September, 04, 2014 California Water Law Will Affect Vineyard Value

(Wine-Searcher) - Water rights could make some vineyards worth 15 times more than their neighbors. Some California vineyards will be worth a lot less money this week if, as expected, Gov. Jerry Brown signs a bill regulating groundwater use. Previously, anyone – farmers or residents &nda...

September, 04, 2014 Yelp can manipulate ratings, court rules

(SFGate) - Yelp has long faced accusations that it manipulates its business-review ratings to sell advertising - five stars for a big ad buy, say, and two stars for a turndown. The verdict from a federal appeals court: There's nothing illegal about that. Yelp adamantly denies giving...

September, 04, 2014 A link between mad cow and winemaking?

(Sciencemag) - Fermentation is critical to winemaking. But sometimes the yeast that ferments the wine shuts down prematurely, and bacteria consume the remaining sugar and spoil the drink—a chronic problem called stuck fermentation. Researchers report in the 28 August issue of   Cell &nb...

September, 04, 2014 Champagne Harvest Bubbling Away Nicely

(Wine-Searcher) - Growers in Champagne and the Rhône get ready to pick their grapes. The French harvest will soon get underway, with officials from Champagne and the Rhône Valley announcing that picking will begin early next week. Growers in Champagne are expected to lead the char...

September, 04, 2014 US: Washington Wineries Address Skills Shortage

(Wines&Vines) - With a record harvest of 230,000 tons starting to hit Washington crush pads, juicing up production across the state, the state’s wine industry is facing mixed news on the employment front. On one hand, demand for skilled workers means new graduates holding degrees, dipl...

September, 04, 2014 Winemaker Paul Dolan Gives Away Right to his Name

(Wine-Searcher) - Agreeing to end a lawsuit against the company that fired him, the former Wine Institute chairman will no longer have anything to do with Paul Dolan Vineyards wines. Paul Dolan signed away his name last week. There will still be Paul Dolan Vineyards wines, but he won't have anyt...

September, 04, 2014 How Global Warming Is Changing Wine

(YahooFood) - Is this the long goodbye to Bordeaux, Napa Valley, and the Rhone? Ever since a massive heat wave hit Europe’s vineyards in 2003, winegrowers there have been racing to fend off the effects of global warming. Yet even they were stunned by a  report  last year in ...

September, 04, 2014 WINE WAR ERUPTS IN ITALY

(TDB) - In what has been described by the Italian press as a “wine war”, winemakers in Tuscany have been warned that too many vineyards could be damaging to the environment. Tuscany’s regional government has warned winemakers that the use of pesticides and fertilisers can ...