Napa, CA -- The announcement by the government that the recession officially ended in July 2009 drew laughs from wine industry investors and players, who absorbed a torrent of information at the 19th annual Wine Industry Financial Symposium (WIFS) held this week in Napa. The meetings were conceived by David Freed, chairman of The Silverado Group, who said he started them almost 20 years ago to improve communications between the industry and its lenders and investors.