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May 2015 WINES&VINES 29 WINE INDUSTRY NEWS at the winery and will remain a managing direc- tor at Bacchus, where he is responsible for the fund's Pacific Northwest portfolio. New sparkling winemaker for Michelle Woodinville, Wash.-based Domaine Ste. Michelle announced Paula Eakin is the new winemaker for Michelle, the com- pany's sparkling wine program. Eakin started her new role in April, fol- lowing the retirement of Rick Casqueiro, who held the post for nearly 20 years. Eakin worked with Casqueiro for the past two years and has more than 20 years of winemaking experience with Ste. Michelle Wine Estates. CENTRAL Oklahoma House approves direct shipping bill The Oklahoma House of Representatives passed a house joint resolu- tion to allow residents to arrange to have wine shipped to their homes from in-state and out- of-state wineries. If the state Senate approves the measure, it would need to be approved by voters in November. The bill would only allow a consumer to arrange a wine shipment in person at the winery. Arkansas lawmaker drops bid to outlaw California wine An Arkansas state Rep- resentative dropped his effort to ban Californian wine in the state as retribu- tion for California voters approving a 2008 measure that bans the sale of eggs from chickens held in small cages. That law was ex- panded in 2010 to include out-of-state egg produc- ers. Rep. Dan Douglas told the Associated Press he wouldn't send the bill to the state Senate even though it was approved 57-19 on March 26 in the Arkansas House of Rep- resentatives. "We made a point with the state of Cali- fornia," Douglas said. EAST Wine Trail donates to FLCC Wine Center The 35 winery members of the Seneca Lake Wine Trail each donated $1,000 to help fund the construction of the Finger Lakes Com- munity College Viticulture and Wine Center in Ge- neva. The $35,000 dona- tion will be matched by the state for a total of $70,000 to help cover the cost of the 8,900-square-foot building. FLCC launched its two-year viticulture and wine technology de- gree program in fall 2009. Construction on the center, which cost nearly $4 mil- lion, began in November of 2013. SUPPLIER Saxco names sales manager for Midwest Packaging supplier Saxco International announced Jason Craig is the com- pany's new regional sales manager for the southern Midwest region of the United States. Before join- ing Saxco, Craig was the supply chain manager for Amcor Rigid Plastics in Nicholasville, Ky. AgroThermal to work with Rainbow Valley in Oregon AgroThermal, which produces hot-air equip- ment for pest control and vineyard treatments, an- nounced it would sell its machines and services in Oregon through Pierre Paradis and Rainbow Val- ley Enterprises. Paradis' family owns 50 acres of vineyards near Silverton, Ore., and he launched the www.alainfouquet.com alainfouquet@aol.com AlainFouquet_Jul06 5/17/06 11:01 AM Page 1 ( ... and we can prove it ) All closure companies talk about controlled oxygen performance these days. Only VinPerfect offers real performance data and has a library of wines that allow you to taste the difference for yourself. Please contact us to experience the unmatched level of control offered by VinPerfect's SmartCaps, or to try them on your own wines. WINE'S FIRST PERFECT CLOSURE sales@vinperfect.com | (707) 252-2155 | www.vinperfect.com The Highest Quality Wine Closure Ever Created. Paula Eakin Jason Craig