NEWS FETCH – April 30, 2015

TOP NEWS

• Millions In USDA Export Funds Now Available To Ag/Wine Trade Associations [And An Apology]
• Cognitive Biases in The Wine Industry: The Fundamental Attribution Error
• Another Burgundian winemaker in court over refusal to spray vines
• Extreme drought to expand in West over the summer
• Nation’s GDP barely has a pulse
• TTB Compliance can be simpler. Here’s how. *Sponsored Link*

GLOBAL WINE SUPPLY

• OZ: Queensland wine shortage forecast after bad weather damages vineyards
• Bee deaths could impact Oregon wine industry
• NZ: Hawke’s Bay Harvest Bodes Well for Vintage

CALIFORNIA BRIEFS

• Why Napa Cabernet costs so much
• Napa County should increase its minimum parcel size
• How regional wine producers are pushing the envelope to attract sophisticated palates
• USA Trade Tasting Early Bird Registrations Are Now Open: Save $740 If You Register Before 30 April 2015. *Sponsored Link*

DROUGHT/WATER

• Schwarzenegger summit seeks long-term solutions to California’s water woes
• The horizon for drought data and technology
• WA: Roza irrigators seek Sunnyside water to lessen hit of Yakima Basin drought
• Governators Get Serious About CA Drought By Blowing Up Kiddie Pools with Grenades

DIRECT SHIPPING & PRIVATIZATION

• 7 Tips for Better Age Verification for Wine Shipments
• It’s all in your delivery

PUBLIC COMPANIES

• Moet Hennessy to bottle first Chinese red wine

FINANCE, M&A

• Canadian Aquilini Investment Group buys and develops WA land for vineyards and other crops
• Tools of the Trade: 10 Must Have Documents to Have Ready For Your Distributor *Sponsored Link*

INVESTING IN WINE, COLLECTING & AUCTIONS

• 2014 Bordeaux Futures Price Chart
• Lynch Bages: bags of value?
• Palmer 2014 released: better to look back?
• Screaming Eagle Back to ’92 Fetches $32,100 at Acker Sale

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

• Arsenic in Wine: UC Davis Fact Sheet (PDF)
• NC Chemist Says Arsenic In Wines Claims Are Exaggerated

REGULATION & LEGAL MATTERS

• A Flood of Lawsuits, and Too Much Blue Moon Beer
• Ohio bill lets cities have areas for open-alcohol containers

INDUSTRY DATA & TRENDS

• America’s $3.77 Billion Wine Trade Deficit

WINE SELECTION AND RECOMMENDATION

• What Do You Look for in a Wine Shop?

MARKETING & SALES

• How to Sell Limited Production Import Wine in the US Market
• How Large Distributors Launch A New Brand *Sponsored Link*

TRADE SHOWS & CONFERENCES

• Wine Spectator And Vinexpo Reveal Speakers For “Inside The U.S. Wine Market” Panel
• Reflections from the Wine Industry Conference

SOCIAL MEDIA & TECH

• Why Your Email Contact Form Says “Go To Hell” To Your Web Site Visitors
• Facebook Says There Are Now 40M Active Small Business Pages
• 10 Steps to a Google Mobile-Friendly Site
• Get your website’s terms and conditions in order

PAYMENTS

• Bitcoin Startup Circle Takes $50M From Goldman Sachs, IDG

MEDIA MATTERS

• A Good Year is a Great Movie
• Film Review: “A Year In Champagne”
• Wine Book review: “The Mad Crush” by Sean Cristopher Weir

MATTERS OF TASTE

• Placebo Marketing And Why Cheap Wine Can Taste Great
• 10 Reasons to Drink “Real” Italian Wine

WINE PEOPLE

• Pedro Campos, Casal Ventozela

WINE PLACES

• Three Things That You Didn’t Know About Carinena Wine Country
• Vineyards on the roof of the world in China’s Yunnan Province
• Benmarl Winery (NY), Very Ready for the Next Ten Years
• Good wines come from many places

REGIONAL WINE NEWS

• AVA Applications Spring Up in Idaho
• NC Wine Industry Plans for Growth
• A Toast to the Finger Lakes: A Look Into the Finest Wineries and Breweries
• Starbucks brings wine to Portland area

ACADEMIA

• Southern Wine & Spirits of America Announces Landmark $100 Million Contribution to the Step Up For Students Scholarship Program

ENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABILITY

• USDA says number of organic producers in Nation now at record
• Pomar Junction Winery (CA) inducted into Green Hall of Fame

AG, GROWER & CELLAR NEWS

• Unique Proteins Identified in Botrytis cinerea-Infected Grapes: Implications for Noble Rot Field Assays
• DroneBase Lets Any Business Rent A Drone And Pilot

EUROPE & THE UK

• English wine sales up 177pc in just one week
• EU Parliament backs mandatory calorie labeling proposal
• Kingsland Drinks grows with Bottle Green buy-out

DOWN UNDER

• Wine industry ignored as NZ rebate set to stay
• Australian wine industry – state of play: Part 4
• OZ: FARE releases annual alcohol consumption poll, AHA (WA) rejects findings
• South Australia irrigators waiting for funding

NOT JUST FOR THE TRADE

• Civil War wine: What we drank 150 years ago
• How to Be Totally Chill While Ordering Wine in a Restaurant
• Can I Send Wine Back If I Don’t Like It?

OLIVE OIL

• The effect of topical olive oil on the healing of foot ulcer in patients with type 2 diabetes
• EU Approves Measures to Combat Xf in Olives

CRAFT BEVERAGES: BEER, CIDER WINE & SPIRITS

• American whiskey market worth £190m