NEWS FETCH – August 4, 2015

TOP NEWS

• California wildfire burning at ‘extremely high rate’ jumps highway
• Rocky Fire Indirectly Closes Two Wineries
• Fire destroys Grgich wines in Croatia
• Americans favor farmers & food during drought
• July U.S. Consumer Spending Flat
• TTB Compliance can be simpler. Here’s how. *Sponsored Link*

GLOBAL WINE SUPPLY

• Early grape harvest gets going in Sonoma County

CALIFORNIA BRIEFS

• Land Trust expanding its roster of protected Napa County acreage
• Free Mobile Irrigation Lab Evaluations from Napa and Sonoma RCDs
• Eberle Winery hires new winemaker – Chris Eberle
• Submit your interest now to get 2-1 code on the launch day – biggest discount that will be made available for USA Trade Tickets Conference. *Sponsored Link*

CALIFORNIA BURNING

• The Rocky fire and a potential minor casualty — grapes from smoke taint
• Weather helps crews battling massive Lake County wildfire
• Firefighters spent in daily sprint with Lake County’s fast-moving Rocky fire

DROUGHT/WATER

• Drought, heat and a busy fire season
• In drought, Pacific Northwest cities, farms face water cuts
• One Way to Fight California’s Drought: Desalt the Ocean
• Water & farmers: Things to know about AP-GfK drought poll

PUBLIC COMPANIES

• Constellation Brands Completes Meiomi Wine Acquisition
• How User Choices Can Boost Your Wine Club Membership & Loyalty. Click For A Free Best Practices Webinar *Sponsored Link*

FINANCE, M&A

• Jäger buys US importer Sidney Frank
• UK drinks merchant Woolf Sung seeking £1m investment
• Access to the Australian Market: BTN Webinar – Free, Register Now! *Sponsored Link*

INVESTING IN WINE, COLLECTING & AUCTIONS

• Liv-ex 100 drops 1.2% in July

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

• Gallup Poll Shows French Paradox dying on the vine
• How Do Your Taste Buds Actually Work?
• Think Drinking Alcohol Before Bed Can Help You Sleep? Not Even Close.

REGULATION & LEGAL MATTERS

• Alcohol Product Registrations in Kansas (webinar)
• NY distilleries save over $424K in fees due to Cuomo’s Wine, Beer, Spirits and Cider Summits

MARKETING & SALES

• Implement loyalty programs to sell more wine online
• If You’re Not Paying Attention to Your Influencers, You’re Burning Money
• LinkedIn is Sending Less Email – Should You?
• How to Manage Cash Flow to Expand your Winery, Distillery or Brewery’s Distribution. *Sponsored Link*

SOCIAL MEDIA & TECH

• Instagram just made a major move that will turn it into a huge advertising business
• Twitter’s stock hits record low as takeover rumors heat up
• Buy buttons could hurt brands more than they help
• SEO 101: Why your content isn’t ranking in Google

MEDIA MATTERS

• Money, Taste & Wine: It’s Complicated!
• Margaret Rand and Oz Clarke: Grapes & Wines
• Wine and Words, One Small Sip at a Time (Book Review)

MATTERS OF TASTE

• If you were a wine… wines as people
• On geological faults in Burgundy and Sonoma County
• Wine snobbery or oenophile bashing?
• Petite sirah isn’t petite, according to Michael Dresser
• Don’t write off 2011 Cabernets
• Is it ever acceptable to put ice cubes in wine?
• Filtering wine one way doesn’t mean it’s the only way. Click now to see the alternatives *Sponsored Link*

WINE PEOPLE

• Jacques Capsouto: When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Wine
• Jack Roberts: From England to France to New California
• Interview: Ron Junge, Brown Derby Stores
• Meet the wine industry matchmakers

WINE PLACES

• Entre-Deux-Mers: Bordeaux’ Enchanting “Lower East Side”
• Your Intro To Campania, Italy – Land Of Stunning Affordable White Wine
• This May Be The World’s Oldest Active Winery

NORTH AMERICAN REGIONAL WINE NEWS

• The story of wine in Washington State
• Minnesota’s wineries — 60 and counting — aging nicely
• Cheaper beer and wine in Texas?
• MD: Davidsonville’s Vineyard at Dodon building soil to grow business
• TN: City Winery Is Now Officially an Actual Winery

AG, GROWER & CELLAR NEWS

• Looking at Barrel Aging Practices With Nicolas Vivas

EUROPE & THE UK

• On this day 1693…invention of Champagne?
• UK: Enotria buys Coe Vintners
• English winery Giffords Hall aims to crowdfund major expansion drive
• Gosset and Frapin leave McKinley Vintners for Louis Latour Agencies

ASIA & PACIFIC RIM

• China Falls out of Top 5 Attractive Wine Markets List
• Wine joins whisky in Japan’s ‘Napa Valley’
• Why do we drink wines in China?

NOT JUST FOR THE TRADE

• Go Wine Tasting like a Pro
• Tasting notes: a silly game that could be fun

OLIVE OIL

• 2014 Olive Oil Production Woes Extend to France
• Olive oil dries up

CRAFT BEVERAGES: BEER, CIDER, WINE & SPIRITS

• 10 Cities Where Craft Beer Is Taking Off
• Build a Brewpub Loyalty Program
• When The Boston Beer Company Needs Non-Beer To Grow It’s Time To Exit
• Columbia Distributing Expands to California with Acquisition of Mesa Beverage
• Mature craft breweries pave the way for startup beer, spirits producers in SW Michigan
• Steven Soderbergh launches Bolivian spirit brand
• Three Cheers for Three-Tier And Your Craft Beer Distributor