Bonnie Harvey, Barefoot Wine Co-Founder, comments on The Barefoot Spirit:

Thank you for the great review, Cyril! Michael and I are sharing our stories with students of entrepreneurship throughout the US. Hopefully, they will learn from our many mistakes! -Bonnie

“The small drink mimics the rainfall behavior of the “Old World” more than does the big drink. If that’s what it takes to convince you to switch to the small drink, then so be it, but I’m already convinced.” -Mark Greenspan

From the article ‘Small Drink’ Irrigation Better Choice for Coastal Winegrapes, Page 46 in the June issue of Wine Business Monthly

Yesterday was our first tasting for our Hot Brands of 2013, and it was a success! We have offically chosen two of our Top 10 Hot Brands of 2013. One white, one red. Neither are from California. Look for them in the February 2014 issue of Wine Business Monthly.

The Hot Brands list is our chance to honor wineries that are innovative, curious, adventurous and, of course, delicious. These winemakers can be trailblazers or traditionalists (and are often both), but most of all, these are people who have dedicated themselves to crafting the best wines possible from their unique sites. See last year's Hot Brands here.

Today is the first day of tastings for our Hot Brands of 2013 (to be published in the February 2014 issue of WBM). Each year, we set out to find wineries that we believe are doing something special. The Hot Brands list is our chance to honor wineries that are innovative, curious, adventurous and, of course, delicious. These winemakers can be trailblazers or traditionalists (and are often both), but most of all, these are people who have dedicated themselves to crafting the best wines possible from their unique sites. See last year's Hot Brands here.

These are the wines Wine Business Monthly serves at our own annual holiday party, and wines we will serve to winemakers, grape growers and industry members at our annual gathering at the Unified Wine & Grape Symposium. Speaking of, our location for this year's Bottle Bash has changed. It will NOT be at the Pyramid this year as the Pyramid has closed. Stay tuned for details on the new location for WBM's Bottle Bash -- to be held the Tuesday night, January 28, to kick off the trade show, which begins on Wednesday, Janaury 29.

An event announcement came across the news desk this week from the Russian River Valley Winegrowers:

On behalf of the Russian River Valley Winegrowers (RRVW), I wanted to share information on the Annual Passport to Pinot weekend, taking place June 8 & 9 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. More than 30 of the Russian River's prized wineries will celebrate the allure of the beautiful Russian River Valley and the world-class Pinot Noir produced in this AVA.

Speaking of the Russian River Valley, have you seen our article about the Russian River Valley AVA's 30 year anniversary in our May issue? It is apart of the Appellation Series 1983-2013 written by Christopher Sawyer.

In the coming months, look for more in this series:

June: Carneros
July: Arroyo Seco/Carmel Valley
August: Anderson Valley

 

Last Thursday, May 23, the Maisons Marques & Domaines Tour stopped over in San Francisco at the Press Club. The tasting was done in collaboration with American Wine & Spirits of California.

Featured brands included:
 

France

Champagne Louis Roederer
Domaines Ott
Delas Frères
Domaines Schlumberger
Baron de Ladoucette

Bordeaux

Etablissements Jean-Pierre Moueix
Château Pichon Longueville
Comtesse de Lalande
Châteaux de Pez & Haut-Beauséjour

United States

Dominus Estate
Roederer Estate
Scharffenberger Cellars
Carpe Diem

Italy

Pio Cesare
Agricola Querciabella
Castiglion de Bosco
Podernuovo a Palazonne

Spain

Marqués de Murrieta

Portugal

Adriano Ramos Pinto

South Africa

Meerlust Estate
Fleur du Cap

The June issue of Wine Business Monthly is on its way to your mailbox. Check out June's Month in Review for a preview of the issue:

Managing Water Use in the Vineyard and the Winery

June. As this issue reaches subscribers, the weather is getting warmer and the grapes are growing quickly. There’s been a lot of activity in the vineyards. Here in California, conditions have been exceptionally dry. We’ve only had a couple of inches of rain so far this year.

Demands on the available water supply are increasing. There’s more demand for residential use and increasing environmental regulations. Exacerbating the problem, the amount of available water is decreasing because of drought conditions and the overuse of groundwater aquifers. These factors mean managing one’s water use is more important than ever.

Two years after the first Wine Business Monthly Facilities Survey, results published in this issue show that more wineries are implementing energy and water conservation programs. Most wineries surveyed, however, said they are still not measuring and tracking how much water or energy it takes to produce a gallon of wine.

Wineries do continue to monitor their water usage for compliance, conservation or both, though. Nearly 40 percent of the wineries surveyed now monitor water use and discharge for the crush pad, cellar and bottling—up from 35 percent two years ago.

Along with this year’s Facilities Survey Report, senior editor Patricia M. Roth interviewed forward-thinking wineries for some mini case studies, illustrating steps wineries have taken to conserve energy and water in their own unique environments.

Whether grapes should be irrigated with large volume irrigations applied less frequently, or with small volume irrigations applied more often, has long been a topic of debate among winegrape growers aiming for optimal fruit. In this issue Mark Greenspan describes how his philosophy on this issue has evolved, and explains why the latter approach is best.

This issue also includes a product review on weather stations. It’s the third product review we’ve published in this category: weather stations help winegrape growers make better decisions, and the technology has rapidly been changing. They’ve become more affordable, too, and can be used to monitor frost alerts, humidity, rain, wind, soil moisture as well as a host of other parameters vital to the vineyard, in real time. The ability to use water efficiently is one of the big benefits.

Cyril Penn - editor

We received this news release today, calling attention to Banfi's support for a special program.

For more, check out the video, below

Riunite Launches Campaign To Support Families Of Fallen Military

America’s Favorite Italian Wine Commits $250,000+ to Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors

OLD BROOKVILLE, N.Y. - Riunite, America’s favorite imported red wine for the past four decades, is committing over a quarter of a million dollars in donations and marketing support to help the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), an organization that provides assistance to families of deceased military servicemen and servicewomen.

“With warm weather, picnics, barbecues, and seaside festivities, summertime is the strongest selling season for Riunite,” said Charles Dellavecchia, European portfolio director, Banfi Vintners, U.S. importer of Riunite. “In addition to enjoying chilled Riunite Lambrusco, Americans have a strong sense of patriotism between Memorial Day and Independence Day – a perfect time to raise awareness for a cause that helps survivors of deceased military personnel.”

Beginning on May 1, 2013 and through July 31, 2013, a portion of all sales proceeds of Riunite wines will be donated to TAPS by Banfi Vintners.

“Memorial Day is the unofficial start of the summer,” said Dellavecchia, “Yet it’s important to remember the holiday’s origin. This partnership serves as a reminder to honor American service members who lost their lives protecting the freedoms we all enjoy – and empowers everyone to help these families.”

Toward that end, Riunite is offering consumers the opportunity to donate their Mail-in-Refund to TAPS, and a mobile-donation platform enables anyone with a smart phone to text ‘TAPS’ to 50555 and automatically donate $10. This mobile donation feature is also accessible through QR codes distributed at wine shops nationwide, as well as via ‘Donate Now’ buttons on the Riunite and TAPS websites and Facebook pages.

“In addition to in-store displays and traditional advertising running through and beyond July 4th, we will leverage our social media channels to encourage donations,” said Dellavecchia, citing that messaging will be frequently sent to Riunite’s Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest fans.

About Banfi Vintners Banfi Vintners was founded in New York in 1919 by John F. Mariani, Sr. and built into America’s leading wine marketer for the past four decades by his children and grandchildren, who are also proprietors of the Castello Banfi vineyard estate in Montalcino, Tuscany; Vigne Regali Cellars in Strevi, Piedmont; and Pacific Rim Winery of Columbia’s Washington Valley.

About TAPS Since its founding in 1994 by bereaved military families, TAPS has helped more than 40,000 grieving military family members and their caregivers. TAPS provides peer-based emotional support, grief and trauma resources, seminars for adults, Good Grief Camps for children, connections to community-based care, casualty casework assistance, and a 24/7 resource and information help line for all who have been affected by a death in the Armed Forces. Services are provided free of charge. For more information go to www.taps.org or call the toll-free resource and information help line at 800.959.TAPS (8277).

Media Contacts: For Riunite: Lars Leicht, Vinum Communications, (801) 50-VINUM, news@vinumcomm.com For TAPS: Ami Neiberger-Miller, 202.588.8277, ami@taps.org

Turrentine Brokerage announced yesterday its annual Crop Contest:

Make your best prediction of total tonnage (in listed varieties) and you may be awarded a beautiful plaque, international acclaim and a bottle of sparkling wine! All entries must be in by August 30th to be eligible.

Some of last year's winners included:

Cameron Hughes
Cameron Hughes Wine

John Pritchard
Constellation Wines

Craig Rous
Bear Creek Winery

Michael Brughelli
Bien Nacido Vineyards

Today, the TTB announced that it has issued new regulations allowing for voluntary "serving facts" statements on wine, beer and spirits. I gather that most wine industry executives weren't thrilled with the idea. It's a victory for Diageo, though, as the drinks giant has been calling for this option for ten years.