Rhonda Smith, UC Cooperative Extension Viticulture Advisor, Sonoma County David Lewis, UC Cooperative Extension Watershed Management Advisor, Marin and Napa Counties

Marc Mondavi is standing in the middle of his vineyard, talking to two copper rods. "Find water," he tells them as he walks slowly down a row of vines holding the rods pointed in front of him.

Five liquor stores in Tarrant County would be sold by Centennial Beverage Group to Cheers Spirits & Liquors of Pilot Point as part of a deal submitted for approval in U.S. Bankruptcy Court

The Lake County Winegrape Commission is a primary partner, the group said. The initial effort will be funded by a grant by the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture and the California Dept. of Food and Agriculture

An Ottawa wine writer used reviews from other writers on her website without properly crediting them. And as if that's not ripe enough, a U.S. online wine magazine says she requires some wineries to buy a subscription to her website before she'll review their wines.

"MacLean feels comments about her posted to a U.S. website in December were so nasty that they have damaged her reputation and presented unnecessarily harsh personal descriptions of her. She is considering launching a lawsuit against some of her fellow wine writers in response."

Brisk mergers-and-acquisitions activity for North Coast wineries, vineyards and brands in 2012 is expected to continue into 2013, even if the estimated huge size of the recent harvest moderates supply pricing underlying a number of the deals, according to deal brokers

2012 was a perfect year for growing wine grapes

Wine Spectator pays homage

Fluctuating weather and warmer temperatures mean soon you may have to pay more for your favorite Bordeaux - if you can find it

Just in time for the New Year, a wine that costs almost as much as the average American home. Wine.com is selling one of 12 limited edition bottles of "Ampoules of Penfolds 2004 Block 42 Cabernet Sauvignon."

I've yet to tackle wine investment on this blog, so I'll definitely come back to this and the whole wine fund market next year

With access to the raw materials right nearby, Valentin and Nanette Humer have been making their Salute Santé! grape seed oils in Napa, Calif., for 15 years

Overwhelmingly, the word I'm hearing most often about the 2012 grape harvest is "normal." That's good news when you consider how challenging the 2010 and 2011 vintages played out in Washington. But more on that in a bit

The Idaho Wine Commission's "I Support Idaho Wines" campaign is the group's latest effort to increase local support of the state's booming industry

A look at wine sales in 2012 at major auction houses shows lower-than-expected results, while Bordeaux prices continued to slide. Meanwhile, Burgundy prices reached new highs, with record-breaking moments.

State Del. Sam Arora, D- Silver Spring, told the Washington Examiner that he wants to give kosher wine consumers "the ability to live out their faith." Arora's district has a large population of observant Jews

Clarksburg Wine Company president John Beckman said, "We are getting outstanding reports from the field about this wine, and now we get the judges to confirm their reactions. And the next two vintages are even better!"

Argentina should expect 26% growth over 2012 output for grapes, the country's National Wine Institute (INV) forecasted

The cost of liquor in Washington went up six months ago, right after the changeover, and has mostly stayed that way

June saw the passage of Bill C-311, an amendment to the 1928 Importation of Intoxicating Liquors Act that decriminalized interprovincial wine sales.

Sales this year through September fall 4.9% in France and 5% elsewhere in the EU compared with a year earlier. But exports rise 3%.

When it comes to sparkling wines it turns out there's cause for celebration. Wine experts at Consumer Reports tested 11 sparkling wines costing anywhere from $5 to $37.

Differences in the microbes present on grapes even in different parts of the same vineyard may contribute to flavor fluctuations

Any wine on any shelf in any store is an exercise in Darwinism. Look at some of the names of these wines. You think actors have a hard time getting noticed?

Same-store sales rose; Restaurant operators remain uncertain about the economy

Ontario will launch 10 pilot "LCBO Express" kiosks within grocery stores to make wine, beer and liquor purchases more convenient to customers,

"Tanzer played Phil Mickelson to Parker's Tiger Woods"

It isn't too late to add a resolution to the New Year's list, is it?

Befitting one of the world's leading wine regions, wine played prominently in the Top 10 Stories of 2012 selected by the Business Journal editorial staff

Knowledge is very important in informing your experience of wine.

Congress currently levies an excise tax worth $13.50 per gallon on all rum produced in or imported to the United States

The extraterrestrial terroir taste in Meteorito, a cabernet made at Chile's Tremonte winery, comes from a 4.5-billion-year- old meteorite from the asteroid belt between Jupiter and Mars.