NEWS FETCH — May 4, 2018

• Prominent Napa vintner & renowned wine, beverage & food investor Leslie Rudd has died.
• Leslie Rudd’s key investments included Vintage Wine Estates, Rudd Oakville Estate Winery, Standard Beverages, Oakville Grocery. Former Dean & DeLuca owner
• Gallo Acquires Rancho Real Vineyard: Company Buying Vineyard in Santa Barbara County
• Seven chateaux and counting: Chinese billionaire is big in Bordeaux
• Gen Z: The oldest members of America’s largest demographic are now 21
• Here’s how to avoid costly mistakes by managing your barrel inventory with bar codes – Click now to learn how. *Sponsored Link*

ICYMI (IN CASE YOU MISSED IT)

• Online Wine Sales Skyrocket in US
• Drinks.Com sues WineDirect alleging substandard shipping service; WD countersues
• Submissions now open for 2018 USA Wine Ratings: Where wines are judged by Quality, Value and Package *Sponsored Link*

WINE SUPPLY & CONSUMPTION

• Bud Break Occurring Across Northwest
• South Africa: Cape drought to cut wine grape harvest by 30%
• Azerbaijan eager to increase wine exports
• Rain and rain and rain in Bordeaux causes problems
• Distell, South Africa: Smaller 2018 Wine Grape Harvest Delivers Promising Quality

CALIFORNIA BRIEFS

• The Last Word On The Fate of Napa Valley Agriculture and Politics
• Corey Beck reflects after being named CEO for Francis Ford Coppola Winery
• The Garagiste Festival heads to Sonoma
• This Year’s IBWSS San Francisco Theme Is “Bulk Up Your Bottom Line” *Sponsored Link*

TAKING THE HIGH ROADS

• Ontario awards $300,000 research grant to help develop the world’s first beer brewed from cannabis
• Tapping the Booze Business
• Cannabis Drinks Expo Launched By Beverage Trade Network will bring the global Cannabis drinks industry into one roof. Get more information here. *Sponsored Link*

AMAZON

• Walmart Beats Amazon in $15 Billion Flipkart Battle
• Jeff Bezos doesn’t care if you think Amazon is too powerful

REAL ESTATE – What’s this new section about?

• 100 Acre Paso Robles Vineyard for Sale

FINANCE, INVESTMENT, M&A

• Troplong Mondot sale sum revealed
• We’re in the money?

INTERNATIONAL TRADE

• U.S.-China Trade Talks End With Key Differences Still Unresolved

DISTRIBUTORS

• How Amy Atwood Built a Multi-Tier Natural Wine Business
• Discover new and exciting products at the 2018 USA Trade Tasting. Get your visitor pass today and avoid $40 gate fee. *Sponsored Link*

INVESTING IN WINE, COLLECTING & AUCTIONS

• Burgundy Is Battering Bordeaux, Says Sotheby’s
• Wine Auction raises $2.86 million for children
• 2017 wine auction market seen through the crystal…wine glass
• Auction Preview: Fine and rare Wine and Whisky at Bonhams, Hong Kong, May 18
• Santa Monica-Malibu Wine Auction Returns to the Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows
• Macallan sales climb 4,000% at Sotheby’s in 2017
• iDealwine update: Off the beaten track

BORDEAUX EN PRIMEUR 2017

• Batailley 2017 released
• Ormes de Pez 2017 released
• Sociando Mallet 2017 released
• La Lagune 2017 released

REGULATION & LEGAL MATTERS

• Solicitors will no longer need to be licensed in South Dakota

TRADE SHOWS & CONFERENCES

• Wine Institute’s MarCom 2018 Presents Trends on Influencer & Digital Marketing Communications for Wineries
• ProWine Asia (Singapore) 2018 continues its successful run as the premiere business-promoting platform for Southeast Asia’s wines and spirit sectors

SOCIAL MEDIA & TECH

• Snap cuts off licensing fees for Snapchat Discover publishers
• Instagram quietly launches payments for commerce
• Twitter ‘bug’ leads to all 330m members being asked to change passwords

MANAGEMENT & EMPLOYMENT

• California’s top court makes it more difficult for employers to classify workers as independent contractors

MATTERS OF TASTE

• The next wine eruption
• Faded confidence
• When we wine with purpose

IN MEMORIAM

• The passing of well-loved friends

WINE PEOPLE

• Kathleen Inman returns to her Napa roots
• John Wurdeman’s Private Passions: Polyphonic Symphony
• Reinventing the “Flying Winemaker”
• Paso Robles wine pioneer was motivated by poverty, French wine and Joe Paterno
• Virginie Saverys of Avignonesi Winery is bringing new life to old vineyards in Montepulciano
• From Government to Grapes – An American Wine Dream with Clark and Bonny Lystra (podcast)

FOOD & RESTAURANTS

• ‘Not looking for old white guys’: Restaurants must pay nearly $3M in age bias suit

NORTH AMERICAN REGIONAL WINE NEWS

• VA: ‘Plaid Avenger’ to open Blacksburg Wine Lab
• SC’s first winery started on Daufuskie. Now, after 60 years, it’s back in business

ENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABILITY

• NZ viticultural technique for lowering alcohol ‘can also combat effects of global warming’

AG, GROWER & CELLAR NEWS

• The economics of water management in winegrape vineyards
• Preparing wine for bottling

EUROPE & THE UK

• Assessing the potential impact of the new minimum unit pricing regulation in Scotland
• Portuguese among world’s biggest wine drinkers
• The Swiss cantons making the most wine

DOWN UNDER

• OZ: $7.4 million investment boost for international wine tourism

ASIA & PACIFIC RIM

• Earliest known winery found in Armenian cave

NOT JUST FOR THE TRADE

• Why Are Alcoholic Drinks Called ‘Booze’?

OLIVE OIL

• “Spectacular increase” in demand for California EVOO

CRAFT BEVERAGES: BEER, CIDER, WINE & SPIRITS

• Japanese whisky has never been hotter. Here’s what makes it so distinctive