October, 01, 2014 UK: DRUGS AND SEX SPEND TOPS BEER AND WINE

(TDB) - The UK spent more on illicit substances and prostitution last year than it did on wine or beer according to the first set of official findings released today by the Office of National Statistics (ONS). At just under £11bn for wine and beer, sales of both in the UK through...

October, 01, 2014 California plastic bag ban signed, setting off sweeping changes

(SanLuisObispo) - Time to invest in a reusable shopping bag. Concluding the long odyssey of one of the most contentious bills of 2014, Gov. Jerry Brown on Tuesday signed legislation phasing out the single-use plastic bags that grocery stores and other retailers use to package products at the check...

October, 01, 2014 DNA Tests Defeats Wine Barrel Fraud

(Wine-Searcher) - French scientists have made tracing the exact origin of a winery's barriques, foudres and demi-muids easier. Precision winemakers and fraud inspectors just got a helping hand from French researchers decoding the oak genome: they can now trace the origins of the oak used for wine ...

October, 01, 2014 Winemaking taint smoked out

(Phys) - Winemaking methods influence the degree of smoke taint in wines made from smoke-exposed grapes, new research suggests. Smoke taint can have a significant economic impact on winemakers in bushfire-prone areas, and its prevention could represent major savings for producers, with flow-on ben...

October, 01, 2014 Weather Causes Havoc at Languedoc Harvest's End

(Wine-Searcher) - The elements show they still have a sting in the tail as storms lash the south of France. Vineyards in parts of Languedoc were damaged and vast swathes of land left underwater after six months' worth of rain fell in a day in the Hérault department on Monday. The affect...

October, 01, 2014 Napa Valley: Hail Leaves Wine Grapes Unscathed

(Wines&Vines) - A month after a severe earthquake hit Napa Valley, a freak hailstorm and heavy rains Friday could have wreaked more havoc on the Napa Valley wine community, but fortunately the hail was confined to a small urban valley, and the rains came when most grapes other than Cabernet Sau...

October, 01, 2014 Maximizing wine exposure through social media

(FoxNews) - I know I have said this before, but a former Wall-Streeter-turned-wine-maker said, "It's one thing to make great juice, it's another thing to sell it." And I don't know how you sell anything these days without using social media, especially if you're a small, start-up vineyard trying t...

September, 30, 2014 SPAIN: Woman dies falling into vat of wine after being overcome by fumes

(Mirror) - A woman has died after falling into a vat of wine in an industrial cellar. Police said 25-year-old Nerea Pérez, a wine specialist by profession, was watching the fermenting process when she was overcome by fumes and lost her balance. Emergency services rushed to the scene...