NEWS FETCH — April 6, 2016

TOP NEWS

• Constellation Buys The Prisoner Wine Company for $285 Million
• USDA Announces $90 Million-Plus To Support Local Food, Specialty Crop Producers
• Louis Latour Dies at 83
• Barbara Richards, Cofounder of Napa’s Paloma Vineyards, Dies at 83
• U.S. Economic Confidence Index Edges Up to -10 in March
• This is how Charter Oak Winery doubled its production without doubling its costs *Sponsored Link*

CALIFORNIA BRIEFS

• California: More Drought, Weather Extremes on Tap
• Barefoot Cellars’ winemaker listens to consumers
• What’s so special about Monterey Wine Country?
• Celia Welch to share her experiences with barrel problems at oak conference April 27 in St. Helena
• USA Trade Tasting 2016 Toasts to Overwhelming Success *Sponsored Link*

DROUGHT/WATER

• Californians miss Governor Brown’s conservation target by 1%
• Central Valley Project water supplies to remain constricted
• Small Irrigation Pond Registration Program Bill Advances
• Drought still grips Southern California, putting pressure on state water supplies
• Irrigation water on the way for Merced County farmers
• Delta Watermaster reports to the Delta Protection Commission on the consumptive use study and the voluntary diversion reduction program
• Why Delta Wetlands: An investment in security
• Twin tunnels threaten San Francisco Bay
• More legal woes for Oakdale Irrigation District
• This is how you can get meaningful reporting and compliance information from your business data *Sponsored Link*

RECYCLED WASTEWATER

• Wastewater Becomes a Resource in Silicon Valley

DIRECT SHIPPING & PRIVATIZATION

• First Reporting Period for South Dakota Direct Shipper’s Fast Approaching

PUBLIC COMPANIES

• Constellation Explores IPO for Part of Canadian Wine Business
• Constellation Brands sales rise 13.8 pct
• Constellation Brands Reports Fiscal 2016 Results and Fiscal 2017 Outlook
• How Has Altria’s Shipment Volume, By Brand, Changed Over The Past 3 Years?

FINANCE, M&A

• How to make money out of making wine

DISTRIBUTORS

• How to support your brand and help your distributor *Sponsored Link*

INVESTING IN WINE, COLLECTING & AUCTIONS

• Bordeaux vs Burgundy: Bordeaux is The Better Bargain
• The secular and the cyclical
• Sotheby’s and Christie’s announce April sales
• US$5m haul for HDH Burgundy sale

BORDEAUX 2015

• The 2015 Bordeaux Barrels Diary: Never Second Best
• Bordeaux 2015: Rolland on the rampage
• Bordeaux 2015 right bank: A ‘seductive’ vintage – first impression
• Anson on Bordeaux 2015 Graves and Pessac Léognan – first impression
• Bordeaux 2015: first impressions

HEALTH

• Resveratrol found to reduce the risk of heart disease

REGULATION & LEGAL MATTERS

• Wisconsin village ends longstanding ban on alcohol sales

WINE SELECTION AND RECOMMENDATION

• Want a 100? Develop your own wine rating system
• 9 Tricks To Find A Good, Cheap Bottle Of Wine
• 7 ways to make your BYOB wine experience better
• Does Expensive Wine Taste Better Than Inexpensive Wine?

MARKETING & SALES

• Gendered Wine Marketing Is Still All Too Real
• Looking ahead to 2016 at WineDirect
• A Better Understanding of Consumer Psychology Will Earn You More Online Conversions

PACKAGING, LABELS & CORKS

• No Bling-Bling for Heidsieck’s Bubbles

TRADE SHOWS & CONFERENCES

• Virginia wine summit draws experts from across country
• What distributors expect from a supplier visit *Sponsored Link*

SOCIAL MEDIA & TECH

• Growing a wine business with Facebook
• 24 slightly depressing stats on the ‘fall’ of Twitter
• Are Social Marketers Focused On The Wrong Metrics?

MANAGEMENT & EMPLOYMENT

• Higher wage costs bring implications for rural economy

MATTERS OF TASTE

• Is Chenin Blanc the Great Forgotten Grape?
• The rise of vintage champagne
• The ups and downs of zinfandel
• The Negroamaro microaggression
• Understanding alcohol, acid and sugar in wine
• Finding Happiness In Wine Country—Two True Tales

WINE PEOPLE

• The late Jim Harrison’s life and writing teach as much about wine as anything can
• Winemaker Nalle lauds the Euro model
• A conversation with Press Club’s Aram Roubanian
• Meet The Unlikely Vintner Behind The Hit Wine, Josh
• Clare Burder: Ideas are nothing without action
• Kelly Urbanik Koch from Macari Vineyards
• UW grad Anne Hubatch, now an Oregon winemaker, returns with pinot in tow
• West Coast Somms-Turned-Winemakers
• Neil the Mensch

WINE EDUCATION

• 5 Study Tips To Help You Pass The French Wine Scholar Exam

NORTH AMERICAN REGIONAL WINE NEWS

• NY Wine & Grape Foundation names new director
• First look at Kroger wine program (TN)
• John Oliver pokes fun at Long Island wine

AG, GROWER & CELLAR NEWS

• Winemaking Robot, Genesis, Has New Kinfolk In The Vineyard
• GOfermentor® Announces Trial Results for it’s New Wine Making Technology

EUROPE & THE UK

• A wine region where the population is at times a little confused
• Growing Ribera del Duero

DOWN UNDER

• OZ: Brown Brothers acquires Innocent Bystander
• Australians’ drinking habits distilled into 100 glasses

ASIA & PACIFIC RIM

• China brand 1421 expands wine range to Australia, Chile and beyond

LATIN AMERICA

• Argentina must push ‘more than Malbec’ message

SOUTH AFRICA

• Competition aims to boost sales of South African wines in the on-trade
• Iconic South African wine brand needed

AROUND THE GLOBE

• Drowning out Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions with Israeli Wine

NOT JUST FOR THE TRADE

• Why you don’t need to spend money on a fancy wine opener
• Astrological Signs With Astrological Wines

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

• Brewers Association Lists Top 50 Breweries of 2015
• 10 percent of the largest U.S. craft breweries are in Colorado
• The Fight for Transparency in Scotch Whisky
• Craft teaching big brewers how to market beer

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