In a preemptive measure, Wine.com opened an online marketplace on Monday for third-party sellers to sell and distribute their wines amid reports that Amazon is planning to launch a similar business later this year.

Vice president and general manager Bob Brock, a 14-year veteran there, is now in charge of the daily grind, with national sales manager Spurlock, a veteran of the Kendall Jackson and Forest Glen wineries in California, spearheading growth for the sweeter Chaddsford wines - a newer focus for the vintner- into regional markets.

But regulators appear to have backed off some requirements that could have greatly boosted the cost to farmers

After millions of East Coast residents were left without power in the post-Sandy aftermath last week, restaurants stepped in to help provide relief to customers, from serving food and supplying power to raising funds for recovery efforts

A Diageo PLC subsidiary will be barred from selling its "Stark Raving" wines in Sonoma County, Calif.

Through research over the last 15 years at Rio Farms Inc. and the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and the work of determined growers like Jorge Jaber, wine-grape production is mushrooming in a region where many once thought it impossible.

Sylvie Cazes, president of the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux and co-owner of Chateau Lynch Bages, will be stepping down from her role as director of Chateau Pichon Comtesse de Lalande, it was announced yesterday.

The signs so far in 2012 indicate more difficult times ahead for the global economy and on-going challenges for the beverages industry.

Conflict arising from proliferating events at wineries pushed the Board of Supervisors to propose setting a moratorium on adding new events at wineries before new rules could be put in place.

Most grapes have been brought in from the vineyards, though a few outliers still hang on the vines, waiting for tank space to open up in wineries that have absorbed more grapes than expected over and over again since harvest began 12 weeks ago.

The proposal includes developing a vineyard and wine production facility, including a 3,000-square-foot tasting room in Santa Barbara

The Commission named Matthew Hoffman its grower program coordinator and promoted Jenny Heitman to marketing and communications coordinator.

With the wine market in China evolving - as more middle-class drinkers uncork modestly priced imports while demand for top-tier Bordeaux cools - French winemakers are following their New World counterparts in looking to occupy the Chinese mid-market.

Moran, who was wine controller at WaverleyTBS prior to its collapse last month, will look after the Sainsbury's and Waitrose accounts for the company.

Naked Wines opened its doors to the public recently with a daylong sampling of its wines, live music and a barbeque.

The vineyard, first planted in 2006, includes 6 acres and six varieties of grapes. Wine is produced on-site by vintner Matt Gamel.

Opening weekend festivities include tastings of wine, beer and gourmet food;First 500 shoppers in line before 9 a.m. to receive gift bag valued at $50

Want a sign the recession is receding? After several dry years, serious writing is afoot about wine and spirits.

A wine label should communicate your brand, your uniqueness and increase the perceived value of your wine. A wine label is your biggest piece of advertising and the first contact most people will have with your wine. I

Wineries are increasingly adopting the mystery shopper practice as a way to identify opportunities to drive more sales in the profitable direct-to-consumer channel. Shoppers are paid $40 for the visit, their tasting is comped, and sometimes bottle purchases are comped, depending on the winery.

As volunteers mobilize to reach the areas hardest hit by Hurricane Sandy, groups across the city are organizing benefits to raise money for victims of the devastating storm.

Classic Winemakers, a 10-year-old micro-winery that has relatively new owners, has moved to downtown Olympia from Lacey, completing an upgraded picture for a recently renovated building and a corner downtown.

An electrical contractor from Mudgee has been fined for failing to appropriately supervise and direct a worker who died on the job from severe electric shock.

The measure is part of a wider ban on alcohol advertising that comes into force on Jan. 1 next year, which itself is just one element in the biggest crackdown on drinking and smoking since the end of the Cold War.

"Because we've now protected the areas, it's a great opportunity for people to come into McLaren Vale and see the vineyards and the produce through here, rather than urban sprawl gobbling up all the historic sites."

The use of new French oak, and sometimes barrels that have been deliberately charred, will impart coffee characteristics into red wine.

Some Central Otago vineyards have lost as much as 50 percent of their crop after devastating frosts hit the region over the weekend - and the fight against unseasonably heavy frosts is not over yet.

The company has partnered with southern Oregon-based Pallet Wine winemaker Linda Donovan to develop a collection of wines that includes five reds and four whites.

With voters' decision to privatize liquor last Nov. with I-1183, the state is out of the liquor business and private companies have full-reign of the liquor-selling playing field.

Two important international wine meetings will be held in Auckland this week - the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Wine Regulatory Forum and the World Wine Trade Group meeting.

Wine grower associations from 15 EU member states will gather in Brussels this week to lobby against a European Commission reform that would increase vineyard plantings.

John Shafer and his family brought a surprisingly haphazard and improvisational approach to learning the winery trade, but Jay McInerney finds that the results are some of Napa Valley's finest wines.

it hasn't exactly been an easy transition, and because of that today Spokane Attorney Kevin Roberts filed a lawsuit on behalf of several current and former liquor stores

After decades of resistance, Utah, a state run by teetotalers, discovered alcohol and found it was good, or at least profitable

Chile should focus on Cabernet Franc for its future fine wines according to Santa Rita winemaker Carlos Gatica, following plantings in a newly-created region.

Chef Charlie Trotter's famed wine collection is going, going and soon to be gone in the next month at a Christie's New York auction

On Monday, the government said it would give the green light to three more privately-owned liquor stores - one in Regina and two in Saskatoon.

The Niagara College Teaching Winery is in the spotlight this month after receiving an international wine award and recognition as one of the country's leading wineries

Wine.com, the nation's leading online wine retailer, today launched the Wine.com Marketplace, which will allow domestic and imported wines with limited distribution channels the opportunity to reach additional consumers in the United States.

Hot on the heels of the San Francisco Giants' world championship 2012 season and World Series win, Ledson Winery is re-releasing limited quantities of its wine collaboration featuring legendary former San Francisco Giants baseball player and Hall of Famer, Orlando Cepeda.