NEWS FETCH — March 7, 2016

TOP NEWS

• Italian wine exports to the US at an all-time high as sales top €1.8 bn
• Wine Distribution Alternatives Won’t Produce Tears For The Three Tier System
• Fewer distributors in US handling increasing number of wineries
• US Consumers’ February Spending Highest Since 2008
• US Economic Confidence Index at Record High of +16
• 3,000 acres in Washington’s Horse Heaven Hills AVA! Long-term lease. Organic possible. Bids due April 6. Click this link or Contact Rick at Washington State Department of Natural Resources. *Sponsored Link*

WINE SUPPLY & CONSUMPTION

• Republic of Georgia exports over 8m bottles of wine to 32 countries
• Winemakers: instantly access key wine & cellar data from anywhere to make key decisions & manage your staff better. Click now to download vintrace’s time-saving app! *Sponsored Link*

CALIFORNIA BRIEFS

• New Sonoma County custom winery aims for consumer contact
• Leading Economists, Authors and Strategists Gather For Ahead of The Curve 2017 To Examine The Napa Brand
• Paso Robles: January set the table for a wet winter. February brought us home.
• Charter Oak Winery doubled its production without doubling its costs. You can too. Click to learn how. *Sponsored Link*

DROUGHT/WATER

• Our wild, wet winter doesn’t change this reality — California will be short of water forever
• California Almond Growers Look to Increase Water Savings
• What Drives Imports and Exports of Bulk Wine *Sponsored Link*

CONSUMER SALES: DTC, ON- & OFF-PREMISE

• Don’t just list your wines online, sell them! This successful vintner shows you what works and what doesn’t. Click now. *Sponsored Link*

FINANCE, INVESTMENT, M&A

• The Legacy Companies Completes Acquisition of Vinturi

INVESTING IN WINE, COLLECTING & AUCTIONS

• Fine wine merchants bullish in 2017
• Novel research demonstrates financial benefit for distributors who invest in wine futures
• Acker Merrall and the Tastingbook.com Launch the World’s Easiest to Use, Largest Web Based Wine Appraisal Service

DATA & TRENDS

• Wine Market Council and Nielsen Explore Industry Trends

TAKING THE HIGH ROADS

• Santa Rosa to weigh cannabis tax

HEALTH

• Drinking wine could be secret to happy marriage
• Can Red Wine Help Ward Off Dementia?
• Reviving resveratrol

REGULATION & LEGAL MATTERS

• How I didn’t get sued (yet): the bitter tale of ArKay alcohol-free whiskey

WINE SELECTION AND RECOMMENDATION

• Want to Pick Better Bottles? Repeat After Me: Wine Is Food
• Wine with meal delivery kits: Get on board if you want more Millennials & GenX

MARKETING & SALES

• More Yellow Tail TV Ads to Come
• Your brand is unique. Does anyone care?

TRADE SHOWS & CONFERENCES

• Brewer Touts Innovation to Winemakers at IQ Conference

SOCIAL MEDIA & TECH

• What brands need to know about Facebook’s bot update

MEDIA MATTERS

• Eight Flavors of American Wine? Reflections on Sarah Lohman’s New Book

MATTERS OF TASTE

• Know Your Components: Thiols, a Complicated Compound
• BDX: Falling in Love again? Part 3 – New Bordeaux, Money, Secrets and Michel Rolland
• Can you mix wine and politics?

WINE PEOPLE

• Talking Women in the Wine Industry
• Uncorked: Paco Galdeano

WINE EDUCATION

• Four new Masters of Wine announced

AG, GROWER & CELLAR NEWS

• More Growers Willing to Bet on Biocontrols
• Following the timing of vine nitrogen absorption
• Snappy app Vine Water Stress to advance wine grape growers’ yields

EUROPE & THE UK

• The SWA issues final call for cut in duty
• UK: Grocery market share for discounters hits record 12%
• Silver linings in Ireland’s minimum unit pricing
• The ’90s a ‘dark decade’ for German wine

ASIA & PACIFIC RIM

• How Hong Kong drinkers are turning to premium wines, halfway between simple and super-expensive bottles

NOT JUST FOR THE TRADE

• Researchers are turning leftover grape skins from winemaking into novel, 3-D-printed objects.

CRAFT BEVERAGES: BEER, CIDER, WINE & SPIRITS

• Why Is Liquor Called ‘Spirits’?