NEWS FETCH – April 10, 2014

TOP NEWS

• Feds Halt Water Transfers To Central Coast Water District
• Top Spirits & Wine Wholesalers On Pace For 2014 Growth
• China splurges 430% more on ‘expensive wine’
• Congressman Proposes Law to Head Off GMO Labeling
• Instant Analysis: March payroll report

• What To Cover When You Meet Your Distributor? [Sponsored Link]

CALIFORNIA BRIEFS

• Napa Valley, Finger Lakes Make Top 10 wine tourism visits
• From Hungarian Soccer Player to 100-Point Napa Vintner
• Sources: Criminal charges coming in Sonoma Valley Bank probe
• Derby Wine Estates opens in Farmer’s Alliance building
• J.Rickards Hires Ross Clendenen as Marketing & Media Manager

• Introduction to Water in California [Sponsored Link]

DROUGHT/WATER

• Proposed Paso Robles groundwater district is constitutional, state attorneys say
• Drought’s No. 1 lesson: Modernize water management
• Water is the magic word as Californians lobby Congress for aid
• Water management tops wine grape challenges
• State, federal water managers offer plan for drought measures

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

PUBLIC COMPANIES

• LVMH: Luxury Sells, Alcohol Not So Much
• Will Starbucks Alcohol “Infect” Other Products?
• LVMH: Fastest Fashion Revenue Growth in 2 Years
• New Treasury Wine boss makes strong debut, but uncertainty reigns
• Carlsberg enters ‘hard drinks’ category
• Truett-Hurst Signs With Ecologic For Paper Wine Bottles
• Paper wine bottle maker folds

FINANCE, M&A

• Virgin Emulates Naked Wines, sees “loyal customers” join Wine Bank
• Merger to create premium packaging platform
• Bernard Magrez buys vines in Spain’s Jumilla region
• The $100M quarter: why deals are flowing into content marketing

• 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 survey finds ‘significantly less demand’ for Bordeaux 2013 wines
• Paranoia in Bordeaux
• 2013 En Primeur: Irreversible Damage to Bordeaux?
• Liv-ex: Montrose 2013, concern builds
• 100 Parker Points Give Screaming Eagle Prices Wings

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

HEALTH

• Crafty alcohol ads directed at US adolescents through music and branding
• New lower alcohol alternatives from Heineken

LEGAL MATTERS

• Man tries to sue retailer for wine he didn’t like

MARKETING & SALES

• Successful online wine marketing relies on a good call to action
• 11 wine labels with a sense of humour
• Revolutionary trends in retail for 2014

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

TRADE SHOWS & CONFERENCES

• VinItaly 360: Tasting, Technology, And Why It Matters

SOCIAL MEDIA & TECH

• Google Glass may become another farm tool
• 3 ways to avoid creeping out consumers with big data
• Fundbox gets $17.5M to give small businesses money when they need it
• What to do about Heartbleed,

• How to Get Five Million Users to See Your Brand on Youtube For Free? [Sponsored Link]

MANAGEMENT & EMPLOYMENT

• Soft skills just as important as hard skills for most employers
• College Kids Seeking Jobs Should Consider An Agriculture Major

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

MEDIA MATTERS

• Book review: Buy the Right Wine Every Time

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

TASTE MATTERS

• Where Is Torbreck Headed?
• Getting to Know Cool-Climate Syrah
• Drinking Small Production Rhone Wines
• Returning To Hades (NH Wine Week 2014)
• Airfield Estate: Miller Keeps Climbing in Washington State
• The most exciting wine you’re not drinking

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

KOSHER MATTERS

• How Many Glasses of Wine Do You Drink at a Seder?
• Kosher wine and the mevushal process
• Buzz keeps kosher with Mad Dog 20/20

WINE TOURISM

• Tourism Australia issues ‘rally cry’ for food and wine industry

OH CANADA!

• Kootenays wines worth discovering

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

REGIONAL WINE NEWS

• Number of Texas wineries skyrockets

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

AG, GROWER & CELLAR NEWS

• How to Grow Cold-Hardy Grapes

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

EUROPE & THE UK

• Merchants Ask Bordeaux, Where Are the Low Prices?
• Réunion island: A French wine discovery

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

DOWN UNDER

• NZ: Royal visit draws eyes to region’s wine
• Tasmania boosts Aussie wine revival

ASIA & PACIFIC RIM

• Vietnam to host int’l wine festival

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

NOT JUST FOR THE TRADE

• Wine Etiquette Gone Horribly Wrong
• 101-year-old message in a beer bottle discovered
• 9 Rules for Fun at Wine Fests
• What do we mean by ‘best wine’?

• The Control of Nature [Sponsored Link]

OLIVE OIL

• 2014 BIOL Guide to the best organic extra virgin olive oils in the world
• Data on Italy’s Carryover Olive Oil Stocks Too ‘Sensitive’ to Release
• California Producer Sees ‘Green Shoots’ of Growth for Industry
• Call to Action at NYIOOC: Educate
• Conference Offers Strategies for Olive Oil Importing, Distribution

ALMONDS & OTHER TREE NUTS

• Emerging Diseases Threaten Walnuts

WINE GOES TO POT

Another Reason To Legalize Hemp: Make A Wine Cellar With It

GRATUITOUS COARSE LANGUAGE OF THE DAY

• 10 Steps to Sipping Wine Like a Wanker

WINE/FOOD MATCHING PROBLEMS

• Dead mouse found in wine