NEWS FETCH – February 14, 2014

TOP NEWS

• Note To Obama: SJ Valley Problems Extend Beyond Drought
• Gallo stays at top of US Producer list
• Sham Wine Investment Company Busted
• Maureen Downey Talks Sharks, Snakes, Slalom & Seedy Wine

• Going national? Consider this in your distribution strategy – ‘Control States’ [Sponsored Link]

CALIFORNIA BRIEFS

• Grape harvest bodes well for Modesto-area wineries
• Healdsburg may use treated wastewater for vineyards
• World Ag Expo closes with 100,000 total visitors
• Planners approve Silverado Trail winery despite objections
• Napa Valley: Vintners & Visit Pledge $5 Mil to Vine Trail

• Introduction to Water in California [Sponsored Link]

PUBLIC COMPANIES

• Pernod Ricard Seeking Acquisitions in Chinese Wine

FINANCE, M&A

• Sanlam Buying Stocks in Booze, Schools to Boost Small-Cap Fund
• Farmland Purchases: Tread Carefully

• The West without Water: What Past Floods, Droughts, and Other Climatic Clues Tell Us about Tomorrow [Sponsored Link]

INVESTING IN WINE, COLLECTING & AUCTIONS

• Liv-Ex: US labels leading non-European fine wines
• Liv-ex: Right Bank starts to drift

• Water: The Epic Struggle for Wealth, Power, and Civilization [Sponsored Link]

REGULATION & COMPLIANCE

• Update: Nutrition and ingredient labels for wine

LEGAL MATTERS

• NZ: Wine industry supports extortion claims inquiry
• Bordeaux LaFight Club: Lafite vs. Lafitte
• Wine brands face new trademark law in China as of May 1
• Lush Trademark Tricks

MARKETING & SALES

• Do wine sales matter for writing wine blogs?
• Premonitions For 2014: Wines, Beer and Spirits
• Wine drinkers seduced by resurgence of Pinot Gris
• Gimmicky Wine Brand Names Fading

TRADE SHOWS & CONFERENCES

• Vinexpo Asia- Pacific expected to break exhibitor and visitor records

• Planning Wine Trade Show Participation [Sponsored Link]

SOCIAL MEDIA & TECH

• Millennials Use Different Social Networks to Post, Buy Different Product Types
• Comcast’s weaksauce pro-TWC merger argument in 4 quotes
• 84% use their devices as second-screens while watching TV
• VingDirect and bLoyal: Strategic Partnership
• Big Data is agriculture’s big blank on the map

• Facebook Marketing for Wineries and Tips on How To Engage [Sponsored Link]

MANAGEMENT & EMPLOYMENT

• No one wants your PowerPoint: How to make board meetings better

• Beating Obamacare: Your Handbook for the New Healthcare Law [Sponsored Link]

MATTERS OF TASTE

• How Banfi makes a better wine
• Chilean wine: the devil’s in the detail
• Mediocre Wine Scores
• Reflections on Beauty and Strangeness in Wine
• 5 Questions for ‘Wine Wench’ Sue Straight
• Off the Mat

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

WINE PRESERVATION

• Volatile Organics: Preserving Wine Is NOT Just About The Oxygen
• Volatilizing esters brings you so much more enjoyment

OH CANADA!

• Okanagan Crush Pad thinks outside the box

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

EUROPE & THE UK

• 2013: A Good Year For French Wine Despite Troubles In China
• New Lafaurie-Peyraguey owner to restrict sweet wine production

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

DOWN UNDER

• OZ: Wine growers worry about rot as SA gets wet

ASIA & PACIFIC RIM

• Parker to kick off world tour in Beijing

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

NOT JUST FOR THE TRADE

• Don’t Buy Bogus “Port,” “Sherry,” “Champagne” for Your Valentine
• Classical Music Wines
• “Progressive” Ideological Wine
• State wine cellars compared
• Video Demystifies Wine Terms

• The Control of Nature [Sponsored Link]

OLIVE OIL

• Olive fly threatens Greece’s olive groves

CRAFT BEER & SPIRITS

• Top 10 female brewers
• Red tape cut for Canadian craft brewers
• Beer launched in memory of brewer killed by forklift

• Water: A Comprehensive Guide for Brewers [Sponsored Link]

AWWWWWWWW

• Couple who met in wine aisle to marry