NEWS FETCH – August 5, 2014

TOP NEWS

• China’s Bright Food rules out Treasury Wine Estates bid
• Central Coast Ag quarantine set up for light brown apple moths
• California water agency wins damage suit against feds
• Tragedy in Prosecco: flash floods claim four lives
• 15 Tips On Securing Distribution: How to Make Your Brand a Winner **Sponsored Link*

CALIFORNIA BRIEFS

• Mendo Gold: Will America’s Pot Capital Choose Wine Over Weed?
• Another Piece Of The Wine Prop 65 Settlement Falls Into Place
• Rack & Riddle Toasts New Locations
• Five Hot Ideas To Grow Your Tasting Room Traffic *Sponsored Link*

DROUGHT/WATER

• Seawater threatens Central Coast’s water supply
• Groundwater Legislation Not Sinking
• Reclamation may owe Stockton water district millions (with court papers)
• Pumping for profit is exploitation

PUBLIC COMPANIES

• United Spirits delays results again
• Gruppo Campari rallies after tough start

FINANCE, M&A

• Private equity looms over Australia’s wine industry
• Burgundy negociant Bejot Vins buys rival Corton Andre
• A Guide to Investment, Innovation and Business Opportunities in the Water Sector *Sponsored Link*

INVESTING IN WINE, COLLECTING & AUCTIONS

• Dom Pérignon To Sell Rebranded 1998 Vintage
• How to Find the Best-Performing Exotic Investments
• Investing in Liquid Assets: Uncorking Profits in Today’s Global Wine Market *Sponsored Link*

MARKETING & SALES

• Fast Booze Nation
• Why consumers are right to buy cheaper wines
• Tesco invites consumers to come up with wine descriptions
• Château Margaux: Is being organic a sales benefit?
• Best Practices in Customer Engagement
• Five Incredibly Useful Wine Marketing Resources
• Insights From One Of China’s Largest Wine Importers **Sponsored Link*

SOCIAL MEDIA & TECH

• Should publishers really think ‘mobile-first’?
• Know Thy SEO Vendor
• How a Website Relaunch Grew Email Subscriptions by 30% in One Month
• Virtual Unreality: Just Because the Internet Told You, How Do You Know It’s True? *Sponsored Link*

IT: INFORMATION [AND] TECHNOLOGY

• Technology is vital in how big drinks brands communicate with consumers
• Are employees taking over IT?

MANAGEMENT & EMPLOYMENT

• How Government Paperwork Kills Summer Jobs
• Wine Business Case Studies:: Thirteen Cases from the Real World of Wine Business Management *Sponsored Link*

MEDIA MATTERS

• The Wine Blogging Community Is A Joke (But It Doesn’t Have To Be)
• John Oliver Takes on Native Advertising
• Wine Marketing & Sales, 2nd Edition *Sponsored Link*

MATTERS OF TASTE

• The return of California Cabernet
• The lure of sin zins
• Rise of the California garagistes
• Getting to Know Antica Terra: in the vineyard w Maggie Harrison
• If there’s a “new wine style,” what is it?
• Chardonnay Shines Despite The ABC Crowd
• Cheap wine, etc.
• Shadows in the Vineyard: The True Story of the Plot to Poison the World’s Greatest Wine *Sponsored Link*

CRAFT BEER, CIDER & SPIRITS

• US craft beer volumes grow 18%
• Raising spirits: the rise of small batch vodka
• Brits are becoming cider snobs, says National Association of Cider Makers
• Technomic’s craft beer and cider trends
• India Pale Ale evolves
• An Enthusiast’s Guide to the Artisan Distilling of Potent Potables *Sponsored Link*

WINE TOURISM

• On the rising wine tourism in China
• Global Wine Tourism *Sponsored Link*

REGIONAL WINE NEWS

• Walla Walla’s Next Step: The SeVein Vineyard Project
• Georgia Gets Its First AVA
• Beyond Jefferson’s Vines: The Evolution of Quality Wine in Virginia *Sponsored Link*

PACKAGING, LABELS & CORKS

• CorkGuard launches new SmartCork range
• New Wine Packaging Growth Outpaces Traditional
• The Art and Design of Contemporary Wine Labels*Sponsored Link*

AG, GROWER & CELLAR NEWS

• Managing the impacts of birds in the vineyard
• Understanding Vineyard Soils *Sponsored Link*

DUH!

• Importance of subsurface drip irrigation increasing

EUROPE & THE UK

• Hobbs unveils Cahors Malbec venture

NOT JUST FOR THE TRADE

• World’s worst wine disasters
• Here’s a rarity: a simple, useful, elegant wine gadget (But sadly expensive)
• Zoom: How Everything Moves: From Atoms and Galaxies to Blizzards and Bees *Sponsored Link*

OLIVE OIL

• Breakthrough Cancer Research with a natural compound found in EVOO
• With No Deal on Olive Council’s Future, Europe Favors Treaty Extension
• India Blocks European Olive Oil After EU Bans its Mangoes, MEP Claims
• Olive Oil: From Tree to Table *Sponsored Link*

DOUCHE BAG HOTEL GOES BALLISTIC

• New York hotel fines guests $500 for bad reviews on Yelp (updated)