NEWS FETCH – March 5, 2014

TOP NEWS

• 5 Ag and Energy Takeaways from the White House Budget
• Mendo Growers fear coming frosts
• Proposed immigrant processing center roils Central Coast farmworkers
• Kings County high-speed rail lawsuit can move forward

• Building A National Wine, Beer or Beverage Brand? [Sponsored Link]

CALIFORNIA BRIEFS

• State officials hear SJ Valley drought pleas
• Master Sommelier and “Somm” star returns to Sonoma State
• Plans taking shape for 2014 BottleRock
• Weed, Grapes & Redwoods
• Napa gleanings: snakes, slopes and $4,333 wine

• Introduction to Water in California [Sponsored Link]

DROUGHT/WATER

• Water: High technology, storage will both help, farmers say
• Drought is farmers’ ‘ah-hah’ moment on environmentalism
• OZ: Researcher Gets $22K to develop automated water stress detection tool

• Water 4.0: The Past, Present, and Future of the World’s Most Vital Resource [Sponsored Link]

DISTRIBUTORS, DIRECT SHIPPING & PRIVATIZATION

• SD Wholesalers’ Wine Whines

FINANCE, M&A

• Pabst On The Block Again
• Altus Equity Group, LP names Nelson as Partner
• BCM Wineworks Appoints Three Senior US Sales Managers

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

INVESTING IN WINE, COLLECTING & AUCTIONS

• Margaux 2001 Falls to 14-Month Low as Index Extends Drop

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

HEALTH

• Hangovers don’t put people off drinking

LEGAL MATTERS

• Annual “Best Practices in Winery Operations” Seminar

MARKETING & SALES

• Mionetto Looks Upmarket With Revamped Prosecco
• How Do You Sell Italian Wine To Italians? Hack The System
• Wine industry & the rising economic power of US Hispanics
• Australia is reinventing the wine tasting event
• Emphasize Quality Over Deals in Wine Marketing

• Business Owners: Ask yourself how you did … so you can do better [Sponsored Link]

SOCIAL MEDIA & TECH

• 7 Tips For Getting More Mentions on Twitter
• Social Media & The Zen of Wine Consumption

• How to use Twitter for your Wine Business and Marketing [Sponsored Link]

MANAGEMENT & EMPLOYMENT

• Complexities of Crop Insurance Decisions
• Disrupt or Be Disrupted

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

MEDIA MATTERS

• PR Hype Fallout: Champagne: ‘too many vintages of the century’
• Working with European journalists, productively and positively

• Beyond Chinatown: The Metropolitan Water District, Growth, and the Environment [Sponsored Link]

MATTERS OF TASTE

• Spritzy Red Burgundy? A Worrying Trend
• Tasting Middle Aged Wine: The Good, Bad and Worst News
• In Praise of the Unobtainable
• Chandon moves into sparkling ‘sweet spot’
• Defining terroir, it’s a science not a myth
• Once in a lifetime chance to meet the Masters of Winemaking

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

OH CANADA!

• Extreme freeze damages Ontario vineyards

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

REGIONAL WINE NEWS

• OR: February was wet in Oregon, but not wet enough
• WA: Allen Shoup to be inducted into Washington Wine Hall of Fame

• Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water [Sponsored Link]

ACADEMIA

• US high school wins grant to plant vineyard

AG, GROWER & CELLAR NEWS

• Winemakers Give Clay a Close Look
• Wine country innovation at Vinnovation
• Free Sustainability Workshops Offered by the CSWA

• Blue Future: Protecting Water for People and the Planet Forever [Sponsored Link]

EUROPE & THE UK

• ‘New California’ tasting to launch in London
• Austria Wine Output Up 11%

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

ASIA & PACIFIC RIM

• The fluctuating fortunes of wine in China

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

OLIVE OIL

• EVOO profiles differ by centrifugal decanter methods
  
• Abdominal fat accumulation prevented by unsaturated fat, as olive oil
• Olive oil: when temperatures raise, oleic acid concentration falls
• Powdered olive oil?
• NYIOOC Registration Will Close March 15

ALMONDS & OTHER TREE NUTS

• Sensible inputs vital for almond grower Chuck Dirkse

OVER THE TOP: AN OPEN AND SHUT CASE

• Vingarde Valise [infomercials]