NEWS FETCH – March 22, 2013

TOP NEWS

• China Increases Vineyard Size As World Output Falls (Scroll down for more stories)
• PA House votes to privatize wine and liquor sales
• Soldera update: 4-year prison term for vandal
• Technomic Finds Signs of Recovery in Restaurant Biz
• Concern Over Shortage of Grape Pickers In Calif
• Treasury Sees China as World’s Largest Market in 10 Yrs
• No Sequester Here: US Invests $2 mil in Georgian wine biz

CALIFORNIA BRIEFS

• Hill Winery countersues grower, alleges poor-quality grapes
• Ratepayers approve Carneros pipeline
• Napa wine growers ready for new season
• Blind tasting and alcohol
• St. Supéry offers tasting kits
• Highway 29 ‘visioning’ phase nearly done

OIV: WORLD WINE

• OIV: World Wine Production Falls in 2012
• World wine output down, hit by weather and EU curbs
• Global market for wine “generally positive” in 2012

DIRECT SHIPPING & PRIVATIZATION

• Historic Wine Reform Effort Closer to Success

STUPID BUREAUCRATS: A GLOBAL DISEASE

• Racing driver refuses to alter beer label featuring child’s drawing
• Why Vintners Can’t Sign Wine Labels
• Absurd Ban on Happy Hours Sends This Drinker to Seattle

INVESTING & AUCTIONS

• UK Wine directors banned for 24 yrs in investment scheme
• Tang disputes fake wine allegations
• It’s a mad, mad, mad world (in Bordeaux)
• Liv-ex: Spotlight on Cantemerle
• Investing in wine a tricky business
• 10 fine wines to raise an investment toast to

HEALTH

• Alcohol-related cancers on the rise, finds UK report

MATTERS OF TASTE

• Chardonnay declining? I don’t think so
• Drinking Outside the Box
• Brunello and Bordeaux: a tale of two appellations
• Red Obsession: ‘power, passion and the fine wine game’
• Bordeaux 2012: mixed verdict on first look at Right Bank
• bonny doon – pick(s) of the week

OH CANADA!

• Repackaging BC VQA wines

ALCOHOL REGULATION

• Wine Law Wrap-Up for the Week of March 18
• Taxes, Control, Lawsuits & Happy Hours
• Aussie Bars copping unfair share of anti-alcohol sentiment

MEDIA MATTERS

• Why I Should Quit

U.S. REGIONAL WINE NEWS

• MA: Bledsoe Seeks Change Wine Shipment Law
• NY: The five most influential people in NYC wine

AG, GROWER & CELLAR NEWS

• Ohio State U Releases Grape Pesticide Spraying Guide
• Ag Week celebrated

EUROPE & THE UK

• Balanced international market gives Rhone Valley greater visibility
• UK: the £4.7 billion wine gamble
• Chianti Classico needs to focus on its villages
• Bordeaux Exports: 23 sold every second

DOWN UNDER

• OZ: Riverland Wine grape harvest tipped to deliver average yield
• OZ: Union says Sunraysia winery workers are being ripped off
• OZ: Retailers applaud scrapping of “unworkable” wine label integrity scheme
• OZ: Brown Brothers winery sheds 10 jobs

ASIA & PACIFIC RIM

• Vinexpo prepares for Chinese surge
• Meet the maker of China’s top wine

OLIVE OIL

• Italian Olive Oil Producer on FDA ‘Red List’ is Costco Supplier