February, 24, 2011 Pennsylvania: Self-serve wine kiosks back up and running

Self-serve wine kiosks are back in some grocery stores after being shut down in December. The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board said this time, the kinks have been ironed out. You can't help but notice the huge machine just inside the main entrance at Giant Foods on Linglestown Road in Susquehann...

February, 24, 2011 California: BOE institutes new wine regulation

California is considering a new regulation that tax collectors say will provide clear direction to the wine industry regarding the circumstances under which a wine-based product will be classified as a distilled spirit for state tax purposes. This proposed regulation follows the same approach as ...

February, 24, 2011 Oregon Wine Industry Optimistic

Eugene, Ore.—The mood among close to 1,000 attendees at the annual Oregon Wine Industry Symposium this week was upbeat, but wineries are mulling alternative directions as the economy stabilizes. While strengthening sales of wines priced at $20-plus per bottle were cause for optimism and even ap...

February, 24, 2011 Will Donald Trump Rescue a Virginia’s Kluge Winery?

A surprise new character steps onto the stage in the ongoing Kluge Estate Winery and Vineyard foreclosure saga. Kluge, sited in Virginia’s Charlottesville wine country, was first planted in 1999 by millionairess Patricia Kluge, who once landed the biggest divorce settlement in history ($1.6 millio...

February, 24, 2011 AUS: Woolies to buy wine group as profit rises

Australia's largest retailer Woolworths posted first-half net profit up 6 per cent as its core supermarkets business outperformed weaker discretionary retail units. It also announced it will buy direct wine marketer Cellarmasters from private equity firm Archer Capital for $340 million. Woolwo...

February, 24, 2011 AUS: Wine industry faces cheap wine and no growth

Many vignerons would go pale at the thought of hungry sheep roaming among their vines, but in the state's South West, it is just another way of coping with a difficult year in the wine industry. Some wine producers are letting sheep in the vineyard in an attempt to sit out a national grape glut. ...

February, 24, 2011 China's publishing industry, now "not old wine in new bottle"

With a growing attention focused on China's economic growth, more and more people overseas are eager to know "China's story" or development miracle. As a result, the import-export ratio of China's book copyrights shot up to 3.31:1 in 2009 from 7.2:1 in 2005. So, China has already become a great publ...

February, 23, 2011 France: Exports post double-digit growth

Surging sales to Asia, an end to huge inventory depletions, a real increase in consumption levels and a gradual return to pre-recession status for traditional consumer markets all contributed to an extremely healthy 18.3 percent rise in exports of French wines and spirits last year. According to fig...