Wines & Vines

April 2017 Oak Barrel Alternatives Issue

Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/804714

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 12 of 83

April 2017 WINES&VINES 13 WINE INDUSTRY NEWS PREMIERE: ALEXANDER RUBIN PHOTOGRAPHY / NAPA VALLEY VINTNERS Lake County winery changes hands Michael and Tanya Hat purchased 50,000-case Wildhurst Winery from Myron and Marilyn Holdenried, who started the winery in 1991. Based in Kelseyville, Calif., Wildhurst was one of the first wineries in Lake County, where the Wildhurst tasting room will remain open. The Holdenrieds will continue producing wine grapes at their Lake County vineyard. Vinexpo: Chinese wine consumption to best European countries Chinese wine sales are on target to reach $21.7 billion by 2020, accord- ing to Guillaume Deglise, CEO of Vinexpo. Per-capita consumption in the country is a paltry 1.34 liters per year, but with a population of nearly 1.4 billion, an increase of less than 0.2 liters per person per year would push the nation ahead of France and the United Kingdom in terms of sales, leaving it second only to the United States, Guillaume said. Delicato invests in V2 Wine Group Delicato Family Vineyards of Man- teca, Calif., announced a "strate- gic alliance" in V2 Wine Group of Sonoma, Calif., on March 7. Deli- cato is known for producing Gnarly Head, Z. Alexander Brown, Bota Box and the premium Napa Val- ley label Black Stallion. V2 Wine Group's brands include Dry Creek Vineyard, La Follette Wines, Mer- ryvale Family of Wines and Star- mont Winery, among others. Chris Indelicato, president and CEO of Delicato Family Vineyards, said when announcing the deal, "We plan to invest in growing the brands and the company that Dan and Katy (Leese) have built." Woodbridge Winery releases process water into river Woodbridge Winery of Lodi spilled more than 5 million gallons of wastewater (storm water mixed with winery process water) into the Mokelumne River before stopping the spill Feb. 15, according to the Lodi News-Sentinel. Millions more gallons of water were transported to a recycling or storage facility. The water release was prompted by pressure on a levee that, if broken, would have spilled even more wastewater into the stream, according to the winery. The Re- gional Water Quality Control Board will investigate. Washington sets record with 2016 crop A Washington State Wine Commis- sion report revealed that the 2016 wine grape harvest beat the previ- ous record set in 2014 by almost 20%. Cabernet Sauvignon led the state's 270,000-ton harvest, post- ing 71,000 tons of that varietal alone. Merlot was the second- most-harvested wine grape with 48,000 tons. While overall tonnage was up from 2015, Chardonnay fell behind the previous year's har- vest with 42,000 tons of the white wine grape crushed in the most re- cent season. Riesling also dipped slightly to 41,300 tons. State store revenue up despite grocery sales Sales grew by 5.7% in Pennsylva- nia's state-run liquor stores located near grocery stores that recently were permitted to sell wine, accord- ing to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board had projected sales to in- crease 7.5% at these stores between the last three months of 2015 and the same period in 2016, after grocery sales began. Pennsylvania started offering alcohol sales permits to gro- cery and convenience stores Aug. 8, 2016, when the state also opened to direct-to-consumer wine shipments. Premiere nets $4.2 million The Premiere Napa Valley auction held Feb. 25 raised $4.2 million for the Napa Valley Vintners, with most of the wine lots sourced from the low-yielding 2015 vintage. In ad- dition to the 21 st annual live auc- tion, an online auction generated $500,000 in sales from all over the world. The top-selling lots included cult favorite Scarecrow Wine, Alpha Omega, Arkenstone and Silver Oak Cellars. The wines are sold as unbottled futures, which will be hand-signed and numbered by the winemaker upon release. Minnesota liquor stores to open Sundays Minnesota Vikings fans will be able to purchase wine and beer on game day when the pre-season starts this fall. Gov. Mark Dayton signed legis- lation that will permit liquor stores in the state to open on Sundays starting July 2. Previously Sundays were off-limits for sales in the state, which also bars grocery stores from selling beverages containing more than 3.2% alcohol. Some grocers have attached liquor stores, but they must have separate entrances and hours are strictly monitored. Additionally, retailers are limited to one liquor license per city. Importer expands to West Coast New York wine importer Skurnik Wines & Spirits will establish an of- fice in San Francisco next month, according to Shanken News Daily. The company imports European wines from Germany, Austria, France and elsewhere. Brian Sypher will lead Skurnik Wines West, which may also include California and Or- egon wines in its portfolio. Trump challenges Obama-era water rule Farmers have been supportive of a Feb. 28 executive order promising to roll back a 2015 amendment to the Clean Water Act, which gives the Environmental Protection Agency authority over areas where water has pooled due to rain. Grapevine nursery owner John Duarte has been fighting the action, which he and others say is a government overreach. See page 14. LATEST NEWS More detail on the news at winesandvines.com Top Stories The month in perspective Merryvale

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of Wines & Vines - April 2017 Oak Barrel Alternatives Issue