October, 28, 2014 How a Napa winemaker became one of the world’s top cheetah experts

(SFGate) - The survival of the fastest land animal on Earth is in the hands of a California horsewoman and former Napa Valley winemaker who decided she liked cheetahs better than grapes. Laurie Marker left what to most people would seem like a dream job and idyllic life two decades ago so she co...

October, 28, 2014 California Wine Harvest, Pegged At 3.9 Million Tons, Remarkable For Early Start, High Quality

(SND) - California winemakers are toasting what many say is an excellent 2014 vintage, despite challenges such as an ongoing drought and an earthquake in wine country just as harvest season was gearing up. The USDA has forecast California’s 2014 wine harvest at 3.9 million tons, an 8% decreas...

October, 28, 2014 Blend it Like Beckham: Star Scores Napa Winery

(Wine-Searcher) - What do you get the woman who has everything? In soccer star David Beckham's case, you buy her a winery. Not content with recently kicking off his own brand of whisky, soccer star David Beckham has also apparently splashed out on a winery in Napa for his wife Victoria. The c...

October, 27, 2014 2014 HARVEST: EUROPE AT A GLANCE

(TDB) - As Europe brings its 2014 harvest to a close, few of the key wine regions appear to have escaped the unsettled weather conditions that look set to characterise this vintage. For some, an Indian summer brought miraculous salvation for a vintage that appeared doomed as late as August....

October, 27, 2014 European vs. American Wine: And The Winner Is.....

(Forbes) - A casual reader of these columns might assume, not without justification, that my preference veers to the European over the American but, as John Kerry was wont to observe, the situation is more nuisanced than that. It is true that the greatest wines still come from Europe – the...

October, 27, 2014 US: New Shipping Law More Miss Than Hit, Arkansas Wine Producers Say

(AB) - In the past 18 months or so, the state has taken two steps in an effort to help out the Arkansas wine industry. The first was a law passed by the state Legislature allowing direct shipping from Arkansas wineries to customers, and the second was the erection of highway signs publicizing the A...

October, 25, 2014 Direct-To-Consumer Sales Is Lifeblood of Wineries, Banker Says

(Wines&Vines) - Most Napa wineries will not survive without an increasing emphasis on direct-to-consumer sales, according to Rob McMillan, executive vice president and founder of Silicon Valley Bank’s wine division. He spoke Thursday during a community meeting the Napa Valley Vintners o...

October, 23, 2014 This thing uses sound to make any wine taste better

(CNET) - Dionysus Technology Concepts launches a crowdfunding campaign for the Sonic Decanter, which promises to use ultrasonic energy to improve your wine in 15 minutes. While wine snobs may turn up their noses at the thought, most of us are perfectly happy with our sub-$10 bottles of wine. The...