April, 08, 2013 Business: Italy bids to close gap in wine exports to China

(AFP) - Italy is bidding to close the gap with its competitors in wine exports to China, said organisers of a major wine fair that opened on Sunday with a Chinese commerce ministry delegation in attendance. The Vinitaly fair in Verona in northern Italy is "a connecting bridge between Italia...

April, 08, 2013 Finance: Treasury doubles drought impact forecast

(BigPondNews) - The Treasury forecasts the summer drought will knock 0.7 of a percentage point off annual economic growth, more than twice the 0.2 to 0.3 per cent forecast by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand last month. In its monthly economic update, the Treasury says the spike in global dairy p...

April, 08, 2013 US: California’s Golden Oldies Reward Savvy Wine Buyers

(Bloomberg) - Colorado construction magnate Joseph Phelps arrived in the Napa Valley in the late 1960s to build someone else’s winery. In 1973 he ended up founding his own. Last month, for Joseph Phelps Vineyards’ 40th anniversary, company president Bill Phelps uncorked a dozen vintages...

April, 07, 2013 UK: No bees, no honey, no wine: Pesticides that put all nature at risk

(Independent) - It has not been a good quarter-century for bees. The varroa mite was their first foe, which ravaged bee populations, causing hive collapse and local extinctions. One of the bees' allies then was a chemical, Bayvarol, manufactured by the German corporation Bayer AG. Bayvarol was very...

April, 07, 2013 US: Wine company 'buys' NY bill - that could cost you $7 a bottle!

(NYPost) - State Sen. Jeff Klein’s campaign cup is spilling over with $33,000 in cash from a national wine distributor that would almost singularly benefit from a bill the Bronx lawmaker authored. But Klein’s re-election war chest is growing at the expense of small merchants and wine-l...

April, 07, 2013 AUS: Wine trade out to boost presence in Europe

(TheAge) - The peak industry body Wine Australia is hosting a visit by 20 leading European sommeliers, wine educators and writers to highlight the regional diversity and quality of Australian wines as the high dollar and offerings from new world producers, as well as traditional nations such as Fra...

April, 07, 2013 US: More Vineyards Popping Up All Across Iowa

(KCAUTV) - Forget about growing corn and raising cattle, making wine is the next big industry in Iowa. For nearly a year now, John and Lenee Sinnot have been enjoying the fruits of their labor, literally. The husband and wife couple opened up the "Old Town Vineyard and Winery" in Ida Grove last May...

April, 06, 2013 If Women Can Take Over the Wine Industry, What Can't They Do?

(Policymic) - There are many traditionally male-dominated industries around — construction jobs, mechanics, electricians, and even finance, though that's changing. One job area that usually isn't the first to spring to mind is the wine industry. But it's certainly dominated by men, a traditio...