NEWS FETCH — February 5, 2016

TOP NEWS

• Restaurant industry slumps in 2015
• Diam hits back over ‘bitterness’ claim
• Sonoma County tourism agency sued over Super Bowl contract
• Recession in 2016, This Is How It Will Happen (NY Times)
• Legal Marijuana Sales Hit $5.4 Billion in 2015
• This former winery GM shows you how you can easily get meaningful reporting and compliance information from your business data *Sponsored Link*

WINE CRIME

• Wine investment sham London Vines leaves victims £1.6m poorer
• Berkeley’s Premier Cru paid its tech staffer in wine

WINE SUPPLY

• Northern Grapes Project Fuels A Market For Cold-Hardy Grapes
• Your ticket to the world of wine! Experience creations from 6,000 exhibitors at ProWein 2016 *Sponsored Link*

CALIFORNIA BRIEFS

• Good data (and good conclusions) on (not much) arsenic in CA wines
• Family Winemakers names Jon Ballesteros as President
• Sonoma County vineyard manager fined for landslide near Dry Creek
• Beckstoffer’s next quest — transform Lake County into wine country
• Sonoma County Vintners’ role examined after director’s departure
• Central Coast farmworkers demand existing protections be enforced
• Jerry Brown selects California’s first medical marijuana chief
• Drones Are Saving the California Wine Industry
• How to Hire Top-Selling Sommeliers and Drive Your Sales *Sponsored Link*

DROUGHT/WATER

• Water Planning in the Climate Change Era
• Water supply top 2016 issue for California Fresh Fruit Association

PUBLIC COMPANIES

• Majestic cuts prices across 500 single bottles
• Champagne helps to fuel LVMH 2015 sales rise

DISTRIBUTORS

• Rémy Cointreau Renews A Host Of U.S. Distribution Agreements
• Practical Information for wine reps on how to successfully grow sales network in US Market *Sponsored Link*

INVESTING IN WINE, COLLECTING & AUCTIONS

• Auction Napa Valley 2016 Tickets Now on Sale
• Bordeaux ’06: ‘More Kilimanjaro than Everest’
• Liv-Ex Fine Wine 50 Index Rises for Second Straight Month

HEALTH

• Pillocks! Helen Mirren sums up drunk drivers

MORE IN THE CONTINUING NANNY WAR AGAINST WOMEN

• If women are told to fear alcohol, they must also be told they have a choice
  
• CDC to women: Have sex or wine. Not both

THE PLURAL OF ANECDOTE IS NOT “DATA”

• Red wine secret to long life says 107-year-old

REGULATION & LEGAL MATTERS

• “Masquerade” Wine Trademark Refused, Too Similar to “Mascarade” Mark on Mixed Drinks
• Prosecco DOC Launches dot-WINE & dot-VIN Domain Names
• Protecting the Champagne name in China

TEMPEST IN A T (HC) POT

• PTO Doesn’t Buy That THC Stands for Tea Honey Care

DATA & TRENDS

• Wine: a handful of the biggest brands eat most of the market pie while thousands of the rest eat what’s left.

WINE SELECTION AND RECOMMENDATION

• How (& Why) To Avoid the Second Cheapest Bottle of Wine
• How to Buy Great Wine on a Budget

MARKETING & SALES

• Peppery aspects of Shiraz could open doors to export markets
• ProWein 2016 – Specialist Article: Country Focus Canada
• Spanish wines ‘lack identity’ in Asia
• Casella Family branches out into beer

TRADE SHOWS & CONFERENCES

• Unified: Wine’s Least-Glamorous, Most-Practical, Can’t-Miss Party
• Diverse Ancillary Program At ProWein 2016
• ASVO announces new wine show best practice recommendations
• Preparation well underway for the World Ag Expo
• Wine Importers and Distributors, meet the world in NYC and source your next brand at USATT. Get your trade Pass Now and Avoid Gate Fee. *Sponsored Link*

SOCIAL MEDIA & TECH

• The 3.57 degrees (not 6) – of Kevin Bacon
• Super computer brews beer that ‘tastes of joy’
• How Long Does it Take to Completely Incorporate New Technologies into Marketing Efforts?
• Why Don’t Consumers Buy More via Mobile?

MEDIA MATTERS

• Ron Irvine’s ‘Wine Project’ tells story of Washington wine
• A new book for your friends and family (by Jancis Robinson)
• Review: ‘Somm: Into the Bottle’ Squanders the Wonderful Story of Wine

MATTERS OF TASTE

• The 1855 Bordeaux Classification; complete nonsense, sorry Jancis.
• DRC’s 2013 Wines Strike a Great Balance
• Chardonnay is ‘the white truffle’ of Champagne
• Eccentric But Delicious Wine Pairings

WINE PEOPLE

• Michael Mondavi on painful lessons from his famous father
• Max Toso, Huarpe Wines, Mendoza
• Michael Palij of Hong Kong importer Vino Veritas
• Pietro Arditi of Azienda Cantine Valpane
• Interview With The Only Master Sommelier in Arizona

WINE PLACES

• Wine Enthusiast Magazine Lists Las Vegas Among Best Wine Destinations.

WINE EDUCATION

• Grad Students Battle for Left Bank Bordeaux Cup

WINE TOURISM

• Around the World in 80 Harvests: where would you go?

ENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABILITY

• Climate science to be gutted as CSIRO swings jobs axe
• Big companies driving the sustainability agenda

AG, GROWER & CELLAR NEWS

• Introducing Concrete NuBarrel’s

SOUTH AFRICA

• South African wines could be smoked out by fire and lack of rain‘

OLIVE OIL

• Interview with Toshiya Tada, Chairman of the Olive Oil Sommelier Association of JAPAN
• Science Justifies Eating Fried Food (but in olive oil)
• Olive Oil Fraud: What’s Really in the Bottle in Your Kitchen?
• How 2015 olive oil prices in Europe could direct strategy in 2016
• The Amazing Science of Olive Oil
• Gang nabbed over ten tonne olive heist in southern Spain

CRAFT BEVERAGES: BEER, CIDER, WINE & SPIRITS – A Sampling of Today’s Headlines

• Craft Brew Alliance 2015 revenues up on flat volume shipments
• Yellow Tail wine Family branches out into beer
• Building a successful global beer brand
• Super computer brews beer that ‘tastes of joy
• Pliny the Younger is here: What you need to know about craft beer’s most famous brew
• The history of Pliny the Younger

Get the rest of today’s craft news at Craft Beverage Insights