NEWS FETCH — March 30, 2016

TOP NEWS

• Napa is missing a prominent sommelier (and his business partner, defunct wine brand and failed shipping service)
• Constant evolution keeps Calif. wine industry on its toes
• Billionaire Koch Brother Will Sell 20,000 Bottles of Wine
• U.S. Economic Confidence Index Dips to -13
• This is how Charter Oak Winery doubled its production without doubling its costs *Sponsored Link*

WINE SUPPLY

• Warm Weather Awakens California Vineyards
• This is how you can get meaningful reporting and compliance information from your business data *Sponsored Link*

CALIFORNIA BRIEFS

• CABs of Distinction event to discuss wine grape clones
• Mayacamas is Going to Be Fine. Really.
• Wine Country: gated communities?

DROUGHT/WATER

• State snowpack has changed a lot in the last year — as have Californians’ attitude toward water
• Smelt population ‘alarmingly low’: pumping cut
• Citing confusion and cost, farm water managers urge rewrite of new groundwater regulations
• State Water Board suspends upcoming Cal WaterFix deadlines
• Pending Delta decisions and their potential economic and other impacts on San Francisco and the Bay Area, part 1
• Water Managers Urge Rewrite of Groundwater Rules

PUBLIC COMPANIES

• Chile’s Concha y Toro net profit up 15.7 pct in 2015

DISTRIBUTORS

• Five Things Distributors Look for in New Suppliers

INVESTING IN WINE, COLLECTING & AUCTIONS

• Can An Internet Marketplace Revolutionize The Auction Business?
• Fine wine merchants predict further gains in 2016
• Bordeaux 2015 ‘a great opportunity’
• What’s happened to Wally’s Auctions?
• The 2015 Bordeaux Barrels Diary: Cos of the Terroir

REGULATION & LEGAL MATTERS

• How Do You Buy Wine If Your Name is Steven Diamond?
• A Tale Of Two Alcohol Laws: New Orleans and Oklahoma City
• Why didn’t prohibition work?

WINE SELECTION AND RECOMMENDATION

• Creating the perfect online wine descriptions

MARKETING & SALES

• Why Email Marketing Part II?
• Most Small-Business Owners Buy These 5 Digital Marketing Myths

CUSTOMER RELATIONS

• Internet users will really hate on you if voice/phone is your only customer service channel
• 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

• Marketers Now Convinced Social Drives ROI
• 73% of ‘millennials’ prefer to contact brands via email
• How You Can Take Advantage of Twitter’s New ‘Customer Feedback’ Tool
• Instagram’s New Algorithm Means the Free Ride May Be Over for Brands
• ‘The right amount of craic’: Inside Jameson’s social strategy
• Snapchat updates its privacy policy to allow for customized ads
• Instagram now lets you share 60-second videos

MATTERS OF TASTE

• Dr. Harry Oldman on Andy Warhol Wines
• A quick lesson on cognac
• 1WineDude’s March 2016 Wine Product Roundup

WINE PEOPLE

• River Road’s Joe Freeman is the ultimate experimenter
• A Talk with Christine Vernay of Domaine Georges Vernay
• ‘Master Sommelier’ Dustin Wilson helps take mystery out of wine tasting
• Author Jay McInerney (podcast)

WINE PLACES

• Mapping the River Road Wine Trail

ENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABILITY

• Climate Change Is Bad News For Many Famous Wine Regions, But For Others It Could Mean Success

AG, GROWER & CELLAR NEWS

• Grape sprayer uses static electricity to increase coverage

EUROPE & THE UK

• Italian senator proposes mandatory instruction of wine culture in public schools
• UK: Supermarket Champagne deals ‘suicidal’
• UK: Piggy in the middle

DOWN UNDER

• OZ: Big bag in a box a winner for Accolade Wines as CHAMP mulls exit
• Winemakers’ Federation of Australia respond to health lobby tax bid
• A controversial generation of SA winemakers have been thrown into the international spotlight

ASIA & PACIFIC RIM

• China’s Largest Wine Maker Targets Chile Amid International Push
• Changing the perception of domestic wines among Chinese consumers

AROUND THE GLOBE

• Russian Demand for Budget “Wine Drink” Surges Amid Financial Crisis

NOT JUST FOR THE TRADE

• 52 Reasons You Need To Drink Wine As The Parent Of A Toddler
• Yecup 365 smart mug can heat or cool drinks on the go

CRAFT BEVERAGES: BEER, CIDER, WINE & SPIRITS – Including the following top headlines:

• American Craft Beer Exports Top $116 Million
• Craft Beer Guild Opts To Pay $2.6 Million Fine For Pay-To-Play Violations
• Private Equity In The Craft Beer Market Spells Upheaval Within A Decade
• Europeans drank more American beer last year than ever
• The Transition in US Nonalcoholic Beverage Choices

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