November, 16, 2012 US: Santa Cruz Winery Group Picks Director

(Wines&Vines) - The Santa Cruz Mountains Winegrowers Association has new digs and, for the first time, an executive director. Megan Metz, most recently executive director of the late Mendocino Winegrape & Wine Commission, took the reins last month and is getting to know the territory and the members...

November, 16, 2012 Clone versus Site: Which is more important?

(NWWB) - Yesterday my friend Daniel Dycus recounted a conversation he had the other day with a certified sommelier. Daniel told this fellow he thought grape clone was at least as important as site in determining the characteristics of a wine. The somm told Daniel that he would “sound like an idiot...

November, 16, 2012 Italy: Benedictine Monks Open Brewery in Norcia

(ItalyMag) - Carol King reports on how Benedictine monks in Norcia have revived the art of beer making. Monks have always drunk beer and many popular craft beers come from monasteries experienced in the art of beer making. In keeping with this tradition, the monks at the Monastero di San Benedett...

November, 16, 2012 South Africa: Bulk wine shipments impacting on local wine industry

(EngineeringNews) - The South African wine industry’s future competitiveness will depend on the country’s ability to access new markets through government support, increase its productivity, maintain the local identity of its wines and maintain sound wine quality, says wine producer consultation...

November, 16, 2012 Russia may lift embargo on Georgian wine

(TheDrinksBusiness) - Moscow is considering allowing Georgian wine back onto the Russian market. First deputy foreign minister Andrei Denisov revealed this week that there is a willingness on both sides to study the issue. “If we talk about specific cases, it is about a return of Georgian wi...

November, 16, 2012 Bordeaux unveils ‘Cité des Civilisations du Vin’

(Decanter) - The planned wine cultural centre for downtown Bordeaux has finally unveiled its name, three years after the project was first announced. The chosen name for the €60m centre, due to open in 2015, is ‘La Cité des Civilisations du Vin’. ‘We consulted naming agencies Nomen and 4...

November, 16, 2012 A promising future for Napa Pinot Noir

(TheDrinksBusiness) - The St Helena Star and Napa Vintner Tasting Panel find 2009 and 2010 Napa Valley Pinot Noirs show more consistency than previous vintages. Pinot NoirIt is almost as if Pinot Noir should be included along with politics, religion and sex as subjects to avoid in dinner conversa...

November, 16, 2012 US: Kundes selling Saralee's Vineyard and Richard's Grove to Jackson Family Wines

(PressDemocrat) - Jackson Family Wines announced a deal Thursday to buy the sprawling Russian River Valley ranch owned by Saralee and Richard Kunde, who hosted some of the region's most popular fundraisers among their vineyards and helped raise millions of dollars for the agriculture community. T...