February, 11, 2014 US craft beer grows to take 7% of US market

(TDB) - The popularity of craft beer in the US continued to rise in 2013, but not enough to prevent an overall drop in the beer market. According to a report in USA Today, total US beer sales fell by 1.4% in 2013 dropping to to 2.8 billion 2.25-gallon cases, compared to 2.84 billion in 2012, bas...

February, 11, 2014 U.S. Wine Magnate Banks On New Zealand

(Wine-Searcher) - Charles Banks, the former owner of Screaming Eagle, has extended his winery interests to New Zealand and intends to fly the flag not for Kiwi sauvignon blanc, but syrah. The millionaire has announced that he has purchased a stake in the Hawke’s Bay winery Trinity Hill for a...

February, 11, 2014 Gang of suspected French wine thieves arrested

(France24) - Twenty men suspected of stealing more than a million euros ($1.35 million) of Bordeaux wine were arrested in France on Monday, following an extensive police operation in both the Paris region and the country’s southwest. Bordeaux has long been renowned for its excellent wines. H...

February, 11, 2014 Red wine with aspirin could kill cells that become cancerous

(Independent) - A red wine ingredient and aspirin may deliver a double knock-out blow to abnormal cells that can lead to cancer, research suggests. Both help to destroy "tetraploid" cells that contain multiple copies of chromosomes, the packages of DNA and protein in which the genetic code is writ...

February, 11, 2014 California: Value of 2013 grape harvest comes close to record

(NVR) - Belying predictions, Napa County’s 2013 grape crop was only off 2012’s record mark by about 8,000 tons, earning local growers $638 million last year, the second highest crop value since state statistics have been kept by the California Department of Food and Agriculture. N...

February, 11, 2014 Bitter Cold This Winter Brings Ideal Ice Wine Season

(Accuweather) - Wineries around the globe pinpoint the height of the traditional grape harvest season to create palate-pleasing wine. However, in the ice wine countries (Canada, Austria, Denmark, Romania, Germany and parts of the United States), it's a game against Mother Nature, hoping that condi...

February, 10, 2014 What to Do About Red Blotch

(Wines&Vines) - Among many useful sessions at the Unified Wine & Grape Symposium, one of the most valuable was the workshop on red blotch virus for winemakers organized by Alison Crowe of Garnet Vineyards, part of the Silverado Premium Properties family. Crowe was joined by Peter Opatz o...

February, 09, 2014 Chinese wine makers cast their eyes overseas for vineyard purchases

(SCMP) - From first meeting to handshake it took fewer than 24 hours. Hong Kong resident Pan Sutong flew by private jet to California's Napa Valley in May 2011, and flew out the next day with an agreement to buy Sloan Estate, one of Napa's most desired vineyards, for US$50 million. The deal to bu...