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14 WINES&VINES June 2016 WILL BUCQUOY TTB approves Lewis-Clark Valley AVA Federal regulators approved an adjustment to the Columbia Val- ley AVA (American Viticultural Area) in Washington state that will allow creation of the Lewis-Clark Valley AVA. Lewis-Clark Valley comprises approximately 307,000 acres, in- cluding approximately 57,000 acres seceded from the Columbia Val- ley to avoid an overlap with the new AVA, which is home to just 80 acres of vineyard. The plantings are small, being spread among 16 vineyards, and include a wide range of grapes—23 varieties in all—pri- marily red varieties such as Mer- lot and Cabernet Sauvignon, with Riesling being the leader among white varieties. Sonoma County Barrel Auction up 50% The Sonoma County Barrel Auc- tion, the second annual trade auc- tion hosted by the Sonoma County Vintners, raised $693,800 on April 29, an increase of more than 50% over its inaugural year. The auc- tion included 75 unique Sonoma County wine lots tasted by a group of masters of wine and master som- meliers. More than 250 members of the licensed wine trade attended the event at the Vintners Inn in Santa Rosa, Calif. Kosta Browne's "The KB Elixir," a Pinot Noir com- prised of 50% Russian River Val- ley and 50% Sonoma Coast fruit, fetched the highest bid of the day at $46,000 ($383 per bottle). Pro- ceeds from the barrel auction sup- port marketing by Sonoma County Vintners and its AVA partners. eBay announces retail wine sales Online auction giant eBay an- nounced it had partnered with re- tailer network Drync to offer 10,000 wines through the new eBay Wine venture. The new platform eschews direct sales from wineries in lieu of selling through Drync's network of wine retailers. The venture will utilize a direct-shipping model fa- miliar to consumers who have or- dered through wine clubs or tasting rooms. Consumers in 45 states can purchase wine and have it shipped to them through the site, and some items are available to pick up at local stores. Brown seeks to make restrictions permanent As water districts implored the state of California to ease Gov. Jerry Brown's executive order implemented in April 2015, dur- ing the West Coast's four-year drought, Brown and the lead - ers of several state agencies on May 9 announced their intent to retain some of the regulations in perpetuity. Under the plan, water districts serving 10,000 or more acres would be required to file Ag- riculture Water Management Plans (the current minimum is 25,000 acres), which would nearly double the number of districts required to file. The order also required high- risk water agencies to implement groundwater monitoring. Suit accuses BevMo! of misleading consumers Southern California attorney Scott Glovsky announced a class-action lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Supe- rior Court alleging that alcohol re- tailer BevMo! deceived shoppers including plaintiff Stephanie Liang with "bait-and-switch" marketing materials. According to the filing, multiple BevMo! stores featured off- premise marketing materials that advertised wine scores and awards given for vintages other than what was being offered on the shelf. Owners to sell Barrel Oak Winery Barrel Oak Winery in Delaplane, Va., went on the market for $13.95 million, according to Brian Roeder, who owns the property with his wife and investors. According to Virginia Estates, which is handling the list- ing, the property is 70 acres includ- ing a vineyard planted to vinifera and hybrid cultivars. Barrel Oak owns 33 acres of vineyards and produces 10,000 cases per year of table and dessert wines, according to Wines Vines Analytics. Kroger nixes 'pay for placement' shelving plan Censured by the Alcohol and To- bacco Tax and Trade Bureau, U.S. grocery chain Kroger scrapped its plan to permit the nation's largest alcohol distributor to oversee the placement of alcoholic beverages (including wine) in its stores, which many believed would have encour- aged distributors and suppliers to pay slotting fees for favorable placement. Third-party "plano- gram" provider Private Label Mar- keting will instead oversee alcohol placement in the chain's stores. Frost hits Wisconsin vineyards A late spring frost event devastated vines in Wisconsin the night of May 15. Speaking to Channel 3000, Wollersheim Winery owner Philippe Coquard said that the event killed 80% of his red wine varieties, 20% of white wine grapes and extended far beyond his winery. There are 100 wineries in Wisconsin, ac- cording to Wines Vines Analytics, and the most popular wine grape varieties are Frontenac, Marquette and Marechal Foch, according to the USDA. California bill would clip wine coupons A measure that would drastically inhibit opportunities for wineries and retailers to provide discounts to consumers won unanimous ap- proval in California when it passed from committee to the Senate floor. Among its provisions, the state legislation would ban paper coupons and electronic "scan- backs" for in-store purchases and bar retroactive rebates from win- eries for products that don't sell fast enough. Mail-in rebates would still be allowed. California's Wine Institute (WI) co-sponsored the bill, which was authored by state Sen. Cathleen Galgiani of Stockton. Winery sales not slowing down The hot mergers and acquisitions market showed no signs of cool- ing this spring, as nine buyers announced total or partial acqui- sition of U.S. wineries. The assets involved in the transactions varied from wine brands to winemaking facilities to vineyards and tasting rooms. See page 15. Tax bill would help small wineries and sparkling houses Producers of sparkling wine as well as still wines with more than 14% alcohol would benefit from a bill introduced by two U.S. rep- resentatives earlier this year. H.R. 4934 would lower the excise tax on sparkling wine from $3.40 per gallon to $1.70 per gallon and expand tax credits for small wine producers. See page 16. LATEST NEWS More detail on the news at winesandvines.com Top Stories The month in perspective Stryker Sonoma