NEWS FETCH – November 15, 2013

TOP NEWS

• Global Wine Future Strong: World Leaders Poll
• Shipping Foe Granholm, To Speak In Santa Barbara
• Premium Wines Drive Off-Premise Growth
• OR Appeals court tosses out ‘right to farm’ challenge
• US House Selects Water Resources Conferees
• US beer consumption increases
• Developers Threatening Mexico’s Wine Industry

CALIFORNIA BRIEFS

• Halls completing ambitious winery in St. Helena
• Foley Buys Share of Napa Valley Hotel Calistoga Ranch
• SF Presidio bunker’s new duty – wine cooler rental
• Calif Wine targets China’s young professionals
• Farm Appraisers Tap Calif agribusinessman For President
• Paul Hobbs now US importer for Argentine Pinot Alto Limay

DISTRIBUTORS, DIRECT SHIPPING & PRIVATIZATION

• DTC Symposium Speakers Announced
• Regulation changes in MI Legislatiure
• Granholm v. Heald and the Wine Industry

FINANCE, M&A

• ID: Hat Ranch Winery purchases Vale Wine Co. in Sunny Slope area

INVESTING IN WINE, COLLECTING & AUCTIONS

• 20% of French premium wines could be fake
• Leoville Barton ’05 Slides to Seven-Year Low on Liv-Ex

• Investing in Liquid Assets: Uncorking Profits in Today’s Global Wine Market [Sponsored Link]

MARKETING & SALES

• Sub £25 Bordeaux quintessential wine in China
• French retailer price battle ‘threatens’ Champagne image
• A Tale of Two Downton Abbey Wines
• The Cautionary Tale of Hairy Vaynerchimp

• Wine Brands: Success Strategies for New Markets, New Consumers and New Trends [Sponsored Link]

CONSUMER BLENDING PROMOTIONS

• Judd’s Hill: Blend at Home, We Bottle For You
• Northstar Winery opens Blend-Your-Own Experience

TRADE SHOWS & CONFERENCES

• London’s new breed of wine fairs
• Strong showing at alternative Aussie wine sho
• ProWine China commences in Shanghai

MEDIA MATTERS

• One More Reason NOT To Subscribe To The SFChron
• What’s Really Happening to the Chronicle’s Food Section?
• Jeff Siegel deflates wine snobs
• Camplese Joins NYCR Team Covering Long Island
• Newspaper Food Fight
• Film Stars Winemaking California Monks

• Happy reader says: “The community is abuzz about this book:” Wine Curmudgeon’s Guide to Cheap Wine. [Sponsored Link]

MATTERS OF TASTE

• BC: Diversity versus uniformity
• Spectator’s #1 Wine Of Year
• Heimoff Briefs: TCA Fears, Bogus Wine Shortage, More
• France: Wine Star’s Under-Sipped Understudy
• Plush lush, but no shoe-in. Bordeaux 2009
• GMO Wine: not in my time
• For wine lovers, the nose has it (even if words don’t)
• Grape Hyperselection: is it a good thing?
• Q&A with Sandro Saadé, one of the leading winemakers in Syria and the Lebanon

• Extreme Wine: Searching the World for the Best, the Worst, the Outrageously Cheap, the Insanely Overpriced, and the Undiscovered [Sponsored Link]

WINE EDUCATION

• WSET launches level three course in Chinese

U.S. REGIONAL WINE NEWS

• OR: wine sales ring up records
• VA: Cider Week –& A Hard Cider Primer

WATER, ENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABILITY

• WWF encourages talks between wine and cork industries

AG, GROWER & CELLAR NEWS

• Key Technology Introduces the VitiSort Wine Grape Sorter
• AgroThermal Systems Announces NZ Trial Results
• Randox Technology Accredited By Bordeaux wine institute

• Understanding Wine Technology, 3rd Edition [Sponsored Link]

EUROPE & THE UK

• Alentejo wine exports to China up 170 percent

• Wine and War: The French, the Nazis, and the Battle for France’s Greatest Treasure [Sponsored Link]

DOWN UNDER

• OZ: Did you know the government makes wine?
• OZ: Grape merger announced

ASIA & PACIFIC RIM

• Wild grape wine enthusiast on an unusual passion

SOUTH AFRICA

• Law changed in Cape Town to permit Champagne breakfasts

NOT JUST FOR THE TRADE

• Don’t Taste Alone
• Wine Dogs: Raven of Chimney Rock
• The Joy Of Selecting The Right Wine: Katherine Cole’s New Guide

• Hugh Johnson’s Pocket Wine Book 2014 [Sponsored Link]

JUST CAN’T MAKE STUFF LIKE THIS UP

• Bolivian forces find $2 million cocaine stash hidden in wine bottles
• Amtrak Serving Free Wine to Steak Loses Millions on Food