NEWS FETCH — April 15, 2016

TOP NEWS

• After Southern-Glazers And Breakthru Megadeals, More Consolidation Expected
• Self-confessed “loan shark” buys big chunk of the world’s biggest wine auction houses
• North Coast grape acreage losing ground
• Constellation among Morgan Stanley’s 30 Stocks to Buy and Hold Until 2019
• Chinese market now bigger than US for Australian wine
• Lawsuit Challenges Metropolitan Water District’s Purchase of Delta Islands
• This is how Charter Oak Winery doubled its production without doubling its costs *Sponsored Link*

WINE SUPPLY

• Profit (and Mostly) Loss in South African Wine Production
• This is how you can get meaningful reporting and compliance information from your business data *Sponsored Link*

CALIFORNIA BRIEFS

• In sophisticated shell game, thieves hit Central Valley nut growers
• Napa’s Fish Friendly Farming bolsters vineyard certification to get Sonoma County OK
• Nipomo farmworker housing canceled after ‘suspicious’ fire
• Case Research Journal Announced for Global Wine Industry
• Inglenook Focuses on the Long-Term to Regain Its Glory
• Cult wine in the making: Grevino aims high
• Mary Traverso, member of well-known wine and food family, dies at 71
• Let’s get a new AVA for Alexander Valley’s east mountains
• USATT Interview with Bill Earle from the National Association of Beverage Importers (NABI)*Sponsored Link*

DROUGHT/WATER

• Why Some Farmers Get Little Water Despite Rain
• Odds of La Niña increase for next winter, bringing concerns the drought may drag on
• Bills advance on water markets, groundwater management
• Big data could influence water rates in drought regions
• Huffman, California Legislators Launch Investigation into Westlands Water District
• California drought caused plants to evolve in just seven years
• El Nino weakens, here comes La Nina

PUBLIC COMPANIES

• 5 Points Constellation Brands’ Management Wants to Emphasize
• Why Constellation Brands Is Upbeat about Fiscal 2017
• Penfolds full steam ahead in China as others fret over e-commerce wobble

FINANCE, M&A

• Venture funding for startups just suffered the biggest crash since the dot-com bust

DISTRIBUTORS

• Are You Really Ready To Pitch A Distributor: Here’s the Checklist *Sponsored Link*

INVESTING IN WINE, COLLECTING & AUCTIONS

• “Perfect” Haut Brion performance
• The 2015 Bordeaux Barrels Diary: Mr. Clean
• First growths maintain early gains
• Cristal ‘sparkles’ at Bonhams sale

HEALTH

• Should we be worried about sulphites in wine?

REGULATION & LEGAL MATTERS

• Wine Country Congressmen Introduce Bill to Reduce Wine Excise Taxes

DATA & TRENDS

• Even craft beer can’t hold a candle to the hypersonic annual growth of these New Zealand wine brands

WINE SELECTION AND RECOMMENDATION

• Why the Kroger wine proposal should terrify anyone who drinks wine
• Eight tips on buying wine in a French supermarket
• 1000 Points Of Algorithm Shine On Wine
• Another wine-rating system, this time based on 1,000 points
• Hamilton tickets, wine prices and validation
• Wine in the cruise industry

MARKETING & SALES

• 5 SMS Marketing Tips Designed to Juice Your Winery’s Sales
• 8 Common Ways Small Businesses Waste Money Marketing

TRADE SHOWS & CONFERENCES

• 10 Tips to Designing the Perfect Trade Advert *Sponsored Link*

SOCIAL MEDIA & TECH

• The rise of social signalling and what it means for marketers
• ‘It’s about scale’: How 5 brands are using Facebook Live

MEDIA MATTERS

• Why You Like the Wines You Like (Book review)
• Malbec & Maradona (book review)
• OZ: New Winetitles Media general manager
• The Wine Show: at last, wine on mainstream TV in the UK, but is it any good?

MATTERS OF TASTE

• Discovering texture through music
• Understanding The Magic Of Bud Break
• Mousiness: a primer
• Meet the French Red Wine That Germany Made Better
• Does Italy really produce finer wines than France?
• Is pinot noir the most satisfying grape?
• Wines From Dry to Sweet
• What is wine? – Wine Folly

WINE PLACES

• Why To Watch Emerging Wine Regions
• Prince Edward County: Canada’s unlikely wine capital
• Bella Vista Winery—a conversation in history and European wine
• Porto, Portugal: Where temptation will get the better of you

ACADEMIA

• Master’s Degree in International Wine Management Grooms Future Leaders of Global Wine Industry (HK)

ENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABILITY

• NOAA releases draft climate science action plan for the West Coast
• Fertilizer’s legacy: Taking a toll on land and water
• UK wine remains vulnerable to climate change
• Scottsdale’s LDV Winery focuses on building Ariz. wine’s bright future
• The wine estate that’s farmed with the help of 800 ducks who help to eliminate pests and fertilise the vines (SA)

AG, GROWER & CELLAR NEWS

• 2016 Pre-Bloom Disease Management Review
• Foothills Vineyards Guard Against Frost

EUROPE & THE UK

• UK: Online grocery sales forecast to hit £15b by 2020 proving a big opportunity for wine
• Biodynamic and organic wine sails into Britain
• UK: Thought Leadership: sparkling wine
• Wines from Spain: up close and personal
• Wines from Spain: spotlight on Navarra

LATIN AMERICA

• Why Chile is the perfect place for pinot
• How organic wine production changed a Chilean town

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

• After Southern-Glazers And Breakthru Megadeals, More Consolidation Expected
• U.S. craft distillery count now up to 1,825 (and counting)
• How Hard Soda Became Such a Hot Category
• In search of a treatment for osteoporosis from the tequila agave
• Dissecting the IPA

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