Afternoon Brief

Truett-Hurst Reports Sales Increase, but Trouble for New Wine Spritzer Brand: Truett-Hurst Inc. announced Thursday that it is killing off its highly touted wine spritzer brand sold exclusively in Kroger stores because of poor sales, providing another black mark for the Healdsburg vintner in a year that has been plagued by packaging problems...

Delicato Family Vineyards Decodes the Premium 3-Liter Box Wine Consumer with 2015 Wine Insights Report: Delicato Family Vineyards, producer of Bota Box, the nation's leading eco-friendly Premium 3-Liter Box wine, announces the release of a new report revealing key insights into the Premium 3-Liter Box wine consumer fueling one of the industry's hottest growing categories...

Ste. Michelle CEO: Economic Factors Key in Wine’s Pacific Northwest Migration: Washington state may be overshadowed by California's wine industry, but it is gaining prominence and will continue to do so thanks to cheap land, fewer regulations and growing recognition of the quality of the Evergreen State's varietals...

Bill Leigon Acquires Jamieson Ranch Winery from Madison Vineyard Holdings: Bill Leigon, president of Jamieson Ranch Vineyards since February 2013, has announced his purchase of the Napa winery, finalized on September 18, 2015...

Wine & Spirits Magazine Announces Top 100 Wineries of 2015: Wine & Spirits Magazine has announced the Top 100 Wineries of 2015, producers from around the world that earned the magazines highest ratings across a range of their wines...

Lake County Winery and Vineyard Associations Announce Relief Effort: In response to the devastating Valley Fire, three leading organizations that represent wineries and vineyard owners in Lake County have announced plans to lead a fundraising drive #LakeCountyRising to help those affected by the Valley Fire...

Smaller Producers Enjoy Significant Growth in U.S. Alcoholic Beverage Market: A just-released report analyzing the U.S. market for alcoholic beverages shows a notable lack of growth for the top producers, at least for wine and beer, while smaller companies enjoyed a fairly significant uptick in shipments...

Beverage Diversification Key to Success in Competitive Marketplace: There's little doubt that the alcohol beverage industry is shifting. Consider this... tasting room menus in upstate New York are as likely to offer craft beer samples as Riesling or Cabernet Franc these days...

Valley Fire Status Report: Impact to Lake County Wine Industry: Many in the Lake County wine industry have been impacted by this disaster, some both personally and professionally...

Valley Fire Incinerates Lake County’s Shed Horn Cellars: The Valley Fire, which reached 61,000 acres in Napa and Lake counties on Monday morning, has reportedly destroyed Shed Horn Cellars, a winery in Middletown in southern Lake County...

When Millennials Go Legal, Wine Is the Choice: With a growing number of millennials reaching the legal drinking age, many are adopting wine as their go-to drink...

How Wine-Educated Is the U.S. Market?: The U.S. is the largest wine market in the world, and according to the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET), professional-level knowledge of wine has also reached an all-time high...

New Outbreaks on North Coast Heighten Need for Continued Vigilance in Controlling Pierce’s Disease: Widespread reports of the largest increase in Pierces disease in Napa and Sonoma counties in at least 20 years highlight the need to monitor and manage this disease and the glassy-winged-sharpshooter, an aggressive vector of the disease...

Sonoma Harvest Wine Auction Breaks Records with $4.5 Million Haul: A recreation of the 1915 World's Fair complete with a Model T Ford and a barbershop quartet created a colorful backdrop for a record-breaking afternoon of bidding at Sunday's Sonoma Harvest Wine Auction...

Sonoma County Winegrape Growers Approve Commission Referendum: As it seeks to become the nation's first 100% sustainable winegrowing region, Sonoma County's winegrape growers voted ...