NEWS FETCH — May 19, 2016

TOP NEWS

• San Luis Obispo County wine industry adds $1.43 billion in economic benefit
• Fire-suppressing foam’s toxic PFCs detected in California groundwater
• Border Protection Intercepts New Leafhopper In Wine Shipment
• Whitman Cellars Sells, Again (WA)
• Napa and Sonoma County Real Estate: market elements, vineyard values, and wine grape prices
• This is how Charter Oak Winery doubled its production without doubling its costs *Sponsored Link*

WINE SUPPLY

• Heavy rain affecting wine production in the Valley (VA)
• Burgundy still evaluating frost damage
• This is how you can get meaningful reporting and compliance information from your business data *Sponsored Link*

CALIFORNIA BRIEFS

• Opus One wins expansion approval
• Sonoma County, the Past and Future
• San Francisco restaurants with free (or somewhat free) corkage
• 17 tourists rescued after hot air balloon ride over Napa Valley’s wine country turns sour
• Deadline to reserve USA Trade Tasting Exhibitor space with super early bird pricing is 31 May, 2016. Reserve your spot with 25% down and save $900. *Sponsored Link*

DROUGHT/WATER

• The drought fight just got very complicated
• Delta island owner may face largest fine ever by the State Water Board
• CA easing water conservation targets
• How Saving Salmon Could Help Ease the Next Drought
• California water bill: Here’s why it’s so hard to pass
• Feinstein gets green light to proceed on contentious water bill
• State Water Board Adopts ‘Stress Test’ Approach to Water Conservation Regulation
• El Nino and Beyond: A look at water operations in the year ahead
• Federal funds to address agricultural watershed issues

DIRECT SHIPPING & PRIVATIZATION

• Track Your Package Delivery In Real Time

PUBLIC COMPANIES

• Ex-Barcardi chief to become Diageo chairman
• Naked Wines: Help craft the wine of your dreams

FINANCE, M&A

• On winery consolidation

DISTRIBUTORS

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

INVESTING IN WINE, COLLECTING & AUCTIONS

• Pontet Canet 2015: holding back
• Duhart Milon 2015 follows the day’s releases
• Climens 2015 released – “destined to be great”
• Lascombes 2015 joins today’s releases
• “Outstanding” Leoville Barton 2015 released
• Branaire Ducru 2015 – resting at the top

HEALTH

• Changes in alcohol and effects on risk of breast cancer and heart disease
• Deep-Fried Twinkies May Not Be So Bad, but Fish and Red Wine Are Much Better

REGULATION & LEGAL MATTERS

• Wine growlers? NY Gov wants to make it happen
• Where teenagers can legally drink in the U.S. (yes, really)

DATA & TRENDS

• Millennials are driving wine sales but are in the dark when it comes to actual knowledge about wine

MARKETING & SALES

• Duty free wine and spirits suffer 2.7% decline
• Why Aren’t More People Responding to Your Emails?
• The History Of Duty Free Alcohol Shopping

PACKAGING, LABELS & CORKS

• Giant wine ‘udders’ for Loire festival
• Boxed Wine Aims For The Next Level
• Plonk served in a ‘bagnum’ favoured in the Seventies makes a 21st-century comeback
• Krug plans next move to ‘kill the flute’

TRADE SHOWS & CONFERENCES

• London Wine Fair: Visitors numbers fall by 2%
• 10 Tips to Designing the Perfect Trade Advert *Sponsored Link*

SOCIAL MEDIA & TECH

• Google says it won’t kill Hangouts — even though it just released a competing app
• Social Intelligence Is Changing Market Research

PAYMENTS

• Fitbit is buying Coin so it can make a fitness tracker that pays for things

MANAGEMENT & EMPLOYMENT

• Big Changes Ahead: Minimum Salary for Exempt Employees Must Be $47,476 By December 1, 2016
• UFW Files First Notice of Intent to Take Access

MEDIA MATTERS

• Paid Content Over six in ten Americans say they are comfortable with companies paying to publish articles that look like news as long as there’s a disclaimer
• Reviewing Alice Feiring’s new book on Georgian wines

MATTERS OF TASTE

• DIY wine: From backyard to bottle with Fred Carbone
• Elevation raises quality of northern Italian wines

WINE PEOPLE

• Gosset cellarmaster Jean-Pierre Mareigner dies
• Virginia Tastemaker: Jim Law, Linden Vineyards
• Camerata’s David Keck now a Master Sommelier

NORTH AMERICAN REGIONAL WINE NEWS

• BC wine makers feel sour about Kamloops Council decision
• Minnesota Has New Cold-Hardy, Lower-Acidity Grape

ENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABILITY

• Better Than Organic: Sustainability and Wine

EUROPE & THE UK

• EU Delays Vote on Re-Approving Glyphosate Amid Health Worry
• The Barolo Wine Wars Have Begun

DOWN UNDER

• OZ: Grampians wine growers to benefit from Wine Equalisation Tax rebate
• OZ: Holistic farming the way to winery’s sustainability

ASIA & PACIFIC RIM

• Decoding wine auctions in Greater China

SOUTH AFRICA

• Why is Fairtrade not sexy in South Africa?

NOT JUST FOR THE TRADE

• A Dutch design company invented an underground fridge that requires no electricity

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

• What does the Ohio beer-alcohol legislation mean to brewers?
• From Brews to Booze: Turning Craft Beer Into Whiskey
• Budweiser’s ‘America’: How iconic design allowed for an innovative name change
• Breaking down the potential impact of San Francisco’s warning labels on sugary beverage ads
• Craft Beer Distribution Contracts: Myths & Mistakes

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