On Tuesday morning of this week, Wine Business Monthly and Silicon Valley Bank will be hosting a live video conference on Tasting Rooms, CRM, Direct Sales, and Wine Clubs. We've had over 500 wineries participate in the survey and found some really interesting information that you can use to benchmark your own winery's performance. Its being offered gratis and I hope you can join in.

For the fourth consecutive year, British Columbia wines performed brilliantly at a top California wine competition.

In Napa County, vintners and growers trade groups are concerned about a coalescing county climate action plan (countyofnapa.org/CAP) that includes specific numerical targets for greenhouse gas reduction.

The Delta Plan recommends improved efficiency, more storage, the development of other local water supplies, protection of Delta farmlands and communities, and the improvement of Delta levees. It will also incorporate as state law the yet to be completed Bay Delta Conservation Plan.

The "Delta Plan," adopted Thursday as state law by the Delta Stewardship Commission, is fatally flawed, says a nonprofit water group based in Santa Barbara.

Although Napa County has filed three lawsuits against local wineries in recent months regarding permit compliance, these cases do not represent a campaign against vintners, county officials said this week.

Wines of India has confirmed that it will be at this year's London International Wine Fair for the third year running.

It was like Armaggedon in LCBO stores across the province on Thursday and that's exactly what the spin masters wanted to see. Everyone waited with bated breath while being told "talks are continuing in hopes of averting the strike, but if no deal is reached then the strike is on as of 12:01 a.m. Friday." Yikes.

Sainsbury's, a UK-based firm with chain of supermarkets, plans to double the sales of low-alcohol wines in the country by 2020 to meet the growing demand and to follow government's Responsibility Deal.

The purchase, which is the first for GEI in wine industry, includes 11-acre estate winery and vineyard property, tasting room and a Tudor-style estate home.

Delegates at Harpers' California Summit on June 4 will be able to get exclusive insights into how the big Californian wine brands are promoting their products, thanks to analysis of promotional activity by brand-tracking specialists Brand View.

Dom Pérignon has released its 2004 Blanc vintage from a 'near-perfect' harvest.

Winemaker Michel Chapoutier has called for water to be re-introduced to winemaking to help counter rising alcohol levels.

Rhône winemaker Michel Chapoutier has raised questions about a recent report into the effect of climate change on vineyards by 2050, saying the authors showed a "lack of basic wine knowledge".

Recent comments by wine consultant Stephan Derenoncourt have inflamed a quiet but growing criticism of the way Bordeaux conducts its annual primeurs tastings.

The Campaign for Real Ale (Camra) has launched the new edition of its Good Bottled Beer Guide, which features over 1,800 bottle-conditioned beers.

Bordeaux consultant Olivier Dauga on his regrets on not becoming a professional rugby player, desire to be James Bond and drinking Sauternes with Edith Piaf.

More than 3,000 bottles of wine have been sailed into London by a new company keen to demonstrate the environmental benefits of old-fashioned wind power.

New price releases are being met by an increasingly small pool of buyers in the Bordeaux 2012 campaign.

Gentry becomes marketing manager at Oakville Ranch Vineyards; Meet the Women for WineSense Wine industry experts

Influential critics have long played an important role in our discovery of many of life's pleasures but are noticeably absent from others. Ardent fans of the movies, theater, literature and other areas of interest often look to familiar and trusted critics for guidance in unearthing new products and adventures as they emerge.

Many wineries have installed solar power, but two recent announcements deserve mention.

"New Jersey was a revelation." Linda Murphy is talking about wine.

For the red wine lover looking to choose a wine that possesses more finesse than power, Volnay on the label offers a good signpost.

Move over, Bacchus Capital Management: There's another private equity firm entering the wine market.

A pro-development group in Smith County has started collecting the required number of signatures on petitions to place limited beer and wine sales on the November ballot for the current boundaries of Smith County JP 4.

How do judges pick out the best wines? Gord Stimmell walks readers through the 19th tasting for the Ontario wine awards. Reassuringly, blind-tasting is the foundation of the judgements.

The $10 rosé is not totally gone, but is much more scarce, I'm afraid.

Young South African producers are producing complex, nuanced wines on a boutique scale: seek them out if you can.

The California Association of Winegrape Growers says the bill, AB 263, threatens a business with the loss of all licenses and authorizes a $10,000 penalty per employee for any retaliation or discrimination.

British Columbia winegrape-growers enjoyed a record harvest and a return to normal in 2012, according to the province's annual crop report.

How did the decision to move aggressively into Pinot come about, especially given the softness in luxury wines during the recession?

The U.S. laid down a firm challenge to traditional French supremacy as the International Wine & Spirit Competition unveiled its 2013 northern hemisphere wine results.

Carlile Winery & Vineyards has outgrown its Santa Rosa custom-winemaking facility, so it is sort of swapping places with Windsor-based Robert Mueller Winery.

The full House is expected to take up the bill in June

A few days after the massive Bottlerock music festival in Napa, staff at some of the wineries that participated were a bit groggy but still singing the praises of the event