NEWS FETCH — May 11, 2016

TOP NEWS

• Profits rise for wineries using Direct-to-Consumer sales
• ABC7 airs controversy over glyphosate weed killer in California wine. No indication why original segment was pulled.
• Recycled Water Now an Option for Napa Vineyards
• Sicilian wine pioneer Giacomo Rallo dies
• Firefighters battle 150-acre fire near Paso Robles
• This is how Charter Oak Winery doubled its production without doubling its costs *Sponsored Link*

WINE SUPPLY

• Stats show 2016 vintage for Pacific Northwest vineyards off to record start
• Record Harvest & Growth for Prosecco DOC
• This is how you can get meaningful reporting and compliance information from your business data *Sponsored Link*

CALIFORNIA BRIEFS

• Farmworkers win court battle over access to California labor board’s proceedings
• Inaugural Lodi Vineyard / Wine Symposium Registration Opens
• Ben Mayo joins winemaking team at San Antonio Winery
• Sacramento council advances plan for drinking by beer bike riders
• What are US Importers and Distributors really looking for? Check out the latest USATT Conference panel session video *Sponsored Link*

DROUGHT/WATER

• In another sign the drought may be easing, MWD ends water limits
• California’s Groundwater Crisis
• CA Governor’s order expands water efficiency rules
• Farm groups seek flexibility in water quality program
• California Changes Course in Fighting Drought
• California braces for unending drought
• California considering change in drought rules for cities
• Powerful water board picking on little guy
• Water agencies and organizations react to Governor Brown’s Executive Order and the State Water Boards proposal for modifying the urban water conservation reg

PUBLIC COMPANIES

• How Majestic Wine joins up online and offline channels

FINANCE, M&A

• Smasne, Tudor buy former Olsen winery in Prosser, WA
• Good Company Wines Acquires Wine Club “Experience” Company to Target Millennial Wine Buying Segment

DISTRIBUTORS

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

INVESTING IN WINE, COLLECTING & AUCTIONS

• The value of being happy
• Bordeaux 2015: Wine Futures Prices and Analysis
• Latest Bordeaux Releases Offer Value
• “Ravishing” Alter Ego Palmer 2015 released
• La Lagune 2015 released – enough “sparkle”?
• Bordeaux 2015: pace of releases picks up

HEALTH

• What does ‘healthy’ mean? FDA might change its definition

REGULATION & LEGAL MATTERS

• Beer, wine sales bill gets initial OK in Colorado House

MARKETING & SALES

• 3 Signs It’s Time to Get Help With Your Digital Advertising

PACKAGING, LABELS & CORKS

• Eataly fined €50k for misleading ‘natural wine’ labels

TRADE SHOWS & CONFERENCES

• The USA gets a trade fair
• English wine comes of age at the ICCWS
• 10 Tips to Designing the Perfect Trade Advert *Sponsored Link*

SOCIAL MEDIA & TECH

• Instagram for Wineries, Breweries and Distilleries
• What to do when your wine business has a taste for technology.
• Is Facebook institutionally biased? And why it matters (not a jot)
• Influencers with the Most Followers Don’t Necessarily Get the Most Likes
• Is Twitter Dead? Not So Fast My Friends.
• Brands are slacking when it comes to Slack
• What advertisers think about Facebook’s alleged anti-conservative bias

MANAGEMENT & EMPLOYMENT

• 5 Employment Laws You Do Not Want to Break

MEDIA MATTERS

• Book Review: Shadows in the Vineyard by Maximillian Potter

MATTERS OF TASTE

• Palacios ‘has made Spain’s best white’

WINE PEOPLE

• Bob Madill, Sheldrake Point in the Finger Lakes
• The Grand Dames Of Champagne
• How Two Long-Lost Sisters Decided to Disrupt the Wine Business

WINE EDUCATION

• The Champagne Academy celebrates 60 years and unveils its 2016 course programme

WINE TOURISM

• OSF, wine the perfect pairing for expanding cultural tourism

NORTH AMERICAN REGIONAL WINE NEWS

• Overview of the 2015 Washington Wine Market
• Tracing Baja California’s evolution, one bottle of wine at a time
• Commercial Protectionism Toward Beverage Alcohol Makes For Dyspeptic Judges (Canada)

ENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABILITY

• Coffee bean shortage predicted due to climate change

EUROPE & THE UK

• Italy’s first 100 percent organic appellation? Italy’s natural wine pioneers see the fruits of their labor
• Hattingley’s Simon Robinson steps up to the helm of English Wine Producers
• Are Champagne houses right to invest in sparkling wines in England?
• Sparkling wine sales in Britain
• French winemaker threats secure Tour de France deal
• Russian market turns away from European wines
• Georgian food, wine gaining ground in US culinary scene
• The Definitive Guide to Burgundy
• UK: A cooperative approach to growth in Fairtrade wine communities

DOWN UNDER

• Wine Australia invests $8.5 million in 12 new projects
• South Australian wine industry confused by funding cut
• Big boost for South Australian wine sector
• OZ: Winery continues fight to scrap wine equalisation tax
• UK on-trade key to Aussie premium push

ASIA & PACIFIC RIM

• China wine consumption to grow 3X faster than the #2 national consumer
• The Chinese distributors’ dilemma

NOT JUST FOR THE TRADE

• Jefferson’s wine purchases digitized

OLIVE OIL

• Sensory Evaluation of Olive Oil Certificate Course by UC Davis

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

• Why Budweiser is the last beer that should call itself ‘America’
• Bread vs. Booze: The Surprising Fight Brewing Over Quality Grain
• Beer, wine sales bill gets initial OK in Colorado House
• What *Should* the Brewers Association Do to Address Gender and Race?

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