April, 20, 2012 US - Alabama: Wine bill's fate shows lobbyists still have clout

(GadsdenTimes) - Alabama has made some changes in how lobbyists do business in Montgomery, but if you think they are not still powerful, consider the fate of a bill to let small wine producers self-market their products. The House version of the bill didn’t make it out of committee in large part b...

April, 20, 2012 US: April is Michigan Wine Month, celebrate with these new wines, events

(MLive) - Several Kalamazoo area wineries and restaurants are pulling out all the corks in celebrating Michigan Wine Month in April with special releases and events. There are 92 wineries in the state, including 11 new additions in the last year, according to Michigan Grape and Wine Industry Coun...

April, 20, 2012 The EU against new booze

(Spectator) - You don't expect to find so much politics in a booze mag, but there’s an intriguing story in a recent edition of the Drinks Magazine. Relations between Britain and Argentina have been very fraught of late, so the good folk at Chapel Down, the internationally renowned vineyard in Kent...

April, 19, 2012 US: Michigan-made Dirty Bastard beer banned in Alabama

(Freep) - You can buy Fat Bastard wine in Alabama, but you'll have to go elsewhere for Dirty Bastard beer. The state alcoholic beverage control agency said Thursday it has banned Dirty Bastard beer because of profanity on its label. But the maker, Michigan-based Founders Brewing Co., can appeal t...

April, 19, 2012 France: Bernard Magrez buys three Bordeaux estates

(Decanter) - Bernard Magrez, owner of Chateau Pape Clement and Chateau La Tour Carnet, has extended his portfolio of estates with the addition of three new Bordeaux names. These are the 15-hectare Chateau Malleprat in Pessac Leognan, the 10ha Chateau Moulin d'Ulysse in Listrac-Medoc and the 3.5ha Ch...

April, 19, 2012 Canada: Northwest's Cliffhanger 2011 Wine Harvest

(Wines&Vines) - With the first releases from the 2011 vintage hitting shelves in the weeks ahead, winemakers are breathing a sigh of relief—and looking ahead. During a preview of the 2011 vintage hosted by the British Columbia Wine Institute earlier this week, veteran BC winemakers struck an optim...

April, 19, 2012 Fine wine investors 'have lost £100m' from failed companies

(Decanter) - Fine wine investors have lost £100m over four years by entrusting their savings to failed wine companies, a senior accountant has estimated. Nedim Ailyan, a director at insolvency firm Abbott Fielding, which is handling two high-profile wine investment company bankruptcies, told the BB...

April, 19, 2012 Danica Patrick's days of wine and races

(ESPN) - Somewhere in the horseshoe-shaped wine cellar beneath Danica Patrick's home in Scottsdale, Ariz., a bottle of Harlan Estate cabernet sauvignon rests, improves, awaits the proper moment. Maybe a birthday, a dinner with friends, or perhaps even a first NASCAR victory will coerce Patrick downs...