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16 WINES&VINES January 2016 Denver firm buys Oregon winery Integrated Beverage Group (IBG) of Denver, Colo., acquired Stone Wo l f V i n e y a rd s i n McMinnville, Ore. Founded by the Lindsay family in 1998, the winery n o w p r o d u c e s a r o u n d 3 7 , 0 0 0 cases and is best k n o w n f o r i t s Rascal Pinot Noir. IBG's other wine b r a n d s i n c l u d e Cara Mia from Italy and the Cali- fornia wines Reaper and Chime. Wine commission donates to WSU The Washington State Wine Com- mission pledged $200,000 to Wash- ington State University in December, with the funds going to benefit viti- culture and enology research. WSU is the site of the new Ste. Michelle Wine Estates Wine Science Center (see story on page 122). The other Other Guys Sonoma, Calif.-based wine and spirits company The Other Guys officially changed its name to 3 Badge Beverage Corp. effective Jan. 1. The company's wine brands will retain their names, including Hey Mambo, Leese-Fitch, Plung- erhead and others. Zaca Mesa owner to sell property Zaca Mesa Winery owner John Cushman put his 750-acre property in the Santa Ynez Valley up for sale, including the 24,000-square-foot winemaking facility, tasting room and 150 acres of estate vineyards planted to Syrah, Grenache, Rous- sanne, Mourvedre and Viognier. Cushman purchased the property in 1972 and planted the first vines the following year. The site is per- mitted for wine production of up to 100,000 cases per year, according to the listing agent, although Zaca Mesa currently produces closer to 40,000 cases per year. Washington winery demolished by fire Cranberry Road Winery of West- port, Wash., was destroyed in a late November fire that caused an estimated $2 million in damage, according to local news sources. In addition to cranberry wine, the facility also produced beer through its Bogwater Brewery, which shared a location with the winery and was also devastated by the blaze. Weeks later the fire's cause was still unknown, although owner Chris Tiffany said he hoped to rebuild in 2016. TTB approves Snake River Valley The U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco, Tax and Trade Bureau established the Eagle Foothills American Viticultural Area (AVA) in Idaho, making it the first sub-AVA of Snake River Val- ley (which spans the Idaho-Oregon border) and the first AVA to have boundaries completely inside Idaho state lines. The AVA totals 49,815 acres and is currently home to 69 vineyard acres. According to the Idaho Wine Commission, plans exist to plant an additional 450 acres of vines in the newly desig- nated region. UCCE: Protect streams from fire residue Advisors from the University of Cali- fornia Cooperative Extension are encouraging winery and vineyard owners affected by the 2015 wild- fires to take steps against soil ero- sion during the rainy season. Ash and fire debris could clog streams following rainstorms (see story on page 18), UCCE experts warn. Placing hay bales in the path of storm water and using cover crops can help protect against erosion. Truett-Hurst sues to remain in winery H.D.D. LLC, parent company of the Truett-Hurst wine company, filed a lawsuit against Hambrecht Wine Group in Sonoma County Superior Court in an effort to avoid eviction from the winery and tasting room property it occupies in the Russian River Valley. The lease on the 14- acre property is scheduled to expire in late February. House OKs port legislation The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill requiring the Bureau of Transportation Statistics to col- lect data about the performance of ports and make recommendations. The regulations come months after labor negotiations brought imports and exports to a near halt in sev- eral West Coast port cities, leaving shipments of wine stranded in large shipping containers and harvest and crush equipment undelivered. COOL gets left out in the cold U.S. wine industry trade groups cheered Dec. 18, as Congressional lawmakers voted to approve an omnibus appropriations bill that included language to repeal the Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) act, which mandated that meat from outside the United States be identified on its label. Trade officials in Canada had promised re- taliatory tariffs if COOL was not revoked, with U.S. wine identified as a target for the tariffs. See page 17. North Coast counties escape California groundwater crisis Groundwater levels in Napa, S o n o m a , L a k e a n d M e n - docino counties have fared better during the years-long West Coast drought. Accord- ing to measurements from wells in Napa County, the majority of readings stayed stable or increased between spring 2014 and spring 2015, with slight losses identified in the Carneros region and the Milliken-Sarco-Tulocay Creeks area east of Napa. See page 18. LATEST NEWS More detail on the news at winesandvines.com Top Stories The month in perspective