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A U G U S T N E W S Top Stories The month in perspective Wineries act ahead of Canadian spam law A new Canadian anti-spam law that went into effect July 1 prompted a flurry of messages from companies asking consumers to "opt in" to their email lists. While U.S. anti- spam law is based on an "opt-out" premise that puts the onus on con- sumers to notify companies they don't want to receive marketing ma- terials, the Canadian law requires companies to ask permission first. the law extends to any message ac- cessed in Canada. Winemaker faces theft charges hill Wine Co. founder Jeff hill was ordered to appear in Napa County Superior Court in July to appoint a bankruptcy trustee. hill is no longer involved with the eponymous winery, which faces its own legal troubles, having filed for bankruptcy in April citing a list of creditors that read like a who's who of the wine industry. French vineyards hit by hail Multiple French winegrowing re- gions were hit by hail in June and July, a situation one grower dubbed "a catastrophe." hail storms wiped out more than 35,000 acres of vineyards in Bordeaux, Burgundy, Cognac and languedoc-Roussillon. the damage comes on the heels of a problematic 2013 harvest, when growers saw fungal problems, trou- ble ripening fruit and low yields. Donation funds building for SSU Wine Business Institute Marvin Shanken, editor and pub- lisher of the Wine Spectator, do- nated $3 million to Sonoma State University's Wine Business Insti- tute, the university announced July 7. the money will be used to construct the Wine Spectator learn- ing Center, a 15,000-square-foot structure that will house the insti- tute, which attracted 600 students in 2013. the building is expected to be completed in mid-2016. Water-rights verdict a blow to Russian River growers the California State Court of Ap- peals in late June reversed a de- cision that protected the ability of Russian River water-rights holders to use sprinklers to combat springtime frost in spite of restrictions imposed by the State Water Resources Con- trol Board. the Mendocino County farmers involved in the suit were given 40 days to appeal the ruling to the California Supreme Court. Oregon Vineyard Supply pulls herbicide from shelves Oregon Vineyard Supply announced its decision to halt the sale of so- called growth-regulator herbicides, citing the likelihood of drift and damage in Oregon vineyards. OVS will no longer sell the products, which mimic the action of natural plant hormones known as auxins. the hormones regulate growth, but in sufficient concentrations they disrupt biochemical pathways and cause a plant's death. Broken bottles prompt Coravin to issue protective sleeve the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission approved a recall of the Coravin wine-access system that uses a thin, hollow needle to extract wine from a closed bottle while add- ing argon to fill the head space. Re- ports of 13 bottles breaking during use of the device prompted Coravin to issue a "repair kit," which in- cludes a neoprene bottle sleeve. Grapevine moth found in Sonoma County the Sonoma County Agricultural Division on July 3 reported the dis- covery of a single male european grapevine moth (eGVM) in a vine- yard trap located in the western Sonoma County town of Cazadero, Calif. A quarantine will not occur unless additional eGVM are found within 3 miles of the detection site. Additional traps were immediately deployed in the area at the rate of 100 per square mile. FTC clears path for acquisition of Saint-Gobain With a vote of 3-1-1, the Federal trade Commission in late June ap- proved Ardagh Group's application to divest the six glass manufactur- ing plants that comprise Anchor Glass Business, clearing the way for the acquisition of Saint-Gobain in a merger valued at $1.7 billion. Glass Container Acquisition, a division of KPS Capital Partners, purchased the glass plants. Pesticide drift suspected in Central Valley San Joaquin County agriculture officials announced July 11 that they were investigating a report of pesticide drift caused by the aerial application of herbicides sprayed about 10 miles west of lodi, Calif. According to the county, "Multiple growers downwind of Webb tract and Bouldin Island complained of crop damage," and samples col- lected from several different crops "were found to be positive for both imazapyr and glyphosate residues at very low levels." eight noted american wine regions representing nearly 2,000 win- eries banded together to oppose the implementation of Internet domain names .wine, .vin and .vino, fearing unscrupulous operators might reserve names to extort money or hijack potential customers and sell them other wines. See page 14. after years of lobbying, one of the largest wine markets in the United States is finally open to direct-to-consumer shipments. Massachusetts approved a provision for wine shipping in a state budget bill on July 11. See page 15. a rapid start to the growing season had California's grapevines reaching milestones several weeks ahead of schedule, but state viticulturists said temperatures regulated in early July, bringing coastal vineyards closer to average as they reached véraison. See page 15. employees at treasury Wine estates' U.S. properties including Beringer Vineyards in Napa Valley are preparing for the 2014 harvest under a cloud of pending layoffs and rumors that tWe could be subject to an acquisition or spinoff of some of its U.S. holdings. See page 16. Experts credit Drew Bledsoe for opening Massachusetts to direct wine shipments. Latest NeWs More detail on the news at: winesandvines.com Construction of the Wine Spectator Learning Center will begin in late 2015. tlCD ARChIteCtURe FRee the GRAPeS! W i n e s & V i n e s A U G U s T 2 0 1 4 13