NEWS FETCH – March 17, 2014

TOP NEWS

• West’s Drought and Growth Intensify Conflict Over Water Rights
• Crimea’s Wine Crisis
• Moet Hennessy Goes After Aussies over naming rights
• NZ: Harvest to break record
• Rabobank: Spain’s Pivotal Role in EU Wine
• America Finally Becoming Red, White and Pink
• Miracle Machine hoax: media take pride in ignorance

• Are You Really Ready To Pitch A Distributor: Here’s Your Checklist [Sponsored Link]

CALIFORNIA BRIEFS

• Appeals court backs landowners on access for delta tunnel tests
• Delicato Family Vineyards Preps New Rollouts Amid Ongoing Growth
• Drought? What drought?
• Bill would allow underaged college students to taste wine
• New producers paying some old BottleRock debts
• “How to Create and Execute Successful Winery Events” at SSU

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

FINANCE, M&A

• NZ: Wairarapa vineyards in demand

• 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: The price of perfection
• Mouton ’08 Extends Slide to Lowest Level for 15 Months
• Older vintages spark Bordeaux revival

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

HEALTH

• Wine chemical as chemotherapy?
• Grapeseed Compounds Reduce Chemotherapy Symptoms

REGULATION & COMPLIANCE

• WA: Beer, wine legislation brings change to farmers markets
• IN: State Fair a sip closer to beer, wine
• TN Gov Expected To Sign Wine-In-Grocery Bill

MARKETING & SALES

• For Imperial Valley farmers, abundant water amid drought
• Keep the customer satisfied
• Wine terms: Problematic pricing
• MINT: the new star countries for wine?
• Eliminating Melon Squeezers
• Why You Should Have an Online Wine Store
• Metrics Signal Popularity of Red Blend Wines
• Consolidation in the wine business
• Winery group creates Oregon winemaker trading cards

• Understand the Retailer, their Market and their Buyers [Sponsored Link]

TRADE SHOWS & CONFERENCES

• Open letter to wine event volunteers ~ Everyone is a CO-STAR

SOCIAL MEDIA & TECH

• Not Happy with Your Email Metrics? Include a Coupon
• Augmented Reality: The New Mobile Marketing Trend
• Record wine sales from NH Liquor’s web ordering

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

MATTERS OF TASTE

• Napa: Too Hot For World Class Wine?
• Does Vine Age Matter?
• More Thoughts on Blind vs. Non-Blind Tasting
• Praising California Chard and a remark about my new job
• 5 Views on the Connection Between Wine and Dirt
• Reduction: The modern curse of the wine industry

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

REGIONAL WINE NEWS

• Washington must keep growing

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

PACKAGING, LABELS & CORKS

• Closures report problems: marketing vs. science clash

AG, GROWER & CELLAR NEWS

• OZ: Potential fungicide registration for Eutypa dieback
• When Beetles Attack: X. arvicola in the Vineyards of La Rioja, Spain
• Drip tape boosting crop yields in and out of drought situations

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

EUROPE & THE UK

• Wine terrorists attack French telephone exchange
• A note on racism in Italy and in Italian wine today
• Rhône retains lead in France

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

DOWN UNDER

• NZ: Profitability and Elusiveness in Central Otago

ASIA & PACIFIC RIM

• Alessia Antinori roots for India

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

NOT JUST FOR THE TRADE

• Great Fast-Track Resources to Learn More About Italian Wine
• Would You Wear A Pink Jacket Dyed With Sangiovese?

• The Control of Nature [Sponsored Link]

OLIVE OIL

• Jews, Arabs join forces to promote Israeli olive oil
• Greece: New executive Board for Olive& Olive Oil Products of Certified Quality
• Greek olive oil to remain olive oil, government insists

ALMONDS & OTHER TREE NUTS

• Healthy almond prices drive new Aussie plantings

NEKKID STUFF

• A Naked, Naked Vineyard (CAUTION: Possible Eye Hazard)
  
• Naked Grape embraces recyclable box wine