August, 05, 2015 Lake County wineries defend vineyards from flames, smoke

(PD) - Normally, Lake County vintners would spend the first week of August gearing up for the oncoming harvest. Now, they find themselves clearing brush to protect their vineyards from flames and keeping a wary eye on clouds of noxious smoke that could taint the taste of their valuable grapes. A...

August, 05, 2015 Exclusive: Sonoma Coast's Platt Vineyard Purchased by Vineyard Investment Fund

(WineSpectator) - Russian River Partners—managed by Eric Flanagan of Flanagan Vineyards—has bought the 31-acre site, which has a reputation for quality Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Russian River Partners, a vineyard investment fund run by Eric Flanagan of  Flanagan Vineyards ...

August, 05, 2015 Georgia-Russian Wine Relations Again at Risk

(Eurasianet) - Geopolitics rather than terroir may be affecting the quality of Georgian wine, at least as far as Russia, the world’s largest Georgian alcohol tippler, is concerned. After  the Kremlin  said it would retaliate against countries that support Western sanctions agai...

August, 05, 2015 Early grape harvest gets going in Sonoma County

(PD) - The early wine grape harvest continues this year along the North Coast as Sonoma County vintners have started picking fruit to be used for sparkling wine. The first growers in the county started picking July 29, when nearly 18 tons of pinot noir grapes were harvested from Vineyard Eleven ...

August, 05, 2015 FRANCE TO RELAX VINEYARD PLANTING RULES

(TDB) - France will relax the current rules and regulations surrounding vineyard plantings when they come to an end in December. The EU-wide regulations come to an end on 31 December this year but during the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy in 2013, France obtained a new authorizati...

August, 05, 2015 Artificial intelligence improves fine wine price prediction

(Phys) - The price fluctuation of fine wines can now be predicted more accurately using a novel artificial intelligence approach developed by researchers at UCL. The method could be used to help fine wine investors make more informed decisions about their portfolios and encourage non-wine investors...

August, 04, 2015 On this day 1693…invention of Champagne?

(TDB) - This day in 1693 is sometimes pinpointed as the day Dom Pérignon “invented” Champagne, although the Petit Journal cover below claims the 200th anniversary was 14 June 1914 – which meant Dom Pérignon “discovered” the secret of sparkling wine a mere...

August, 04, 2015 France: Roederer opens private vineyard nursery

(Decanter) - Champagne house Louis Roederer is to open its own vineyard nursery to have better control over rootstock and enabling it to experiment with pre-phylloxera vines. Maison Louis Roederer has been granted the status of ‘pepiniériste privé’ in France, meaning it...