NEWS FETCH – January 13, 2015

TOP NEWS

• How the Rising Dollar Will Affect the U.S. Wine Market: It’s Complicated
• Bubbly Bolstering US Wine Market, Chardonnay Stays on Top
• Sweet Or Dry, Red Blends Continue To Show Growth
• Environmental group opposes secret settlement with Westlands
• The top 8 reasons it makes dollars and sense to move your winery software to the Cloud *Sponsored Link*

HARVEST 2014/GLOBAL WINE SUPPLY

• The future of wine is bulk
• Australian wildfires threaten wine production

CALIFORNIA BRIEFS

• Berryessa-Snow Mountain National Monument: Big Impact On N. Coast Wine Country
• Live Oak Bank Begins Financing in the Wine and Craft Beverages Industries
• Santa Lucia Highlands winegrowers announce new board members
• Stopping the export of Proposition 65
• Counties grapple with winery outreach directly to consumers
• Assoc. Winemaker Ed Morris moving through the ranks at The Rubin Family of Wines
• Under the Radar California Wineries
• How To Pitch Your Brand In National Restaurant Chains *Sponsored Link*

DROUGHT/WATER

• Parched by drought, cities look to tap the ocean
• The California Water Plan: Roadmap for Action

PUBLIC COMPANIES

• Morrisons pulls plug on CEO Dalton Philips
• TWE’s Dan Townsend becomes Benevolent chairman
• Buckingham Schenk promotes Craig Durham to MD
• Grow Direct To Consumer Sales *Sponsored Link*

FINANCE, M&A

• New Nomacorc owners eye acquisitions after buyout deal
• Restaurant search app Zomato acquires Urbanspoon to enter the U.S. market
• Metrospaces Acquires of “Ikal Lodge and Winery” Real Estate Project Argentina

INVESTING IN WINE, COLLECTING & AUCTIONS

• Bordeaux 500 sub-indices: a second half bounce in 2014
• Premiere Napa Valley: Wine lots revealed for annual auction
• Are You Really Ready To Pitch A Distributor: Here’s the Checklist *Sponsored Link*

HEALTH

• Beer Is Better For You Than Wine
• 7 Reasons Why Drinking Wine May be Good for Health
• Effect of Diet on Type 2 Diabetes Risk Varies Between Ethnicities

REGULATION & LEGAL MATTERS

• French winery sues Harrison importer
• Court rules for table grape commission in patent case
• Charles Smith dropped his lawsuit against The Gray Report’s readers
• Beer Delivery Is Legal In Pennsylvania (but not wine)
• Napa Wine Heist Is Tough Case to Solve

INDUSTRY DATA & TRENDS

• OIV Presents Five Goals For Next Five Years
• Brands Report 2015: Champagne
• Cognac Sees Renewed Growth In U.S., As Asian Demand Dries Up

AG, GROWER & CELLAR NEWS

• Gusmer to Distribute Renaissance H2S-preventing Wine Yeasts
• Concha y Toro Opens New Center for Research and Innovation Partnered with UC Davis
• Call Goes Out For Solutions to Grapevine Trunk Disease
• Water management: Part III

MARKETING & SALES

• Why wineries need to go direct to their consumers
• How to Take Advantage of Shopping Cart Abandonment
• Food Taste, Flavor & Quality Most Important for Convenience store Consumers
• Study shows how to open wallets of Web-surfing TV watchers
• Unpretentious Millennials Are Changing the Way We Drink Wine
• Save time and money – order ProWein 2015 tickets online at reduced rates! *Sponsored Link*

WINE CHOICE & RECOMMENDATION

• Taste, or price tag: Choosing wine
• The Psychology of Wine Labels
• The Benefits Of Wine In A Box
• Can Monbazillac open your mind to the sweet life?

PACKAGING, LABELS & CORKS

• Charlie Hebdo wine labels: goûtez la différence!
• Wine closures market share

TRADE SHOWS & CONFERENCES

• Washington grape growers schedule 15 seminars for annual convention
• Top Winemakers to Speak at Oak Conference

SOCIAL MEDIA & TECH

• The key to social media strategy is to understand your audience
• Plonk app helps wine novices make informed choices
• Why You Should Loosen Your Company’s Social Media Policy
• More Than Half of Adults Online Use Two or More Social Networks

PAYMENTS

• Pey is 3D-printing Bitcoin terminals and giving them away for free
• PayPal lets merchants hand-tailor credit options for their customers

MANAGEMENT & EMPLOYMENT

• New E-Verify service launches in California

MEDIA MATTERS

• Charlie Hedbo hints at distributing 3m copies of defiant return issue
• Charlie Hebdo to pull no punches with front page Muhammad cartoon

MATTERS OF TASTE

• Sommeliers Ditch Champagne Flutes, But Should They?
• Taste your way to a finer understanding of wine

WINE PEOPLE

• SBC Pinot Noir, and the loss of a pioneer, Daniel J. Gainey
• Walla Walla native heads to James Beard House
• Uncorked: Peter Richards MW

WINE PLACES

• Corsica: Napoleon’s Vinous Dreamscape
• CA: Discover wineries in the Carneros region
• Sera Fina’s a short drive from Sacramento

REGIONAL WINE NEWS

• WA: Water to wine: $19.2M Red Mountain water system complete
• VA: Growlers the draw at winery
• NY: Mother Nature cooperates for Casa Larga ice wine harvest

ACADEMIA

• WA: Application window opens for grape scholarships

ENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABILITY

• Climate change accelerates maturing of grape in wine production
• Wine Breeding Might Be Key To Combating Climate Change
• Climate change-denying Senatory Ted Cruz to oversee NASA (which studies climate change…)

EUROPE & THE UK

• UK: Big four grocers face ‘unprecedented’ competition
• UK: Grocers celebrate small victories despite minimal growth

DOWN UNDER

• OZ: Hunter Valley winemakers look forward to outstanding vintage, if the rain holds off
• OZ: Queensland winery rises from the ashes

ASIA & PACIFIC RIM

• Research institute makes sake a little easier to understand
• China: Chateau makes wines fit for world leaders

SOUTH AFRICA

• How South Africa came out top in Michelin challenge with Australian wines

NOT EVERYONE HATES TESCO

• Meet the cat that has lived in Tesco for four years

NOT JUST FOR THE TRADE

• The Year in the Wine Family 2014–Goodbye to All That
• Wine Verser Pours the Perfect Glass of Wine Every Time
• How to understand sommeliers and wine slang– video
• First Ever All-Inclusive Winery Guide offered
• Smart Spoon Detects Salty Foods Where Your Tastebuds Fail
• Snail mail just got a little slower

OLIVE OIL

• EU agriculture sector may be hit hard by spread of Xylella pathogen
• DNAtrax tracks tainted olive oil and other food with molecular bar code
• Proposed Rules Would Align Morocco with International Standards
• Olive Oil Works Wonders for Babies
• Italians buy Greek olives to cover needs
• Turkey’s Olive Oil Exports Fall by Half
• Olive oil prices expected to rise due to worldwide shortage

CRAFT BEER, CIDER & SPIRITS

• New beer made from “sheep shit-smoked whale balls” in Iceland
• Whale testicle beer brewer backs controversial drink
• Flavor Innovations to Drive Consumption of Cider