NEWS FETCH – December 17, 2014

TOP NEWS

• Jackson Family Buys South African Vineyard
• Bulk wine shipping and New World plantings to slow
• U.S. Economic Confidence Index Flat
• Federal, State Agencies Release Interagency 2015 Drought Strategy Draft
• Save time and money – order ProWein 2015 tickets online at reduced rates! *Sponsored Link*

HARVEST 2014/GLOBAL WINE SUPPLY

• Oregon wine grape harvest: ‘Goldilocks year’
• Take control of your wine costing and set your prices with confidence *Sponsored Link*

CALIFORNIA BRIEFS

• Noggle Vineyards Wine To Be Sold At Bankruptcy Auction
• Are California Wines Worse Than Ever Before—Or Better?
• What It Takes To Get Your Brand Approved By Commercial Airlines *Sponsored Link*

DROUGHT/WATER

• Just 11 Trillion gallons more to replenish California drought losses
• Droughts force researchers to rethink how tech can increase the supply of fresh water
• Devil’s Gate Dam project challenged by environmentalists
• Merced supervisors reject emergency groundwater moratorium
• Groundwater adjudication hearing, part 3: Panel discussion on options for moving forward
• Grow Direct To Consumer Sales *Sponsored Link*

PUBLIC COMPANIES

• Publix wine promotes grocer’s private-label products

FINANCE, M&A

• NZ: Investors purchase majority shareholding in Lawson’s Dry Hills
• Farm buyer eyes Chinese wine market
• Rothschilds join forces in champagne venture

INVESTING IN WINE, COLLECTING & AUCTIONS

• Acker Merrall #1 auction house in Asia in 2014
• Sotheby’s holds its first ever auction in Paris
• Romanee-Conti ‘Vulnerable’ as Bordeaux Shows Value
• Bordeaux 2014: send for the cavalry?
• Broken corkscrew makes £40k at auction
• 1970 DRC leads $1.3m Bonhams auction

HEALTH

• French Prohibitionists Aim to Spoil the Wine Party
• Calculate Alcohol Content to Avoid Party-Related Peril

REGULATION & LEGAL MATTERS

• Absurdist EU wine marketing regulation
• UK: Retailers risk breaking competition law over Reducing the Strength schemes
• How to Generate Demand In The 3-Tier System *Sponsored Link*

MARKETING & SALES

• Five Tips on Wine Retailing
• Mobile users more likely to click on ads served in an app than via mobile browser
• OZ: Mobile Ad Spend Sees Triple-Digit Gain
• Mobile Ad Spending in Canada Leaps 115%
• Top five trends that will influence consumer behaviour in 2015
• Wine launch at 17,000 ft breaks record

WINE CHOICE & RECOMMENDATION

• Different music can change the taste of wine
• Ultrahigh prices have distorted our understanding and enjoyment of wine
• Don’t Fear the Champagne

SOCIAL MEDIA & TECH

• 5 Social Media Video Content Tips
• Understanding Complex Social Influences
• Twitter teaming up with Foursquare
• Will Social Media Posts Become the New Currency?

MEDIA MATTERS

• Digital media in 2015: ‘A deluge of crap’
• When is a review not a review?

MATTERS OF TASTE

• Decopas ~ A wine for the (Millennial) ages
• 6 things to know about Sauternes
• Sauternes Growers Fear New Train Line Will Sour Sweet French Wine
• Countdown to New Year’s Eve: Vintage Champagne and more

WINE PEOPLE

• The modest celebrity of Georges Duboeuf

REGIONAL WINE NEWS

• WA: Betz Family Winery to plant Walla Walla Valley vineyard

AG, GROWER, AND CELLAR NEWS

• The genome of grape powdery mildew and its evolution in relation to fungicide resistance
• The Art of Davis Bynum Blending: A Pinot Noir Clonal Lesson

ENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABILITY

• Biodynamic in Côtes de Bordeaux
• USDA expands organic assessment exemption

ACADEMIA

• Wine Curmudgeon to teach grumpy wine class at El Centro College

EUROPE & THE UK

• Russia’s currency fall set to cause wine price spike
• Burgundy wines tries to buck falling UK sales with week-long event

DOWN UNDER

• NZ: Housing development set for winery
• OZ: Eden Valley hit by fire again
• OZ: Bushfires in Barossa cause damage to several wineries

NOT JUST FOR THE TRADE

• 2,800-Year-Old Farm House Unearthed in Israel-Wine Presses Found
• Which Bum Wines Pair Best with MREs?
• How to win a designated driver for an entire year
• The Day the Wine Tasted Bad

DARWIN HOWLS!

• The History Of Champagne Sabering

OLIVE OIL

• EU consumers will benefit from better labeling in food products, inc olive oil
• Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet Drops in Economic Hard Times
• Italian police seized prized olive groves worth €20m linked to fugitive mob boss
• A Plan to ‘Relaunch’ Umbrian EVOO
• Submerged Village Might Be Home to the First Olive Mills