June, 01, 2012 Startup Aims to Democratize Winemaking

(Forbes) - Starting up as a winemaker has traditionally been a complicated, expensive process. Not only does an aspiring winemaker need to learn winemaking, but he or she needs to find or produce fruit, have the correct facilities and tools for making wine, and ultimately, be able to distribute the ...

June, 01, 2012 US: Ascentia dismantling Healdsburg wine group

(PressDemocrat) - Ascentia Wine Estates, a Healdsburg company established in 2008 with ambitions to restore local ownership to some of Sonoma County’s most prominent wineries, is being sold off in pieces. Employees at Geyser Peak Winery, Ascentia’s flagship property in Sonoma County, on Thurs...

May, 31, 2012 Experts say Chinese wine industry still needs time to mature

(AFP) - The wine industry itself would have us believe that China will soon be the "largest vineyard" in the world but a group of wine experts told a seminar Thursday they remained unconvinced by the claim. China's rising power in the world of wine was a main talking point during the three-day Vi...

May, 31, 2012 Dr. Ruth wants to get you drunk!

(NYPost) - Well, maybe just a little tipsy. The sex doc hopes to seduce couples with her new line of low-alcohol Vin d’Amour wines. Asked if she’d be interested in launching her own line of wines earlier this year, Dr. Ruth Westheimer nixed the idea with a polite but firm “nein.” The prop...

May, 31, 2012 Ancient Veuve Clicquot 'not to be drunk for pleasure'

(Decanter) - The 170-year-old Veuve Clicquot expected to fetch a five-figure sum at auction next week can only be recommended for ‘historical interest, not pleasure,’ Champagne expert Tom Sevenson says. The bottle is part of a cache found in 2010 in the Åland archipelago between Finland and Swe...

May, 31, 2012 US: Costly Fight Against Moth

(Wines&Vines) - At the recent Vineyard Economic Seminar, Greg Clark, the assistant agricultural commissioner for Napa County, described how local growers, ag advisors and agricultural regulators joined forces to defeat one of the biggest threats to grape crops in the county and the state, the Europe...

May, 31, 2012 Earthquakes Hit Italy: A Blow to the Wine and Food Industry

(WineEnthusiast) - Two massive earthquakes hit Emilia-Romagna, claiming at least 24 lives and dealing a serious blow to agriculture of this northern Italian region, known for its wine and food. Since the first 6.0-magnitude quake hit on Sunday, May 20, there have been 800 aftershocks, the stronge...

May, 31, 2012 International report gives thumbs up to SA wine industry

(BizCommunity) - In its latest report on South African wine, part of which it devoted to its wine tourism, the web-based International Wine Review has stated that "Wine tourism is better developed in South Africa than any country we know". The editor, Don Winkler, and publisher, Mike Potashnik, bot...