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14 Wines&Vines February 2015 New investors for Kosta Browne The investment firm J.W. Childs Associates acquired The Vincraft Group's stake in Kosta Browne Wines of Sebastopol, Calif. J.W. Childs is a private-equity firm based in Boston, Mass., that has invested more than $3 billion since its found- ing in 1995. Vincraft made its in- vestment in Kosta Browne in 2009, and that deal funded the construc- tion of a winery and the purchase of the company's first estate vineyard, the 20-acre Keefer Ranch property. John Childs is the majority inves- tor in CIRQ Estate winery, which Michael Browne founded in 2008, and CIRQ Estate will be part of the new partnership. Burglars nab wine from French Laundry Thieves broke into three-Michelin- star restaurant French Laundry in Yountville, Calif., on Christmas Day and made off with 76 bottles of wine worth $300,000. A gardener at the property discovered the break- in the following morning. Investiga- tors believe the burglars targeted certain bottles and already had a buyer for them. Terlato purchases Pope Valley vineyard The Terlato family announced its acquisition of the Juliana Vineyard in Napa County's Pope Valley. The Terlato family previously had a long-term lease on the Juliana Vine- yard and developed the vineyard in 1998. The property is planted principally to Merlot and Cabernet Franc, which is used in Rutherford Hill Merlot and select Rutherford Hill Bordeaux-style blends. In addi- tion to Juliana Vineyard, the Terla- tos' Napa Valley vineyard properties include the 66-acre Mee Lane Vine- yard in Rutherford and the 119-acre Chimney Rock estate winery. New York bans fracking Citing risks to public health, New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo an- nounced a ban on hydraulic frac- turing (also known as fracking) to extract natural gas Dec. 17. Con- cerns about drilling flared up in the Finger Lakes wine region recently when dozens of citizens were ar- rested for blocking the entrance to salt caverns near Watkins Glen, N.Y., where natural gas was being stored. NASA details California water needs Using satellite data, the National Aeronautics and Space Adminis- tration (NASA) determined that California needs 11 trillion gallons of water to bounce back from a three-year period of drought. NASA scientist Jay Famiglietti announced the discovery—the first-ever calcu- lation of its type—at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco. According to the agency, "About two-thirds of the loss is due to depletion of groundwater be- neath California's Central Valley." St. Helena residents oppose winery expansion Residents of St. Helena, Calif., who oppose a local winery expansion filed a lawsuit against the town and its city council in Napa Supe- rior Court. Using the name Citizens' Voice St. Helena, the plaintiffs al- lege that the expansion at Davies Family Winery (whose owner Hugh Davies also is named in the suit) vi- olates the California Environmental Quality Act and service commercial zoning ordinance. Quake damage estimates reach $1 billion Boston, Mass.-based risk-manage- ment firm Karen Clark & Co. issued a report estimating damages from the Aug. 24 earthquake south of Napa, Calif., at $1 billion, with only $100 million covered by insurance policies. Around 60% of the total damages were to commercial and industrial buildings, according to the report. Findings from the new report were more than double previ- ous estimates. Treasury CEO hints at acquisition Michael Clarke, CEO of Treasury Wine Estates (the owner of Beringer Vineyards and Chateau St. Jean), announced in Treasury's annual meeting that he would consider selling or retiring some of the company's lower priced U.S. wine brands in favor of acquiring a busi- ness with access to more premium wine grapes. He added that the United States was one of the com- pany's growth markets. Comité Champagne sues 'Champagne Jayne' The legal dispute between wine ed- ucator Jayne Powell and the Comité Interprofessionnel du Vin de Cham- pagne was put on hold pending mediation in Melbourne (Australia) Federal Court. The Comité Cham- pagne, which accused Powell of trademark infringement, alleged that by using the moniker Cham- pagne Jayne, Powell could "dam- age the reputation and goodwill that the name Champagne has." Direct-to-consumer (DtC) shipping enjoyed substantial growth in 2014, as the value of DtC shipments grew 15% to reach $1.8 billion, according to new data from Wines & Vines and ShipCompliant. The volume of DtC wine shipments grew 13.6% to 3.9 million cases as consumer shipments of Pinot Noir surged 22%, and Oregon wineries experienced a boost in DtC popularity. See page 15. Massachusetts opened to DtC wine shipments effective Jan. 1, pushing the share of U.S. residents eligible to legally receive wine deliveries to 90%. While a mandatory common-carrier license is still an impediment to delivery companies, Federal Express already has licensed trucks to start delivering wine around The Bay State starting Feb. 1. See page 16. Latest NeWs More detail on the news at winesandvines.com Top Stories the month in perspective 'Champagne' Jayne Powell Juliana Vineyard NASA revealed that some California groundwater basins have lost 4 tril- lion gallons per year for three years.