
• McCormick & Schmick’s units closed after tender offer
• What They Don’t Teach You in Sommelier School.
• Ten things we learned about wine in 2011
• WineRep: Eyes up here, buddy.
• Central Coast wine industry spurs local food movement
• An Ancient Wine May Be Coming to U.S.
• Drinking Locally in 2012. Plus, the Debate Over “Natural Wines”
• What if there were more Petite Sirah? Nurseries, it’s time to take note

DIRECT SHIPPING & PRIVATIZATION

• EDITORIAL: New Jersey should let wineries ship products to customers

PUBLIC COMPANIES & INVESTING

• Brown-Forman: “Company’s super-premium brands continued to grow”

HEALTH

• Wine and health: it’s the alcohol, stupid!
• Higher alcohol prices may curb drinking – study
• Soil and Groundwater Contamination of Arsenic and other metals Influence Metal Composition of Wines

MEDIA MATTERS

• Pancho Campo hits out against bloggers [POST DELETED]

MATTERS OF TASTE

• Wine language grows coarser
• When palates change

WATER & SUSTAINABILITY

• ‘Lighter means less valuable’: Diageo tackles sustainability misconceptions
• Planning for Sustainability Key to Profitable Farming

CALIFORNIA BRIEFS

• CDFA Announces Vacancy on the Pierce’s Disease/Glassy-Winged Sharpshooter Board
• Napa Vintners Announce Board Leadership for 2012

U.S. REGIONAL WINE NEWS

• NY: Wineries get their Sweet Fix From Deep Freeze
• OR: Miraculous wine harvest of 2011
• OR: Wine Beyond Willamette
• OR: Maragas Winery Closes Bend Tasting Room
• TX: 20th annual Grape growers day set for Cat Spring

EUROPE & THE UK

• Canned whisky would be shot in dark on UK market
• Jacob’s Creek seals deal with Andre Agassi
• Meursault goes molecular
• New self-sealing ‘ring pull tube’ has huge potential, Visican
• Codorníu reshuffles UK sales team
• Jacob’s Creek serves up Agassi deal
• Update: Strong Xmas for independent UK wine retailers
• Banrock’s Weight Watchers tie-up branded misleading

DOWN UNDER

• NZ: Receivers sell wine but not the business

ONLINE, TECH & SOCIAL MEDIA

• QR codes help boost wine sales with interactive mobile marketing tactics
• The Groupon Effect in China
• Facebook’s Dirty Little Secret: It’s Broken for Business

NOT JUST FOR THE TRADE

• Donkey. Goat. Natural.
• Can you take wine back to the store for a refund?
• A wine resolution that gives back

MEH!

• Coalition to Ban Alcohol Ads on Public Property in Los Angeles Hits the … (Road? Fan? Spot?)
  
• Acker Merrall & Condit 2012 January Hong Kong Sale Presents World-Class …(blather)

Get to the point: By failing to write a short headline that puts the most important news first, these wandering headlines tell the reader there is nothing worth clicking on.

At some point a harried editor says, “I don’t have time to wade through this crap to see of there’s possibly any news here, especially when there is a ton of other better-written stuff that actually puts the news up front where it belongs.”