March, 01, 2011 US: West Sonoma Vintners Launch New Group

Sonoma County, Calif.—Many wineries and growers have complained that the Sonoma Coast American Viticultural Area, which stretches from northern Sonoma Coast to near Carneros on San Francisco Bay, is so large and diverse that it’s almost meaningless. A group of wineries and growers in a more h...

March, 01, 2011 Maltus sells out of new Napa wine

Bordeaux wine mogul Jonathan Maltus has sold the entire production of his new Napa wine. Maltus owns Chateau Teyssier in St Emilion, and made his name as one of the first of the ‘garagistes’ in St Emilion a decade ago. He now also makes wine under the Colonial Wine Company name in Barossa, Au...

March, 01, 2011 UK: Alcohol Concern calls for more supermarket restrictions

Alcohol campaigners are calling on supermarkets to restrict all alcohol to dedicated aisles to avoid 'impulse purchases'. UK charity Alcohol Concern carried out a one-day survey of supermarkets in Cardiff, Wales before Christmas, and found that beer, wines and spirits were on sale in food aisles and...

March, 01, 2011 Is that Mozart in my glass? Austrian claims music 'infusions' make wine better

VIENNA (AP) — If one Austrian's quirky idea catches on, wine tastings could soon sound like this: Is that some Mozart in my glass? A hint of Haydn, maybe? Convinced that music is a key ingredient for a good bottle of red or white, Markus Bachmann has invented a special speaker that exposes ferm...

March, 01, 2011 France: Winemaking in Loire-express yourself and terroir

(Reuters Life!) - More than 600 Loire valley winemakers gathered in Angers earlier this month for three days of tasting and touting their terroirs. But the vignerons, whose vineyards are spread along the banks of river's 630 miles, are as varied as the terroir or soils they till and the more than...

March, 01, 2011 Global warming threatens wine production in France

The steady rise in global temperatures is threatening vineyards around Bordeaux that produce some of the most esteemed and expensive wines on earth. Experts say that the region may be unsuitable for wine-growing by 2050, making the supreme wines of chateaux like Lafite, Petrus and Latour nothing...

February, 28, 2011 US: Winery Exchange picks up Echelon

NOVATO — One of the results of Diageo Chateau & Estate Wines’ recent sales of wine assets is providing corporate alcoholic beverage brand creator Winery Exchange with a line of its own products.Winery Exchange has created dozens of wine, beer and spirits brands for grocers, restaurants, retailer...

February, 28, 2011 California: Temecula Wine Country Faces Future

Wineries, residents and horses all want a piece of choice Southern California terroir. A decade ago, Temecula’s winegrowing future looked dim: An epidemic of Pierce’s disease (PD) had decimated vineyards, spread by glassy-winged sharpshooters (GWSS) from another of Riverside County’s top crops...