NEWS FETCH – March 30, 2015

TOP NEWS

• CA Governor signs emergency drought bills
• Vintank Acquired By Award-Winning Digital Agency
• U.S. economy slows
• TTB Compliance can be simpler. Here’s how. *Sponsored Link*

GLOBAL WINE SUPPLY

• French Use Cannons To Protect Vineyards From Hail
• WA: Mid-Columbia vineyards get a head start to the growing season
• 2014 Virginia Grape Harvest Tops 8,000 tons

CALIFORNIA BRIEFS

• California Assembly members, including wine representatives, heading to Cuba
• If Napa wineries have to limit visitors, how will they sell their wines?
• Record value for California table grapes
• A new environmental coalition to scrutinize Napa county’s future
• New developers may resurrect long-approved south Napa resort

DROUGHT/WATER

• Stretching water supplies, new labor regulations in the US grape industry
• California agriculture industry could lose $1 billion in two years because of drought
• Billion-dollar water bills signed by governor more about flood than drought
• As drought continues, fights over groundwater overdraft heat up
• Groundwater Governance in the United States – Common Priorities and Challenges
• March rainfall is near record low in Napa

PUBLIC COMPANIES

• Interview, Part Two: Pernod Ricard CEO Alex Ricard

FINANCE, M&A

• Lynch-Bages backed wine start-up fund expands to US
• Invivo first in NZ to reach equity crowdfund $2m
• USA Trade Tasting Partners With New York International Wine Competition To Give Early Bird Exhibitors Added Benefits. *Sponsored Link*

INVESTING IN WINE, COLLECTING & AUCTIONS

• Volume and value down last week on what has been a month of strong activity on Liv-ex
• Chateaux hail strong vintage but market pressure builds
• Bordeaux 2007 – far from compelling
• The New Generation at Léoville Barton

ALCOHOL, HEALTH, AND THE FRENCH PARADOX
Click the link above for more news, articles and archives.

• Alcohol: An Astonishing Molecule
• Cheap Wine and Arsenic’s Lawyer
• Anglo Saxon remedy kills hospital superbug MRSA

REGULATION & LEGAL MATTERS

• Importer Pasternak Answers and Counterclaims Against Vignerons de la Méditerranée
• 28 Proof and Not Beer, Wine or Spirit
• NY State Liquor Authority seeks fines against wine retailers

INDUSTRY DATA & TRENDS

• Champagne’s 2014 Earnings Nudge $5bn
• Wine remains diners top choice of drink in the UK
• Interactive Jobs Geography Map: This Was THEN … What Does NOW look Like?
• How to Optimize your Bottle Price and Increase Sales *Sponsored Link*

WINE SELECTION AND RECOMMENDATION

• Consumers prefer higher alcohol wine
• The Changing Love of Pinot Noir?

MARKETING & SALES

• Coravin targets in UK home use as it starts to builds a Nespresso-style community
• Marketing 101: Call to action
• 5 Suggestions on Building your Restaurant Wine Lists for Profits *Sponsored Link*

PACKAGING, LABELS & CORKS

• Aussie wines with screw caps challenge opinions

TRADE SHOWS & CONFERENCES

• Vinitaly 2015 sees increase in foreign buyers on back of government support

SOCIAL MEDIA & TECH

• Why Google+ Is Dying (and Nearly Dead)
• Is Facebook Even Worth It Anymore?

PAYMENTS

• Mobile Payment Startup MyCheck Raises $5M
• Can Apple Pay Work at Sit-Down Restaurants?
• Facebook Is Getting Serious About Payments

MEDIA MATTERS

• Great Wine Capitals Opens Up Wine Blogger Throw-Down
• ‘Wine Value Chain in China’: Contributors Sought for New Book

MATTERS OF TASTE

• 11 Questions for a Natural-Wine Evangelist
• On music, wine and tasting with all your senses
• Punk Rock wines
• What oak brings to your wine
• What is Madeira? The Island Wine
• Jura Wines: They’re Not All a Wild Ride
• Seven Things You Should Know About Kosher Wine

WINE PEOPLE

• The Wonderful Women Winemakers of Centre-Loire
• The Robert Parker interview
• Carte blanche to a vinoholic
• Get Acquainted With Patrick Comiskey
• Brian Carter’s Washington wine story

WINE PLACES

• Barolo’s golden age
• The Mokelumne River Viticultural Area (part 2) – winemakers talk dirty
• Jefford on Monday: Angela’s Lemon
• CO Behind the Vines: Bookcliff Vineyards

WINE EDUCATION

• How To Learn About Wine

OH CANADA!

• B.C. wine soon to be sold at grocery stores

REGIONAL WINE NEWS

• WA Wine Country’s Nuclear Threat
• Wine and steel in OR

EUROPE & THE UK

• Catholic Church Opens Bar to Reach Masses
• English winemakers fizzing with export excitement
• A Salute to Wine in the United Kingdom
• Inside Copenhagen’s Kjaer & Sommerfeldt

DOWN UNDER

• Aussie wine makers say uniform alcohol tax will be a disaster
• ACCC acts on Chinese made “Aussie Beer”
• OZ: Lower dollar a boon for Canberra’s wine exporting king
• NZ: The Dalmatians and their wine

ASIA & PACIFIC RIM

• Taiwan Authorities Seize 30,000 Bottles of Allegedly Counterfeit Wine

LATIN AMERICA

• Baja Ag labor leaders learned tactics from their efforts in U.S.
• Rain Brings Tragedy and Relief for Chilean Wineries

NOT JUST FOR THE TRADE

• CHEAT SHEET: Red Wine Body Guide
• Experts Give Opinions on Proper Stemware
• Standard pours for wine, red and beyond

CRAFT BEVERAGES: BEER, CIDER WINE & SPIRITS

• Everything you ever wanted to know about gin
• European brewing association commits to voluntary nutrition labeling
• Competition Concerns in the Greek Beer Market