NEWS FETCH – January 28, 2014

TOP NEWS

• Feds Can Legally Seize San Luis Reservoir Water During Drought
• China, New downgrade Behind Treasury Wine Estates halt
• Farm Bill almost here
• Wine & Grape Symposium Opens

CALIFORNIA BRIEFS

• Drought Makes Santa Ynez Valley Lake Vanish
• Is water banking in SLO County’s future?
• North SLO County growers consider removing old grapevines amid drought
• Cold and Dry Thoughts
• Santa Rosa: Big-rig carrying wine crashes, snarls traffic on Highway 101
• Half-inch of rain forecast for North Bay
• Drought costs rising, North Bay farmers discuss emergency measures
• Altered landscape like none in memory

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

DIRECT SHIPPING & PRIVATIZATION

• The Current and Future Profit in Direct Wine Shipping
• Drive Continues to End Legacy of Prohibition

INVESTING IN WINE, COLLECTING & AUCTIONS

• Christie’s tops 2013 wine auction sales
• Private collector splashes £1.2m on Yquem
• Krug, Staglin and Lafarge top Naples wine auction
• Bordeaux: Too little, too late?

• Breakfast at Sotheby’s [Sponsored Link]

MARKETING & SALES

• Boomers and the Emergence of the Corkage Economy
• 4 Steps to Connecting with—and Engaging—Generation C
• González Byass is set to bring its U.S. distribution in-house
• How to Make Your Wine Club Program More Successful
• New Argentinian Winery Enters U.S. Market

TRADE SHOWS & CONFERENCES

• ProWein has to turn away exhibitors for 2014 show as waiting list grows

SOCIAL MEDIA & TECH

• Square faces rancor from merchants over customer service

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

MANAGEMENT & EMPLOYMENT

• Winegrape growers, farms rush to secure crop insurance

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

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

MEDIA MATTERS

• 5 Tips For Working with Freelance Writers
• The Power of the Pen; also referred to today as social media

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

MATTERS OF TASTE

• Debating Robert Parker At His Invitation
• You Need Glasses!
• Hawk Wakawaka Reddit AMA
• A Taste of Central Coast “Moon Dust”
• Barossa’s Rockford Wines
• Bob Betz receives top honor at Washington State Wine Awards

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

HEALTH

• UK Pharmacies hand out alcohol ‘scratch cards’

INDUSTRY DATA

• Number of Wineries Grows to 8,391 in North America

OH CANADA!

• Okanagan Estate becomes the first Canadian Winery to accept Bitcoin

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

WATER, ENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABILITY

• ‘Speed camera’ tests thirsty vineyards
• Monsanto Shareholders Ask Company To Expand GMO Disclosures

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

AG, GROWER & CELLAR NEWS

• Chipotle To Release Anti-‘Big Ag’ Film Series

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

DOWN UNDER

• OZ: Drought creeps south in New South Wales

ASIA & PACIFIC RIM

• Laithwaite’s Wine launches business in Taiwan

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

OLIVE OIL

• Is Your “Extra-Virgin” Really Extra-Virgin?
• Adding olive oil to California’s salad

CRAFT BEER & SPIRITS

• The secret life of the American beer buyer

BIZARRE

• Flatulent cow treated for burns after dairy farm explosion