NEWS FETCH – December 16, 2013

TOP NEWS

• Kurniawan wanted source of auction wines kept secret
• Bankruptcy Hearing On Mystery at NYC Wine Storage Co.
• Paul Hobbs fires back against vineyard lawsuit
• Birds: A Delta Water Tunnel Pluck Up?
• WA: Small Retailers Seek Redress Against Big Chains
• Exercise Counters Holiday Excess
• 1-Cent Wine Shipping At Amazon

• The Drunken Botanist: The Plants That Create the World’s Great Drinks [Sponsored Holiday Shopping Link]

CALIFORNIA BRIEFS

• Chumash development plan roils Santa Ynez Valley
• Sonoma Goes To Pot
• Napa Expo board meeting to discuss BottleRock
• The 2 Golden States Of California: Ag And Urbanization
• In San Francisco, gentrification and a boozy culture go hand in hand
• America’s Cup boosted Napa Valley tourism
• Lawsuit alleges botched custom crush of grapes

• The New California Wine: A Guide to the Producers and Wines Behind a Revolution in Taste [Sponsored Holiday Shopping Link]

CALIFORNIA WATER

• Shaky rationale behind Delta tunnel plan
• County seeks state’s OK to cut Russian River releases
• Sonoma County seeks state’s OK to cut Russian River water releases
• More storage may be California’s most important water issue

RUDY, RUDY, RUDY

• Koch Unplugged, Wine Fuhrers, & A Baffling Witness Omission
• Koch testifies at Kurniawan trial
• Rudy Kurniawan trial, Day 5

DISTRIBUTORS, DIRECT SHIPPING & PRIVATIZATION

• Australian winemakers reeling under supermarket domination
• WA: Liquor stores and legal pot face ferocious competition
• Montana changes laws for direct shipping

PUBLIC COMPANIES

• Ste. Michelle parent, Altria’s, SABMiller Interest Underestimated

INVESTING IN WINE, COLLECTING & AUCTIONS

• Wine Auction Trends
• Mouton 2000 Fetches Record $17,100

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

HEALTH

• Major Alzheimer’s risk factor targeted by red wine

LEGAL MATTERS & COMPLIANCE

• Wine Label Requirements: Essentials For Your COLA Process
• Make Sure Your Tasting Room or Tap Room Isn’t a Source of Liability

MARKETING & SALES

• The Narrow Window Through Which A Wine’s Back Label Wiggles
• 5 Signs of a Good Brand Strategy
• NZ Govt: ‘Sub 10.5% ABV wines can Rule Britannia’

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

TRADE SHOWS & CONFERENCES

• Heimoff: What I won’t be telling the Unified Grape & Wine Symposium
• North Coast Wine Industry Expo Welcomes Over 3000 Attendees

• Postmodern Winemaking: Rethinking the Modern Science of an Ancient Craft [Sponsored Holiday Shopping Link]

SOCIAL MEDIA & TECH

• Constellation Partners With Hello Vino
• Most Digital Ad Growth Now Goes to Mobile as Desktop Growth Falters

MANAGEMENT & EMPLOYMENT

• Marketing and management lessons from the vineyard

• Global Brands: The Evolution of Multinationals in Alcoholic Beverages (Cambridge Studies in the Emergence of Global Enterprise) [Sponsored Holiday Shopping Link]

MEDIA MATTERS

• Media Sleaze: Blogger Trades Rave Review for Free Food

• The Elements of Journalism: What Newspeople Should Know and the Public Should Expect [Sponsored Holiday Shopping Link]

MATTERS OF TASTE

• No Two People Experience Smell the Same
• The Effect of Culture and Expertise on Perceived Wine Quality
• S. Oregon winemakers warm up to worrisome 2013 vintage
• 10 to blend
• Liv-ex interview with Galloni, part 2

• The Essential Scratch and Sniff Guide to Becoming a Wine Expert: Take a Whiff of That [Sponsored Holiday Shopping Link]

EUROPE & THE UK

• French Bulk Wine Prices at 18-Year High
• LVMH museum finally set to open
• UK vineyards set to benefit from climate change

• Adventures on the Wine Route: A Wine Buyer’s Tour of France [Sponsored Holiday Shopping Link]

DOWN UNDER

• NZ: Alcohol law changes will have big impact on business
• OZ: Winemakers feel bullied by big retail

• Wine Grapes: A Complete Guide to 1,368 Vine Varieties, Including Their Origins and Flavours [Sponsored Holiday Shopping Link]

NOT JUST FOR THE TRADE

• The Second Cheapest Wine Has the Highest Markup (and Other Secrets)
• The 2013 Curmudgies
• Wine and Warfare
• More wine myths

• Whiskey Women: The Untold Story of How Women Saved Bourbon, Scotch, and Irish Whiskey [Sponsored Holiday Shopping Link]

OLIVE OIL

• Olive Oil Importers Say Trade Commission Report ‘Fell Short’

• Canadian Wineries: The story of Canada’s entry into the world of world-class vintages [Sponsored Holiday Shopping Link]