May, 26, 2011 U.S. consumer direct wine sales hit record $3.4 billion in 2010

U.S. consumer direct wine sales reached record levels in 2010 and continue to grow at a double-digit pace in 2011, according to the latest wine industry research reported by VinterActive LLC. Based on their annual VinQuest survey of the nation’s 3500-plus bonded wineries, VinterActive reports t...

May, 25, 2011 California: Napa Vintners Take Charity Fundraising Global

?PRNewswire/ - The annual community fundraiser known as Auction Napa Valley, hosted by the 400 member wineries of the Napa Valley Vintners (NVV) non-profit trade association, has led the business of charity wine auctions since its inception in 1981. This year the group continues to raise the bar wi...

May, 25, 2011 California: Will Coombsville Get an AVA?

Napa, Calif.—The Coombsville area east of Napa may finally become an official American Viticultural Area. The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) has published the petition to form a new American Viticultural Area east of Napa in the Coombsville area and opened it for public comments, a...

May, 25, 2011 New 1855 classification: Beychevelle, Duhart promoted

Chateaux Beychevelle, Duhart Milon and Pontet Canet have been promoted to Second Growth, according to Liv-ex’s new 1855 classification. Every two years Liv-ex, the online trading platform, recalculates the 1855 classification using the original criteria: the price of the wines. By this reckonin...

May, 25, 2011 New Zealand wines banned from entering leading Australian wine shows

Some of New Zealand’s leading wineries have been refused permission to enter their wines in the upcoming Royal Hobart Wine Show. Royal Hobart’s stated reason, as given by their Chief Executive Officer Scott Gadd, for this stance is that, “After lengthy deliberations over two years the committe...

May, 25, 2011 NZ winegrowers look to restore image after glut

(AFP)- Striding across her vineyard in New Zealand's picturesque Marlborough region, winemaker Jane Hunter pauses for a moment to reflect on the woes besetting the industry she pioneered. "It's been a bit soul-destroying really," she says. "If we're all going to survive, we've all got to work tog...

May, 25, 2011 Diageo in talks with Cuervo on options - sources

(Reuters) - Diageo Plc (DGE.L), the world's biggest spirits maker, is in talks with the owners of Jose Cuervo tequila over extending a distribution deal or buying it outright for over $2 billion (1 billion pounds), sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. The London-based group distributes ...

May, 25, 2011 UK: Vintage wine worth £1m stolen from Bethnal Green warehouse

Police are appealing for information after the exquisite lot was nabbed from a storage facility under the railway arches in Cambridge Heath Road. A worker discovered the break-in at 10am on Sunday but the burglars are believed to have struck any time from 12pm on Saturday. The well-prepared cr...