NEWS FETCH – April 22, 2015

TOP NEWS

• 84 of the 100 most famous wine brands in the world are French
• The head of China’s biggest wine brand admits its wines are terrible
• California raisins go back before the U.S. Supreme Court
• Economic Confidence Index Holds Steady
• TTB Compliance can be simpler. Here’s how. *Sponsored Link*

GLOBAL WINE SUPPLY

• Winemakers in one of OZ’s premier wine regions have finished harvest early

INTERNATIONAL TRADE AGREEMENTS

• TTIP Negotiations: Why an Agreement on GIs Matters
• Thompson faces tough vote on ‘fast-track’ trade bill
• Trade war heating up among Democrats

CALIFORNIA BRIEFS

• California agriculture improving SJV air quality
• Santa Rosa: Bottle Barn being sold to Marin investor
• BottleRock Announces Celebrity Culinary Stage
• USA Trade Tasting Early Bird Registrations Are Now Open: Save $740 If You Register Before 30 April 2015. *Sponsored Link*

DROUGHT/WATER

• Farmers see no shortage of issues with California drought
• Everything I thought I knew about water in California is wrong
• Stop Counting on Individuals To Solve California’s Water Crisis
• Regulating the drought in California: the drawbacks of a bottom-up approach
• Delta Challenges Workshop, part 1: Delta land use, levees, and agricultural economics

DIRECT SHIPPING & PRIVATIZATION

• Indiana Senate backs bill loosening rules on wine shipments
• Shipping: Wineries… Can You Keep Up?

PUBLIC COMPANIES

• Tesco reports £6.4bn loss – worst result in its history
• Rémy Cointreau Confirms LVMH Exec Farnier As New CEO, Americas
• How did Tesco get itself into such a mess?
• Hedge funds cut losses on Tesco as supermarket shows signs of recovery

DISTRIBUTORS

• Torres, COFCO to sign distribution partnership in China
• Tools of the Trade: 10 Must Have Documents to Have Ready For Your Distributor *Sponsored Link*

INVESTING IN WINE, COLLECTING & AUCTIONS

• Liv-ex Spotlight on Gazin
• High prices at OZ wine auction
• Sotheby’s Auction House Appoints BORN as New Global Catalogue Production Partner

INDUSTRY DATA & TRENDS

• How Do Buyers Choose A Wine When They Are In A Hurry?
• 2015 China imports: It’s France by three lengths, followed by Spain, Australia and Chile

WINE SELECTION AND RECOMMENDATION

• Why wine competitions help consumers
• How to Judge a Great Wine List

MARKETING & SALES

• Consumers value getting up close and personal with products and experiences
• How Large Distributors Launch A New Brand *Sponsored Link*

PACKAGING, LABELS & CORKS

• Pursuing Sustainability in Tuscany With a Zero-Carbon-Footprint Closure
• Ball to Build Beverage Can Plant in Mexico

SOCIAL MEDIA & TECH

• Email subject line tips
• 28 social media management tools rated, scored, and reviewed
• Google ‘Mobilegeddon’ Has Officially Arrived

PAYMENTS

• Apple Pay trounces PayPal and Google Wallet in customer satisfaction

MEDIA MATTERS

• Wine industry comedy more than a good drop in the tourism ocean
• Five Decades of Wine: The Arc of My Career: Part 6: The Steve Heimoff Memoirs
• Five Decades of Wine: The Arc of My Career, Part 7: The Steve Heimoff Memoirs

MATTERS OF TASTE

• Whatever has become of CA’s pinot blanc?
• Klinker Brick aligns with two bold women-growers
• La Crema Pinot Noir Handled With Care
• Are You a Typical American Wine Drinker?
• Wine Tasting, How Not To Do It
• Cristal Champagne: The Wine of Tsars and Stars
• En primeur whites: excellent vintage, but don’t overestimate the acidity

WINE PEOPLE

• Nelson Mandela Inspired a Family of Wine Makers
• In Italy’s Valle d’Aosta, winegrower Michel Vallet suffers gladly
• Drinking With: Champagne Jerry

WINE PLACES

• The Wines of Catalonia
• Spotlight on wine industry in Margaret River, Australia

WINE EDUCATION

• WSET receives award from the Queen

REGIONAL WINE NEWS

• Washington Cities Compete for Wine Villages
• Lewis-Clark Valley would add AVAs to Idaho, Washington
• New York Times wine club members dry in New York state
• Voters in Detroit suburb to be asked about alcohol sales

ACADEMIA

• Plumpton launches UK’s first wine business degree

ENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABILITY

• Wine industry, Earth Day share commonalities

AG, GROWER & CELLAR NEWS

• New Fungicide For Wide Range Of Fruits, Vegetables In CA And FL
• New Paper on Wine Yeast and Nitrogen
• Why Iron Horse doesn’t dry farm grapes

EUROPE & THE UK

• Swiss wine consumption falls to record low
• The internet is becoming an increasingly important tool for teaching German consumers about wine
• SIBA’s 800th brewer signals craft growth
• UK: Camra rejects anti-fracking motion

DOWN UNDER

• Hunter Valley overtakes Marlborough as leading region on NSW wine lists
• OZ: Fix My Tax campaign launched
• What’s next for New Zealand?

ASIA & PACIFIC RIM

• Indonesian gov ‘opposes full alcohol ban’

NOT JUST FOR THE TRADE

• So You Want to Start a Wine Cellar?
• Appeal for original Dom Ruinart

CRAFT BEVERAGES: BEER, CIDER WINE & SPIRITS

• Spirits Capital Partners Does Another Deal, This Time With Polish Vodka Brand Spud
• Spirits Capital Partners Announces First Investment Partnership with Real McCoy Spirits
• NY: Upstate women on tap to brew successful careers in beer
• Nebraska senators advance package to help craft breweries
• Crafty beer ‘tea bag’ turns cheap lager into a special brew
• Global Tequila Market Reaches Record High
• Nine indicted over $100k Bourbon heist