NEWS FETCH – MARCH 20, 2012

TOP NEWS

• U.S. Spirits & Wine Distros On Track For Significant Gains In 2012
• Restaurant sales rose 3.4% in 2011
• Nathan L. Chroman dies at 83; Beverly Hills lawyer and wine writer
• Judge rules Washington liquor initiative constitutional; foes plan appeal
• Italy’s share of global wine market hits 22%
• Americans Open to Purchasing Imported Wine
• Global wine shortage forecast
• Calif wineries that stiff their grape growers could be fined, not put out of business
• Calif Growers Deserve Better From Proposed Protection Law
• Farm bill passage, specialty crop insurance discussed

CALIFORNIA BRIEFS

• Spectator Cites Boom In Single-Vineyard Calif Pinots
• Fine wine no longer just from California
• Calif Grapegrowers Herald Spring Rains
• Napa Land Trust To Preserve Trubody Ranch
• Calif Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance Intros Performance Metrics
• Sierra Madre Vineyard Hires Lane Tanner as Winemaker

WINE INVESTING

• Is China Really a Vintage Wine Drinker?
• Will Bordeaux Be Fine Wine’s Benchmark In 100 Years?
• A taste for liquid assets
• Kurniawan, Part 1: A Closer Look At Wine’s Accused Grifter
• Kurniawan, Part 2: The Interview

ONLINE, TECH & SOCIAL MEDIA

• The Profiles of Social Media People in the Wine Industry
• Wine retailer ‘excited by Pinterest possibilities’

MEDIA MATTERS

• Wine Enthusiast Magazine Launches Mandarin Edition
• Wine Writer Interview: Lou Marmon M.D.
• If it spews it’s news
• Lessons learned at a wine-soaked writers’ symposium
• No One-Liners in Wine

AG, GROWER & CELLAR NEWS

• First of video series on growing head-trained (goblet) vines available
• Who’s Your Daddy?: Gamay

MARKETING, SALES & PROMOTION

• On Ride-Withs (and “My First Ride-With”)

THE UK

• Managing a wine retail brand: comparing Majestic and Berry Bros & Rudd
• Fine wine sales surge for Tesco
• Duty hike will push average wine price over £5
• Wines of Argentina launches UK made Malbec
• Kent ‘garagiste’ sparkler chosen for House of Commons
• WSTA appoints new chief executive

DOWN UNDER

• OZ: Floods squeeze grape prices
• NZ: Te Mata inducted into Wine Hall of Fame

ASIA & PACIFIC RIM

• The Great Chateaux of China?
• China mulls plan to boost wine industry
• Foreign vintners benching into the Sugar and Alcohol Expo

LATIN AMERICA

• Trapiche budget will focus on developing more strongly United States and Asia