NEWS FETCH — February 24, 2016

TOP NEWS

• Lessons of 1986 floods continue to confound Calif water management
• Is your wine aging well, or just getting tired?
• U.S. Economic Confidence Index Remains Level at -11
• Napa Valley Growers Enlist Top Researchers To Tackle Pierce’s Disease, Powdery Mildew & Trunk Diseases
• California water politics could get choppier with new House bill
• This former winery GM shows you how you can easily get meaningful reporting and compliance information from your business data *Sponsored Link*

WINE SUPPLY

• OZ: Grape prices play catch-up
• Your ticket to the world of wine! Experience creations from 6,000 exhibitors at ProWein 2016 *Sponsored Link*

CALIFORNIA BRIEFS

• TTB Establishes the “Lamorinda” Viticultural Area
• Few ballots cast on proposed Paso Robles water district

DROUGHT/WATER

• Senator Wolk presses for immediate aquifer protection; Rep Garamendi to introduce drought legislation in House
• Four Horsemen of the Treepocalypse ravage the Sierra

WINE CRIME

• Arrest as wine stolen from Parliament

DIRECT SHIPPING & PRIVATIZATION

• How to Hire Top-Selling Sommeliers and Drive Your Sales *Sponsored Link*

FINANCE, M&A

• London Stock Exchange singles out Chapel Down in annual SME report

DISTRIBUTORS

• Practical Information for wine reps on how to successfully grow sales network in US Market *Sponsored Link*

INVESTING IN WINE, COLLECTING & AUCTIONS

• Liv-ex, Price ratio: DRC against Bordeaux First Growths
• Microchip labels protect against counterfeit wine
• iDealwine update: La Tâche
• HDH hails ‘blockbuster’ sale
• HK’s Whisky Fund announces valuation results
• Finding space in the trophy cabinet

MARKETING & SALES

• Cultivating the perfect tasting room experience
• NakedWines.com crowdfunds Keith Hock
• Package store owners: We are fighting for our lives

TRADE SHOWS & CONFERENCES

• Vinitaly International Academy Returns to Canada
• 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

• Content, schmontent and impact
• Social Listening Can Help Brands Derive Actionable Insights
• For Influencer Marketing, Instagram Is the Place to Be

MANAGEMENT & EMPLOYMENT

• OZ: Volunteer grape pickers a corker of an idea (probably illegal in the US)
  

MEDIA MATTERS

• How bloggers provide a link between industry and consumers
• Jay McInerney on wine writing
• Wine? Get over it with wine writer Jonathon Alsop

YOU’RE

• The 11 Mistakes Your Making At A Winery Tasting Room

MATTERS OF TASTE

• Organic wines actually taste better, a new study says
• Pinot noir in a cabernet world
• The Flying Column: Asian wines have arrived
• For a Fine Wine, Hit the Hotel Minibar

WINE PEOPLE

• Terry Xu: wines as a social ‘name card’
• Q&A: Louis Michel Liger-Belair
• Establishing Deep Roots – Q&A with Vineyard Manager David Maduena

WINE PLACES

• A step change in leadership at the helm of McWilliam’s Wines
• New order for an old winery
• Idaho wine industry welcomes new plantings
• Abadia Retuerta’s opulence in a bottle

TASTELESS (WRETCHED EXCESS NOT RESTRICTED TO WINE)

• Silent Pool Gin creates world’s largest and most expensive gin bottle

ENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABILITY

• ‘Tech teams’ evaluate beehives for resilience

AG, GROWER & CELLAR NEWS

• Grapevine Cold Hardiness
• USDA: $58.25 Million Allocated To Protect Against Spread Of Invasive Pests And Diseases

EUROPE & THE UK

• Exclusive: UK drinks trade backs the EU

DOWN UNDER

• 15,000 ‘fight for right to party’ in Sydney

NOT JUST FOR THE TRADE

• 14 of your most embarrassing questions about wine — answered with science

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

• Dos Volcanes flows into the Sacramento spirits scene
• Budweiser Budvar appeals to consumer curiosity with new Kräusened lager

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