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DE CEMBER NEWS News Briefs CALIFORNIA apporo Metz to lead Santa Cruz growers group Megan Metz, the for- mer executive direc- tor of the Mendocino County Winegrape and Wine Commission, is the new executive direc- Tokyo Nagoya tor of the Santa Cruz Mountain Winegrow- ers Association. Metz will oversee the asso- ciation's operations, promotions and staff. New staff at Lodi commission Matthew Hoffman is the new grower pro- gram coordinator for the Lodi Winegrape Commission, and Jenny Heitman is the new marketing and communications coor- dinator. Details: lodiwine.com. Winery releases 'Marilyn Meritage' Napa vintner Marilyn Mer- lot has released its first vin- tage of Marilyn Meritage, a blend of 58% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc, 6% Malbec and 3% Petit Verdot. Details: marilynwines.com. CAWG hires director of government relations Brenda Coleman, the former policy advo- cate for the California Chamber of Com- merce, is the new government relations director for the California Association of Winegrape Growers. Coleman will moni- tor state public policy issues and repre- sent the association before the California Legislature. Grgich Hills names marketing director Randy Martinsen is the new marketing director at Grgich Hills Estate winery in Napa Valley. Martinsen is the former CEO and senior consul- tant at BudgetWorks Inc. and the interim CEO for the Napa Chamber of Commerce. Details grgich.com. 20 WINES & VINES DECEMBER 2012 Wines & Vines welcomes news items from wineries, vineyards and industry suppliers located in the wine regions of North America. Send us your latest news by emailing Andrew Adams at edit@winesandvines.com. Items may be edited for clarity and brevity. has established his own vineyard and pri- vate label, Upchurch Vineyard. Upchurch's inaugural release was a 2010 Cabernet Sau- vignon. Details: up- churchvineyard.com. Phelps releases single-vineyard Syrah Joseph Phelps Vineyards winery in Napa released its first vineyard-designate Syrah, sourced from the Larry Hyde & Sons Vineyard in the Carneros area of Napa Valley. The winery has produced a varietal Syrah since 1974 but, according to a state- ment released by the winery, this is the first to come from a single vine- yard. Details: josephphelps. com. Crushpad now The Wine Foundry The company that acquired the assets of defunct custom crush winery Crushpad Inc. is now running the business under the name The Wine Foundry. Castlegate Capi- tal Advisors LLC purchased the remnants of Crushpad at an auction in August. The new owners moved the company to a new location in Sonoma, Calif., and will offer winemaking and barrel storage for clients as well as sales support, legal compliance services and logistics. Details: thewine- foundry.com. NORTHWEST Effort to build local support for Idaho wine The Idaho Wine Com- mission initiated the "I Support Idaho Wines" campaign to fuel lo- cal demand for the state's wines. Funds raised through the campaign will be used to help market and promote Idaho wines, assist Idaho wineries in submitting their wines to competitions and help pay for wine education scholarships, according to a statement released by the commission. Details: idahowines.org. DeLille partner starts own brand Thomas Upchurch, the executive wine- maker, vineyard manager and partner of DeLille Cellars in Woodinville, Wash., CENTRAL Winery hosts U.S. senators Easley Winery in Indianapolis, Ind., hosted U.S. Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Gra- ham as well as Indiana state treasurer Rich- ard Mourdock as part of a round-table dis- cussion about the role of small businesses in the U.S. economy. Easley winery, found- ed in 1974, is the oldest family-owned winery in In- diana and pro- duces most of its wine from grapes grown in the state. Details: easley- winery.com. Purdue gets $6 million for robotics study Researchers at Purdue University received $6 million to study how to automate vineyard and apple orchard pruning. The U.S. Department of Agriculture chipped in $3 million, which was matched with monies from the private sector and insti- tutional funds, according to a statement released by the school. The first part of the project is to improve an automated vine pruner developed by Vision Robotics of San Diego, Calif. Pulled with a tractor, the prototype travels over grapevines and uses robotic arms guided by a computer to prune vines. New winery opens in Missouri Apple Creek Vineyard & Winery in Fried- heim, Mo., opened to the public in early November. Douglas and Patricia Hunt along with their daughter and son-in-law Matthew and Shellie Gamel planted their first vines in 2006 and finished building