NEWS FETCH – January 15, 2014

TOP NEWS

• Beam Worth The Premium? Brown-Forman In Play?
• Eberle Speaks Out On Winery Coup d’Etat
• Cal Gov’s tunnels illegal, says environmental group
• Sonoma Vineyard developer to pay $38,000 over creek release

• Effective Sales and Incentive Programs that can help your winery or brewery brand. [Sponsored Link]

CALIFORNIA BRIEFS

• Santa Barbara Vintner Ditches Debt
• Andrew Murray to Expand; Leasing Former Curtis Winery & Vineyard
• Napa Winery seeks historic status to avoid county mandates
• Napa Winegrower Group Takes Active Environmental Role
• Chateau Montelena Certified in Napa Green Land Program

• The Wine Savant: A Guide to the New Wine Culture [Sponsored Link]

DROUGHT & WATER

• Environmental groups protest Westlands’ water allocation
• UC to host drought workshop
• Heimoff: More on the drought
• Sonoma vintners worry over low water levels
• Meetings on Calif. climate plan set

SUNTORY/BEAM

• London Stocks Up on Speculation Of Diageo move for Beam
• Suntory’s Beam move is just round one
• What Suntory-Beam Can Learn From Craft Beer Entrepreneurs

FINANCE, M&A

• Brett Detection Company raises $7M in stock sale
• Maher Advisors Adds Senior Vice President

• When the Money Runs Out: The End of Western Affluence [Sponsored Link]

INVESTING IN WINE, COLLECTING & AUCTIONS

• Nothing From US In Sotheby’s finest wines for 2013
• Bordeaux 2005: price falls since peak
• Cos d’Estournel ’05 Trading Close to 6-Year Low

• Breakfast at Sotheby’s [Sponsored Link]

HEALTH

• Fine Wine Offers Benefits for Immune System

INDUSTRY DATA

• Wine Market Council Intros New Survey Methodology

MARKETING & SALES

• Younger consumers key to exploring French wines’ diversity
• Make Millennials Your Target Market During Your Next Campaign
• Celebrity wines hit-and-miss
• No, NYC doesn’t have too many wine shops
• Phone purchases will only increase

• Planning Wine Trade Show Participation [Sponsored Link]

TRADE SHOWS & CONFERENCES

• Washington Prepares for 2014 Wine Grape Grower Confab

SOCIAL MEDIA & TECH

• Top 5 Best Practices for Winery Email Marketing
• Stats: The back end of a blog
• 22 million Americans visited food and cooking websites in Nov
• Web Site Design: Minimize Cognitive Load to Maximize Usability
• Foursquare: Checking in to make new friends
• Mobile Apps Help Lure Customers, Spur Loyalty

• Writing on the Wall: Social Media – The First 2,000 Years [Sponsored Link]

MANAGEMENT & EMPLOYMENT

• WA: governor calls for higher minimum wage
• Farmers should take notice of federal tax code changes

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

MEDIA MATTERS

• Italian wine writer convicted of defamation, forced to pay €5,000
• Globalization and Life After The Death of Terroir
• A Humanist Rationale for Wine Science

• The Trip to Echo Spring: On Writers and Drinking [Sponsored Link]

MATTERS OF TASTE

• Profile: Cloverdale’s Valdez Family Winery
• Hill combines science and art as winemaker
• Why an urban winery in the greater Bay Area?
• A Day on a Hill with Jasmine Hirsch: balance, mystery
• A French wine evokes family ties

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

OH CANADA!

• Nova Scotia launches wine, beer consultations
• B.C. wine has bright future

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

REGIONAL WINE NEWS

• NY: Finger Lakes Growers Begin to Check for Damage to Vines Following Brutal Cold Snap
• TX: Total Wine & More Brings its Total Beer Experience to North Texas

ENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABILITY

• East Bay Utility Welcomes Winery Wastewater

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

AG, GROWER & CELLAR NEWS

• Sorting Robot Only Has Eyes for the Tastiest Grapes
• Protect Vine Pruning Wounds From Fungal Infections
• Will winter freeze cut pest trouble? Opinions vary

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

EUROPE & THE UK

• Angelo Gaja: Spain is our greatest competitor
• Pamela Vandyke Price: death of the UK doyenne of female wine writers
• Top 10 wine feuds of 2013
• French govt endorses Burgundy vineyards, Champagne for UNESCO status
• Italy December Average Wine Prices: Summary

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

AUSTRALIA

• Australia’s 2014 vintage underway
• OZ: Vineyard escapes raging bush fire
• Hunter Valley wine legend Perc McGuigan dies, aged 100

• How Asia Works: Success and Failure in the World’s Most Dynamic Region [Sponsored Link]

NOT JUST FOR THE TRADE

• Soul Satisfying

• The Science of Cheese [Sponsored Link]

OLIVE OIL

• The Toll of Climate Change on California Olive Oil

ALMONDS & OTHER TREE NUTS

• Omega Walnuts capitalizes on industry growth

JUST CAN’T MAKE UP WACKOID STUFF LIKE THIS

• Riedel Makes Glass For Coke
• Mountain Dew flavored Cheetos in Japan
• UC Davis expert wins his own beer-for-butterfly contest — again
• Gordon Ramsay stopped by Qatar customs over Champagne