NEWS FETCH — March 20, 2016

TOP NEWS

• Calif ag worker wages & benefits climb but farms find few takers.
• Calif Ponders New Rules on Alcohol Delivery Services
• Champagne producers blame Brexit for 2016 sales decline
• Theresa May to trigger Brexit process next Wednesday
• Fine wine overtakes classic cars as number one investment of passion
• Repair costs for the troubled Oroville Dam will run much higher than $200 million, official says
• 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*

WINE SUPPLY & CONSUMPTION

• With warmer weather, Napa vineyards are springing to life
• Wine yields doubled in parts of Western Australia, but rain takes shine off the 2016 vintage
• Slight fall in Australia’s Champagne imports
• Australian wine exports: Key market snapshots
• OZ: Vineyards warned to be vigilant this vintage
• Sulphur-free wine growing 500 per cent in a year
• ‘South West’ now fastest growing French region for red wine exports to the UK

CALIFORNIA BRIEFS

• California growers will move mountains in flood recovery efforts
• More immigration judges are sent to California and other states amid Trump deportation crackdown
• Parrish Family Vineyards Donates, Restores Property
• Winery group plans to rebuild old Joliet brewery
• 2017 Garagiste Winemakers Tasting: April 1, Solvang, CA
• Napa church considers offering sanctuary to undocumented immigrants
• Charter Oak Winery doubled its production without doubling its costs. You can too. Click to learn how. *Sponsored Link*

DROUGHT/WATER

• Break in storms comes to end; Northern California closes in on record wet season
• Oroville dam operators send more water down wrecked spillway
• Water conservation messaging effectiveness during California’s ongoing drought
• Post-drought groundwater in California: Like the economy after a deep “recession,” recovery will be slow
• What Drives Imports and Exports of Bulk Wine *Sponsored Link*

CONSUMER SALES: DTC, ON- & OFF-PREMISE

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PUBLIC COMPANIES

• Costco’s South Australian booze battle continues

INTERNATIONAL TRADE

• China’s trading partners alarmed by food import controls

DISTRIBUTORS

• Southern appoints Redell Sr    VP & MD for Campari America

INVESTING IN WINE, COLLECTING & AUCTIONS

• Talking Trade: Bordeaux and Burgundy focus

TAKING THE HIGH ROADS

• Marijuana Industry Presses Ahead in California’s Wine Country

REAL ESTATE

• Sale pending on $10 million winery in the Texas Hill Country

HEALTH

• Why Does Wine Give You A Headache?

REGULATION & LEGAL MATTERS

• Utah hospitality industry urges veto of .05 DUI-limit bill
• Montana: Bid launched to raise taxes on beer, wine and spirits

WINE SELECTION AND RECOMMENDATION

• Ignore the Snobs, Drink the Cheap, Delicious Wine
• Why Costco’s Kirkland liquors have become a cult favorite
• Wine criticism and conflicts of interest
• Natural Wine — Late To the Party
• How to order wine for the table

MARKETING & SALES

• The Current State of International Wine Marketing

TRADE SHOWS & CONFERENCES

• Vinous wine critic Antonio Galloni to keynote Wine Industry Conference in April

SOCIAL MEDIA & TECH

• Use These YouTube Strategies To Achieve Brand Awesomeness

PAYMENTS

• Bitcoin just crashed 20% as the developers fight over its future
• Only 802 people declared bitcoin earnings to IRS in 2015, fueling Coinbase legal spat

MANAGEMENT & EMPLOYMENT

• New Legislation Aims To Limit Employment Law Plaintiffs’ Attorneys

MATTERS OF TASTE

• Behind the Romance of French Wine
• Grapes You Don’t Know But Should: Verdicchio
• The Secret Life of a Gateway Wine – Coming of Age in a Life of Wine
• Listing wine ingredients would ‘raise quality’, critic argues
• Why You Can Expect More White Wines From Rioja

WINE PEOPLE

• Anthony Lynch The Next Generation at Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant
• Wine Director Randall Restiano (podcast)

WINE TOURISM

• What Makes an Outstanding Guest Experience? Barbara Talbott speaks at WiVi Central Coast

FOOD & RESTAURANTS

• The food delivery robots are coming! The food delivery robots are coming!
• What can 3 restaurant pros teach you about the secrets of great service?

NORTH AMERICAN REGIONAL WINE NEWS

• NY: Will effects of the 2016 drought carry over into 2017?
• NY: Lake Erie Growers Work with Researchers to Develop Technology for the Grape Industry
• Minnesota: Wine grape industry expanding in region
• Tennessee grocery stores say wine sales a success
• A Mexican wave of wine

AG, GROWER & CELLAR NEWS

• Adopting Under-Vine Cover Crops in Vinifera Vineyards (PDF)
• How Sensors, Robotics And Artificial Intelligence Will Transform Agriculture
• Microbial Fingerprints Leave Their Mark on Winery and Vineyard Sites

EUROPE & THE UK

• Moldova PM moves to dismiss minister detained in land scam

DOWN UNDER

• Laser trialled to frighten birds from Adelaide Hills vineyard
• OZ: Barossa family-owned farm mixing grapes with milk a point of difference in wine region

LATIN AMERICA

• Brazilian wineries look more to China

AROUND THE GLOBE

• Pakistan: Supreme Court suspends SHC ruling on wine sellers

CRAFT BEVERAGES: BEER, CIDER, WINE & SPIRITS

• UK tops list for craft breweries per capita
• This popular brewery is making beer with treated sewage water