NEWS FETCH – April 2, 2015

TOP NEWS

• ShipCompliant Merges with Sovos Compliance
• Total Wine Alleges Price-Fixing By Competitors In Minnesota
• CA issues mandatory water cuts as Sierra snowpack hits record low
• California drought and wine: Cheaper products hit hardest
• Empire Wine: S.L.A. fished for out-of-state complaints
• TTB Compliance can be simpler. Here’s how. *Sponsored Link*

CALIFORNIA BRIEFS

• Sacramento-area wine icon Charles Myers passes away
• Hop Kiln Winery seeks Sonoma County’s permission to grow
• Study shows pot is sucking the Eel River dry
• Taking Sides Over Sine Qua Non
• Pedroncelli appoints third winemaker in winery’s 87-year history

DROUGHT/WATER

• Sierra Nevada Snowpack Is Virtually Gone; Water Content Now Is 5 Percent of Historic Average
• Should water wasters face jail time?
• It’s Time to Change Water Policy
• Toward groundwater sustainability planning in an agro-urban basin
• The Rare Time When a Rainy Forecast is Unwelcome

PUBLIC COMPANIES

• Treasury Wine’s Penfolds brand hit by China discounting

DISTRIBUTORS

• Cape Classics Makes Distribution Changes In Florida
• USA Trade Tasting Partners With New York International Wine Competition To Give Early Bird Exhibitors Added Benefits. *Sponsored Link*

INVESTING IN WINE, COLLECTING & AUCTIONS

• A New Model Predicts Wine Futures Prices With High Accuracy: Lessons from Bordeaux En Primeur for Small Boutique Wineries in the US
• Frugality drive means French wine out of fashion in China
• Liv-ex Fine Wine 1000 holds steady in March
• Latour leads decline in March
• Pomerol’s promise
• Roumier Leads Sotheby’s Burgundy Auction With Richebourg

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

• Calories will soon appear on wine lists at chain restaurants
• How Many Calories Are in a Glass of Wine?
• Those who abstain from alcohol likely to die earlier than drinkers
• Study shows that females are more sensitive to external factors that promote alcohol use
• Drinking coffee may neutralize the effect of wine in causing liver cancer

REGULATION & LEGAL MATTERS

• AVAs on Wine Labels: Continued

INDUSTRY DATA & TRENDS

• Why is Beer Losing Ground to Wine and Spirits?
• Over-Represented Wine Drinkers: Millennials, Greatest Generation
• How to Optimize your Bottle Price and Increase Sales *Sponsored Link*

WINE SELECTION AND RECOMMENDATION

• The most popular restaurant wines

MARKETING & SALES

• Wine, Data, And How Not To Leave Money On The Table
• 5 Suggestions on Building your Restaurant Wine Lists for Profits *Sponsored Link*

SOCIAL MEDIA & TECH

• Advice to Wineries, re: Yelp and Trip Advisor
• Drinks industry is well placed to benefit from new Google and Twitter deal
• 9 Things to Consider Before Starting a Blog
• Finding the Real Value in Social Media

PAYMENTS

• This is how you purchase digital currencies

MATTERS OF TASTE

• Public Principles and Wine in Indiana
• The mystery of the disappearing Cabernet Franc
• Wine flaws: Characterful to a fault
• Alexander Valley and Napa Valley Cabernet: A study in contrasts
• Think you know Pinot Grigio?
• What Is Minerality, Exactly?

BORDEAUX 2014

• En primeur: great quality, but don’t hold your breath on price
• En primeur snapshot: why terroir matters
• Bordeaux 2014: Autumn heatwave gives Cabernet narrow lead
• Corney & Barrow predicts ‘quick’ 2014 campaign
• Bordeaux 2014: What if prices go up?
• Bordeaux 2014: “a real Cheval Blanc”

WINE PEOPLE

• Donniella Winchell puts Ohio wine on the world stage
• Canadian Wine Maven Chronicles Her Journey From French Stereotypes
• Five questions for winemaker Gavin Chanin of LUTUM and Chanin Wines

WINE PLACES

• The Mokelumne River Viticultural Area (part 3) – Grapes, ungrafted vines, rags to riches
• Regional profile: Great Southern, Australia
• Best French Regions for Wine Lovers

WINE EDUCATION

• Wine education group offers African-Americans casual learning experience in Cleveland
  

OH CANADA!

• Surrey Save-On-Foods grocery store is the first to sell wine in B.C.

REGIONAL WINE NEWS

• Eyeing Pinot Noir Growth, Oregon’s Sokol Blosser Forms Sales And Marketing Unit
• Michigan Theater pairs with Wine Enthusiast Magazine for a new film series

ACADEMIA

• 2015 wine vintage research underway at the Department of Agriculture and Food

AG, GROWER & CELLAR NEWS

• Single Berry Ferment: The Latest Innovation in Estate Winemaking

EUROPE & THE UK

• EU Lawmakers urge Commission to table new alcohol strategy

DOWN UNDER

• NZ: Proposed ban may stop wine adverts
• NZ: Scramble for vineyard jobs in wake of cyclone
• Aus wines already benefiting from Japan agreement

LATIN AMERICA

• Argentina is up-and-coming powerhouse of quality wines

NOT JUST FOR THE TRADE

• How the Catholic Church saved the California wine industry during Prohibition
• The role of wine in religious celebrations
• What would Jesus drink?

CRAFT BEVERAGES: BEER, CIDER WINE & SPIRITS

• States rewrite microbrew laws as demand for craft beer grows
• Diageo acquires control of South African beer business, United National Breweries
• Molson Coors Acquires Mount Shivalik Breweries Ltd. in India
• Whisky industry urges free trade to boost exports
• Calorie labeling on alcoholic beverages could see spirits suffer in the UK
• What To Do When You Don’t Like Your Drink