June, 30, 2010 Moldovan Wine Faces Import Restrictions Amid Political Feud

A senior Russian official announced Wednesday that regulations on Moldovan wine imports might be tightened over safety concerns — just days after Chisinau angered Moscow by introducing a “Day of Soviet Occupation." Gennady Onishchenko, head of the Federal Consumer Protection Service, said tighte...

June, 30, 2010 Northwest Vineyards Warm Up

Prosser, WA -- Temperatures in the Horse Heaven Hills this morning were climbing toward 78°F as Rick Hamman, director of viticulture at Hogue Ranches in Prosser stood in amid Merlot vines at the Zephyr Ridge vineyard. A cool spring has retarded development in many Northwest vineyards, and Hogue’s...

June, 30, 2010 Long-running Burgundy-Beaujolais AOC disputes resolved

New rules resolving long-disputed Burgundy and Beaujolais appellation issues have at last been released.Under the new rules white Beaujolais may no longer be labelled AOC white Burgundy.This is one of the most contentious of the issues to be addressed; the ruling closes a loophole that some Burgundi...

June, 29, 2010 Open your eyes to improving wine quality

Which of our five human senses — sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch, — are the most useful in our assessment of the vineyard attributes that affect wine quality? My answer is undoubtedly sight, for the reasons I will give below. But why would one dwell on this seemingly obscure topic at al...

June, 29, 2010 Diageo Takes Majority Ownership Stake in NUVO

Following on the tremendous success of NUVO, the ultra-premium, imported pink sparkling liqueur, Diageo, the world's leading premium drinks company, announced today that it has increased its ownership interest in London Group, the joint venture that owns NUVO, making Diageo the majority partner with...

June, 29, 2010 Wine sales bill rejected by Legislature

ALBANY — Liquor store owners and small business advocates appear to have won the battle over wine in grocery stores by quashing a proposal by Gov. David Paterson that would have allowed such sales.Paterson had included the measure in his state budget proposal, but the Legislature rejected the gove...

June, 29, 2010 New alcoholic drink combines tomatoes, plum wine

A new alcoholic drink made from Japanese tomatoes was recently developed on the Atsumi Peninsula in Aichi Prefecture. Called Toma-teru, the drink is the brainchild of Kaori Fukui, a director of Mimasu Ltd., a vegetable and fruit wholesaler and retailer based in Tahara in the prefecture....

June, 28, 2010 Lake County Envisions Five New Wineries

Lower Lake, Calif. -- Lake County continues to be the North Coast wine region’s Cinderella -- before the fairy godmother appeared. But a large new vineyard development there could wave the magic wand and attract more visitors to the geographically attractive county north of Napa. Clay Shannon, a l...