July, 29, 2013 California: Winemaker Mike Sinor buys Bassi Vineyard in Avila Valley

(SanLuisObispo) - Mike Sinor, one of the Central Coast’s highly regarded winemakers, is now owner of Bassi Vineyard in Avila Valley. He bought the 112-acre property in April. Only 30 of the acres are producing vineyards, mostly for pinot noir, syrah, chardonnay, pinot gris and Albarino....

July, 27, 2013 "Minerality": Drilling Down on Wine's Buzzword

(WSJ) - I RECENTLY TASTED a bottle of Chablis described by its accompanying fact sheet as "delicate, rich, rather mineral and dry." I understood the meaning of each adjective—except for one. What exactly is a "mineral" wine, let alone a "rather mineral" one? While "minerality" has lon...

July, 27, 2013 Warm Weather Means Early Calif. Wine Grape Harvest

(AP) - There's no such thing as "normal" weather in California wine country, and vineyard operators say this year that truism could mean good news for wine lovers. After cool temperatures slowed ripening and kept grapes on the vine until fall in recent years, growers in the nation's premier w...

July, 27, 2013 UK beer sales fall once again

(TheDrinksBusiness) - Beer sales in the UK have fallen in the second quarter of 2013, according to the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA), although many brewers have seen a recent hot weather boost. The BBPA’s quarterly Beer Barometer found that on-trade sales were down 5.8% in the...

July, 27, 2013 Improving Wine Quality Through Sanitation

(Wines&Vines) - We’ve probably all had the experience, either in our own wineries during crush or when visiting other people’s premises: The stickiness of grape juice and must on floors, railings and a general sense of the winery being closer to an actual workshop than something in ...

July, 26, 2013 Innovative Process To Reuse Your Barrels

(OrchardandVine) - In bygone days, when a wine barrel was past its prime, it usually ended up being cut in half and sitting in someone’s yard as a planter. Now those barrels can be restored using a technology known as Phoenix, developed by Diverse Barrel Solutions, an Australian company. F...

July, 26, 2013 Gucci to sell off $18m Cognac collection

(TheDrinksBusiness) - Fashion scion turned Cognac producer Giorgio Gucci is selling off 5,700 bottles of his own Cognac brand, whose combined value is estimated at around $18 million. Due to be sold privately as a single lot through US firm Americas Executive Beverage Consultancy, the Giorgio G...

July, 26, 2013 Philadelphia: Wine Shipments Bill Still Wrapped Up In Privatization Debate

(CBS) – There is considerable support among state lawmakers for legislation that would allow for direct shipments of wine to consumers homes. But, the fate of that legislation was and still is linked to the broader debate over privatizing sales of wine and spirits in Pennsylvania. The...