There are two ways to look at the annual winegrape harvest in
California: in tons crushed, and from a purely business perspective. As
much as we like to romanticize the world of wine, there can be no
romance without a successful business model.
Each year, Turrentine Brokerage issues a report on the California
harvest, skewed to the business side of the ledger. Here are excerpts
from the company's report on the 2009 harvest...
* Chardonnay, the most widely planted white wine variety, was up a
substantial 28% statewide in 2009 compared to 2008, which is an...
We all know that California is America's No. 1 wine-producing
state, but it may not be so obvious that the No. 2 position belongs to
Washington.
Here's a look at some of the numbers...
* 165,000 - Number of tons of grapes harvested in 2009.
* 14 - Percent increase from...
The American Vineyard Foundation, an organization whose mission is
to raise funds that address grape and wine industry research
priorities, has named Jim Frisinger as chairman for the 2010 term.
Frisinger believes that the American Vineyard Foundation is one of the keys to the future of the wine business in the U.S.
"What we've done over the past 15 years," he notes, "has been the
difference between night and day, success and failure. And as we move
forward against an increasingly international...
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Silicon Valley Bank, a leading provider of commercial banking
services to the wine industry, has released preliminary findings for
its annual State of the Wine Industry Report for 2010-11.
Based on in-house expertise and ongoing research among West Coast
wineries, the report reiterates the prior prediction that the market
will be slow to fully recover, predicts year over year sales declines
for calendar year 2009, but also forecasts modest growth at the
producer level in 2010.
The growth prediction is tempered by observations of continuing economic softness and demographic shifts that...
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All of us have many reasons to be thankful, even if they're not always obvious.
That's why each Thanksgiving Day, we seek out a story that underscores the reason for the holiday.
This year, countless men and women seeking careers, or seeking to
better their careers, in the wine industry have a new reason to be
thankful.
That reason: Approximately $20,000 in scholarships per year will
be available to students studying for an MBA degree from the Wine
Business Institute at...
This January, California's capital city of Sacramento will become
the center of the wine and grape world as thousands of industry
professionals gather for the 2010 Unified Wine & Grape Symposium,
one of the largest events of its kind in the Western Hemisphere.
The Symposium, to be held at the Sacramento Convention Center Jan.
26 - 29, will feature a mixture of informational sessions and a trade
show that highlights the latest innovations in equipment and...
We often get caught up in the romance of wine, making it easy to forget that first and foremost winemaking is a business.
And there is no business of winemaking without winegrapes.
And there are no winegrapes without men and women who are in the business of growing them.
So much for romance, huh?
This all came to mind when the Santa Rosa Press Democrat reported that a "new" pest has...
Overall wine consumption in the U.S. rose 0.9 percent in 2008 to
294.7 million 9-liter cases, according to the Beverage Information
Group's recently released 2009 Wine Handbook.
Although the growth rate has slowed slightly, this marks the 15th consecutive year of case gains.
Changing demographic trends cited in the Handbook are favorable
for the wine industry. The 70 million people that make up the
"Millennial" generation (ages 21-30) are...
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More than 30 wineries, mostly in Napa and Sonoma counties, have
been targeted in a wave of IRS audits of inventory accounting methods
that have been common in the industry for three decades.
IRS auditors are claiming that some wineries are defining their
inventory pool "items" under the dollar-value last-in, first-out (LIFO)
cost-flow assumption too broadly, resulting in an inaccurate internal
inflation index for a given vintner and a "distorted" reflection of
income to be taxed, according to a nationally known wine accounting
expert.
"If you have a regular Cab and you have a Reserve Cab with longer aging and more expensive packaging, but you treat...
Five New World wine-producing countries have collaborated to create the New World Wine Alliance.
According to
Drinks Business, the group is the first ever competing-country body to be created in the wine industry.
Member countries/regions include Argentina, California, Chile, New Zealand and South Africa. Australia has decided...
