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12 WINES&VINES July 2018 WINE INDUSTRY NEWS Auction Napa Valley tops $13 million The 38th annual Auction Napa Val- ley raised more than $13.6 million on June 2 at the Meadowood Napa Valley resort. The auction total in- cluded a $1 million contribution by Samantha Rudd in memoriam of her late father Leslie Rudd. The top lot, which featured four 6-liter Im- perials of Opus One wine and the opportunity for two couples to at- tend a masked ball at Versailles pal- ace, was doubled and sold for $1.4 million. Hosted by the Napa Valley Vintners, the auction raises money for a host of community service groups focused on child services and health care throughout Napa Valley. The event's barrel auction also saw an all-time record with a lot by VGS Chateau Potelle Winery in St. Helena selling for $114,300. Sonoma State opens new wine center The new Wine Spectator Learn- ing Center, which will serve as the headquarters of the Wine Business Institute of the School of Business and Economics at Sonoma State University in Rohnert Park, Calif., officially opened on May 29. The 15,000-square-foot center was a near-complete rebuild of the univer- sity's former University Commons building into what the school de- scribes as a modern center featuring three "advanced-technology" class- rooms, student commons area, café and garden. The center drew a total of $11 million in donations that in- cluded $3 million gift from the Wine Spectator Scholarship Foundation. "By bringing together business and community stakeholders from around the world, we expect this new facility will enable even more innovation, more advanced public policies, and better-trained leaders for a changing industry," Ray John- son, executive director of the insti- tute, said in a press release. Terlato names new chief operating officer Terlato Wine Group, which is based in Lake Bluff, Ill., and owns Chim- ney Rock, Rutherford Hill and other wine companies, announced San- dra LeDrew has been promoted to the new role of chief operating of- ficer. LeDrew will continue to man- age winery operations and take on the added responsibility of Terlato Wines International. LeDrew will re- port directly to president and CEO, Bill Terlato. Grand jury urges look at farmworker housing A Napa County Grand Jury recom- mended a current assessment of the need for farmworker housing in the county and that the county board of supervisors adopt a farmworker housing plan based on new data. In a report released June 5, the jury noted the county last published an assessment on needed housing in 2013 and that was based on 2012 data. While interviews with members of the industry led it to conclude that approximately 25% of the county's wine grape crop is now harvested by machine, some vintners insist on hand harvesting and harvest- ers can't be used on many hillside vineyards. The jury found it is also unclear how many agricultural work- ers live outside of the county and existing estimates of the number of farmworker jobs in the county range from 6,000 to 9,000. Because of an increased demand for workers, the jury found many workers want to re- side in Napa County and more than 30% of the vineyard workforce are women. The jury also recommended modifying the county code to allow farmworker housing centers to re- main open all year. BV allowed to expand tasting room Beaulieu Vineyard in Napa Valley earned approval from the county planning commission to host 100 more visitors to its tasting room per day for a total of up to 550 people per day, seven days a week. The winery, which is one of Napa's oldest operating wineries, was also granted permission to host events for up to 250 people. The winery had requested its daily visitor limit be increased as it is planning to move its hospitality center to a stone building dating back to the late 1800s. The winery also plans to seismically retrofit the building. A to Z wins B Corporation honor A to Z Wineworks in Dundee, Ore., announced it had won — for the fourth year in a row — "Best for the World" honors from the nonprofit B Corporation. The winery scored in the top 10% in three of six cat- egories related to B Corporation certification standards for social and environmental performance, accountability and transparency. A to Z is now producing around 400,000 cases per year. Union wine expanding on success of cans Tualtin, Ore.-based Union Wine Co. has nearly doubled its pro- duction of wine from more than 200,000 cases to nearly 450,000 largely on the strength of its Un- derwood canned wine. The com- pany, founded by Ryan Harms in 2005 now sells wine in 49 states and 12 international markets. The company also announced it hired Adam Coremin as vice president of sales. Prior to joining Union, Coremin was a senior vice presi- dent at Precept Wine Brands in Seattle, Wash., and also previ- ously managed brand building and marketing for Michael David Winery in Lodi, Calif. Union also hired 16-year sales veteran Shan- non McGill as its Northeast re- gional sales manager and Brian A l t o m a r i a s M i d w e s t re g i o n a l manager. Altomari has more than a decade of sales experience in the Midwest working for J. Lohr Vineyards & Wines and Treasury Wine Estates. The new hires bring Union's sales team to six people who will be supported by a new 43,000-square-foot packaging fa- cility in Oregon. B.C. Resolute in Trade Dispute As trade relations between the United States and Canada seemed poised to further deteriorate after belligerent rhetoric about America's northern neighbor by President Trump following the G7 conference held June 8-9 in Quebec, Canada, a simmering dispute over wine between the two nations heated up when the United States formally requested the World Trade Organization intervene in a dispute over wine sales in British Columba. Provincial authorities in British Columbia have allowed the sale of B.C. wines in some grocery stores while refusing to allow imported wine space on the same shelves. See page 14. TTB clarifies tax issue Wineries appeared to be poised to benefit when the federal tax law was signed into law in December 2017, but an announcement by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau in March raised concerns industry- wide that potential tax credits would turn into tax increases. Following an outcry lead by the lobbying group WineAmerica, the TTB clarified itself in May and the tax cuts will remain cuts. WineAmerica, however, is now working to ensure the tax reductions that will end in 2019 remain on the books as a permanent update. See page 58. LATEST NEWS More detail on the news at winesandvines.com. Top Stories The month in perspective AUCTION NAPA VALLEY—ALEXANDER RUBIN Samantha Rudd (left) Wine Spectator Learning Center