The Asociación de Viñas de Colchagua S.A. and the Colchagua Valley Wine Route would like to express their concern and solidarity with respect to the effects of the earthquake and subsequent tsunami that occurred on Saturday, February 27 in the central-southern zone of Chile.

We have now been able to evaluate the consequences of these events on the wine and tourism industries in the Colchagua Valley and determine the losses that affect the volume of wine in storage, production facilities, and the tourism infrastructure of the Associated Wineries.

The Colchagua Valley has always been known for the tenacity of its people and the enterprising spirit of those who have worked to make it a leader in the national wine industry and a pioneer in the development of wine tourism. It is this same spirit that allows us to guarantee that the production and tourism areas will be functioning normally in the very short term. In fact, many of the wineries are already harvesting, bottling their wines, and reorganizing their tourism projects in order to ensure the excellence that they are known for.

We would particularly like to emphasize the commitment and dedication displayed by those who work in the wineries. Mutual assistance, order, solidarity, and culture are the pillars upon which the spirit of Colchagua is built and that bind wine to our land.

In terms of volume, we have estimated the total loss of stock (bulk and bottled wine) in the valley to be approximately 25 million liters, which is the equivalent of 20% of the total national loss. We have no reason to believe that this will prevent us from complying with our current commitments.

With respect to infrastructure, the wineries have suffered damage to their cellars, although none that will affect the current crush season or production of bottled wine. As the supply of electricity returns to full capacity, vineyard operations such as irrigation will return to normal. The transportation systems are now functioning, although not yet expeditious.

In sum, although this earthquake has altered the normal operations of the industry, we accept the situation as a new challenge, and we are certain that backed by the spirit and efforts of the Colchagua wineries and their people, in the very short term, winery operations will be completely reestablished and tourism will flourish in our valley once again.

Mario Pablo Silva
President
Viñas de Colchagua-Colchagua Valley Wine Route

New York, NY (March 12, 2010) – Wines from Santorini has launched their first marketing campaign in the U.S. designed to generate trade, media and consumer awareness of the exciting wines produced from this renowned Greek island. The three-year campaign is sponsored by the participating wineries of Santorini, the government of Greece and the European Union and will be managed in the U.S. by All About Greek Wine, Brand Action Team and Gregory White PR, Inc.

Santorini is considered one of the most beautiful places on earth – known for its breathtaking sunsets and views of the blue Aegean Sea, the island also hosts one of the most historic winemaking traditions in the world based on native varieties and particularly the leading white grape, Assyrtiko. Entirely unique in profile, the vineyards of Santorini are planted in volcanic soils, dating to a massive eruption in 1600 B.C. that fundamentally altered the island’s topography and charted its course for inspired winemaking. The vines are trained into baskets to withstand the climate, and reach high levels of minerality defined by volcanic soils.

Among the most expressive wines in the world, the wines of Santorini offer full-bodied dry white wines with crisp, fresh acidity, pronounced mineral and citrus flavors, and considerable potential for aging. The wines of Santorini are a “sommelier’s dream” combining naturally high acidity with profound character that pairs beautifully with fresh seafood and a variety of global cuisines.

The participating wineries from Santorini include: Argyros Estate, Boutari, Gaia Wines, Gavalas Winery, Hadzidakis Winery, Santo Wines, San Torini Winery, Domaine Sigalas, Volcan Wines, and Canava Roussos.

(El Dorado County, CA) — Two dozen El Dorado County wineries will bring their version of gold from the Sierra Foothills to San Francisco on Saturday, March 20, during an elegant tasting at Postrio Restaurant near Union Square. Consumers and trade members can taste medal-winning zinfandels, Bordeaux, Rhone and Burgundian varietals, all in one luxurious location.

It’s an opportunity to meet the affable El Dorado winemakers who farm and handcraft these wines and taste several varietals rarely available in the Bay Area, due to the wines’ limited production.

A public tasting from 2 – 5 p.m. follows an invitation-only trade gathering that begins at noon at Postrio, inside the Prescott Hotel.

El Dorado’s vintners are known for crafting elegant, well-balanced varietals from Pinot Noir to Syrah to Zinfandel — all grown in a diversity of microclimates in dramatic elevations up to 3,500 feet. Dozens of El Dorado wines recently were honored in the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition, with awards that included three best-of-class and judges’ choice winners.

The March 20 gathering is the first time the Prescott has hosted a trade and consumer tasting event like this. “We wanted to bring in one of California’s oldest wine making regions, and show this city the quality and diversity that El Dorado is known for,” said organizer Michael Whipple, a San Francisco wine consultant and founder of VinUnderground. The hotel has special rates available for guests attending the event.

In addition to the 100 or so wines available for sampling, guests will enjoy hors d’oeuvres including Moroccan braised short ribs, proscuitto-wrapped squab and Hamachi crudo, prepared by local chef Jordan Grosser. Live jazz will cap off the afternoon in the Postrio Salon.

Participating El Dorado Wineries:
Auriga Wine Cellars , Boeger Winery ,
Busby Cellars,
Cedarville Vineyards ,
Chateau Rodin , Colibri Ridge Winery & Vineyards , Crystal Basin Cellars , David Girard Vineyards,,
Fenton Herriott Vineyards , Fitzpatrick Winery & Lodge,
Gold Hill Vineyard ,
Granite Springs Vineyards , Holly’s Hill Vineyards , Latcham Vineyards , Lava Cap Winery , Madroña Vineyard s, Miraflores Winery , Mount Aukum Winery , Narrow Gate Vineyards , Perry Creek Vineyards , Sierra Oaks Estates , Sierra Vista Vineyards & Winery , Single Leaf Vineyards & Winery ,
Windwalker Vineyard

The event is presented by Postrio Restaurant, the El Dorado Winery Association and VinUnderground.com.

What: El Dorado County Winemakers Tasting
When: Saturday, March 20, 2010
Where: Postrio Restaurant in the Prescott Hotel, 545 Post St., San Francisco
Time: 2 – 5 p.m. Public Tasting
12 – 2 p.m. Trade Tasting (invitation only)
Tickets: $38 per person for the Public Tasting, available at www.vinunderground.com

Wine-shipping laws to get full airing in Maryland legislature on Friday (The Patriot-News, by Paul Vigna)

Better know a wine law: Maryland! (Dr. Vino, by Tyler Coleman)

For California Vintners, It’s Not Easy Being Green (redOrbit.com, by Meg Sullivan)

Local Versions of Europe’s Everyday Wines (The New York Times, by Jordan Mackay)

More Winegrapes for Nevada County (Wines & Vines, by Jane Firstenfeld)

Foley Family Wines Announces Hiring of Kerry Manahan-Ehlow (Wine Business Online)

Six arrested in Australian wine fraud (Decanter.com, by Jim Budd)

The business end (Napa Valley Register, by Paul Franson)

San Francisco, March 5, 2010 – Which wines go best with the “green food” that we’ll enjoy on St. Patrick’s Day, such as corned beef and cabbage or Irish stew? How about those fresh spring vegetables that will soon be on our plates?

“Green foods are the problem children of the wine world,” says Natalie MacLean, editor of one of the largest wine sites on the web at www.nataliemaclean.com. “But as a stubborn hedonist whose grandmother’s name was Brophy, I’ve found some terrific wines to drink with them on March 17.”

Natalie has just launched a new mobile application for iPhone, iPod Touch, BlackBerry, Droid and other smartphones. Developed by Cerado, this app builds on the success of her Drinks Matcher and includes all the pairings in the original app, plus thousands of wine reviews, recipes, articles, blog posts, glossary definitions, cellar journal and winery directory. You can access the new app at www.nataliemaclean.com/mobileapp.

In the spirit of going green (and giving back green), the new app is free. With the Nat Decants Mobile App, you won’t need the luck of the Irish to pick the right wines, whether you’re in the pub, at a friend’s house or at the liquor store restocking. It’s like having a sommelier (and leprechaun) in your pocket.

Nat Decants Free Mobile App Features:

- Find 380,000 professionally tested food and wine pairings
(not generated by computer algorithm)
- Access thousands of wine reviews by an independent journalist
- Search the reviews by winery, price, score, region, grape, vintage, food match
- Track your wines in your virtual cellar and add your own journal notes and scores
- Search a directory of 10,000+ wineries to buy wine or plan a visit
- Find thousands of tasty, tested recipes for every wine
- Get wine savvy with articles, glossary definitions & blog posts
- Share on Twitter, Facebook and e-mail with friends

Natalie’s Top 10 Green Wine & Food Matches

1. Corned beef and cabbage: Pinot Blanc
2. Irish Stew: Cabernet Franc
3. Spring Asparagus: Gruner Veltliner
4. Field greens salad: Riesling
5. Tomatoes: Pinot Noir
6. Green peppers: Sparkling Wine
7. Grilled veggies: Rose
8. Green peas: Sauvignon Blanc
9. Spinach and bacon salad: Merlot
10. Artichoke: Verdicchio

For more tips on pairing green food and wine, visit http://bit.ly/dsYG0g.

To get the free Nat Decants Mobile App visit:

www.nataliemaclean.com/mobileapp

On the page above, click on the words iPod or iPhone under the iPhone image to go to the iTunes store for the app. The direct link is:

http://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/nat-decants/id353052386?mt=8

For BlackBerry, Droid, Nexus One, Nokia, Palm Pre and other smartphones, click on those words under the BlackBerry phone image. The direct link is:

http://www.nataliemaclean.com/mobile

Josh Wade, from DrinkNectar.com, has organized an upcoming Live tasting with a number of Washington State Merlot producers. This will be a live event via Twitter (#WAMerlot) – you can go to this site to sign up. They also have links to online retailers who sell the Merlot’s to be tasted.

The Seattle Wine Gal also has a great write-up on this event as well.

The USAToday is reporting that Paso Robles is now the number one spot for wine tourism in California:

PASO ROBLES, Calif. — The February issue of a respected wine industry trade publication gives only one of the world’s wines both a rarefied 98 score and the top spot in the “highly recommended” section.

Near perfection came from Saxum, a well-regarded but obscure winery in Paso Robles, a one-time California cow town becoming a superior wine-producing region known by few non-aficionados outside the state.

Located on California’s Central Coast, the Paso Robles viticultural area’s consistent quality and relatively moderate land prices have combined for phenomenal growth.

In fewer than 20 years, the number of wineries has grown from 30 to 250 and counting, plus at least 600 hopefuls making boutique bottles at custom crush co-ops to hawk at restaurants and local wine bars.

Esteemed reviewer Robert Parker has said the region of rolling, oak-studded hills holds California’s greatest potential. Winemakers swear by a climate and limestone-infused soils that mimic the southern Rhone region of France.

Source: USAToday

The recent 8.8 Earthquake that rocked major cities in Chile have really done a lot to hurt the wine industry of that country. The Washington Post article quotes Rene’ Merino, president of the Wines of Chile Group. estimate that $975 million was wasted alone in spilled wine. Here’s a snip:

The full extent of the damage to the industry, which has annual sales of about $1.3 billion, is only now coming into focus as wine producers take stock of their losses. Some industry officials played down the damage, saying there would be little long-term effect on price or supply.

Officials from Chile’s biggest producers, representing 95 percent of the industry, met Wednesday and concluded that the earthquake’s effects on business were not as bad as initially feared. Merino, who led the meeting, said about 12.5 percent of the country’s cellared wine was lost.

But others said perhaps 20 percent or more of the Chilean industry’s stored wine was destroyed, which could create serious problems for Chilean exports in the coming months.

Source: The Washington Times

Here’s a snip from the full story on Newberg Graphic:

Yamhill County’s wine country has drawn attention from the Old Country for quite some time — most notably with the 1988 decision by French winemakers Maison Joseph Drouhin to purchase a vineyard in the Dundee Hills. Now, a noted German vintner is following suit.

Ernst Loosen (pronounced “loh-zen”) is one of Europe’s leading producers of riesling, a versatile white wine native to Germany and also grown successfully around the Pacific Northwest. It is a fact which led Loosen to partner with Washington state’s Chateau St. Michelle to produce a high-end riesling for them (named “Eroica” after a Beethoven symphony).

Now, according to an Oregonian story published in early February, Loosen is going a step further and has purchased 40 acres outside Newberg for development as a winery in partnership with local winemaker Jay Somers.

While Loosen was not available for an interview with The Graphic, Somers was quite willing to discuss his and “Ernie’s” plans for the Hillside Drive site, future home of the J. Christopher Winery.

SEATTLE, March 2 /PRNewswire/ — Wines of Washington Promotion, an interactive and integrated marketing agency based in Seattle, created special on- and off-premise, traffic building, point-of-purchase floor and end-aisle displays: (http://bit.ly/9srRXU) to celebrate March Washington State Wine Month at grocery stores, convenience stores and wine shops.

Wines of Washington Promotion, working to help increase the brand awareness of Barnard Griffin, developed creative materials based around the winery’s tulip theme for this month-long promotion.

Barnard Griffin is recognized as one of Washington State’s most renowned family-owned wineries.  Barnard Griffin is located in Richland, WA. www.BarnardGriffin.com.

In addition, Wines of Washington Promotion develops marketing, advertising, public relations, publicity and WOM activities in support of the winery’s wine clubs, affiliations, participations, sponsorships and special events including, WineYakimaValley.com, Tri-Cities Visitor & Convention Bureau, Washington Wine Commission, Wine Clubs and Affiliates, AmericanWinery.com, Taste Washington, Experience Washington, and 20something Wine Event as well as the Wine Bloggers’ Conference to be held in Walla Walla in June.  The agency has set up a digital countdown clock for this event on its web landing page: www.WOWpromotion.com.

Creating and promoting Crush and Tasting Room events and activities is another area of strength for the agency.  These hospitality and destination marketing activities include: “Wines on the Nines,” the “CRUSHtacean Celebration” and many more.  Support includes concepting and copy for the winery’s monthly eNewsletters and PR/publicity campaigns.  The agency also creates digital and print merchandising and PR support for remote market winemaker’s appearances, winery tastings, winemaker’s dinners, chef wine-food pairing events and bottle signings.

The agency has created and placed print and digital advertising for the Barnard Griffin Tulip and Reserve brands in WINE ENTHUSIAST, ExperienceWA Travel Planner, TRI-CITY HERALD’S Escape to Wine Country, WINE PRESS NORTHWEST Magazine, WINO Magazine, MID-COLUMBIAN Magazine, Washington Wine Commission’s WINE TOURING GUIDE, WASHINGTON TASTING ROOM Magazine, and SEATTLE WEEKLY.

Past client projects include: collateral for the Prosser Art Walk & Wine Gala and Jones of Washington Wines’ eCommerce website and Oenotourism (Wine Tourism) rack cards.

“This is a challenging time for Washington State wines.  While sales are slightly up in some price categories, there continues to be downward pressure on pricing due to consumer concerns over the economy.  We suggest that this is an excellent time for wineries to focus on their marketing foundations and infrastructure so they are poised and ready to take maximum advantage of the inevitable rebound in the marketplace,” says Bruce Bieber, Chief Marketing Officer of the agency.

Wines of Washington Promotion’s expertise in building and bootstrapping brands with affordable design, marketing and promotion is key to helping winemakers so they can devote the majority of their time to what they do best — making great wine.