Parducci Wine Cellars of Ukiah received the 2009 Governor's Environmental and Economic Leadership Award (GEELA)--California's highest environmental honor--at a reception following the Governor's Global Climate Summit in Los Angeles.

The venture is a division of The Vintners Group, which operates the Lodi Vintners custom crush facility in Woodbridge, California

The timing couldn't have been better.

...global brewers are thirsty for dependable brands

its third acquisition in the past six or seven months.

bottle was designed by Saint-Gobain Containers

The San Francisco-based Wine Institute said Tuesday its board has approved adding 17 new wineries to its membership roster, bringing total membership to 1,037 wineries.

California chardonnays apparently have a wicked identity crisis. For the last few seasons, they've drawn plenty of criticism for being either too big and blowsy, or way too skinny and vacuous. You're left wondering what is the real face of chardonnay, which remains, still, the most popular wine variety in the United States.

If turning water into wine sounds like a miracle, how about wastewater into hydrogen for fuel? At a winery in Napa County, they are trying to do just that. A professor from Penn State is conducting an experiment that could turn an ecological liability into an asset.

Most 3p readers would agree that sustainably produced items are preferable to the alternative. And most business people (I imagine) would agree that it's better to sell more of a product than less of it. So the question that follows is something of a doozie: does importing a sustainably crafted wine negate its green cred?

As the global wine industry gets sideswiped by the recession, grape growers are facing a drop in prices of up to 40 percent. This year, many will just let their coddled fruit rot on the vines.

Today, if you look at the Southern Oregon Winery Association Web site, sorwa.org, you see more than 50 listed. And I can think of several others that aren't on that list. Subtract those in Douglas County, and I come up with a total of 40 in the Jackson-Josephine counties area. Many of those did not exist prior to the year 2000.

A lifeline could soon be available for South Australian wine businesses threatened by natural and other disasters. Proposed changes to the state's Liquor Licensing Act will allow disaster-struck producers to buy fruit and wine from other producers and to make and sell the wine under their own labels.

The UK wine industry is to receive £1.6m to address the lack of winemakers trained to deal with the unpredictable British weather and terroir conditions.

Diedre Holt, the partner of McLaren Vale wine producer Simon Hackett, died this morning in a fire at the winery.

A team of New Zealand filmmakers is set to make a film about a journalist's first winemaking experiences in Marlborough. First Big Crush: The Down and Dirty on Making Great Wine Down Under, published in 2007, recounts a year in the life of US journalist Eric Arnold as he sets out to make wine in New Zealand.

Pokolbin wine identity Christopher Barnes has announced his retirement from the executive of the NSW Wine Industry Association, the State's peak wine body, after serving on the executive for 15 years.

Now, it seems like wine bars in Dallas have morphed into value-added venues, whether the value-added is food or an extensive retail business.

Across the region winemakers are increasingly courting rockers, artists and movie stars to help market premium wines. In the down economy, they hope a little rub of star dust will add some cache to the fermented juice.

Resveratrol, the polyphenolic compound found in red wine and the prominent focus of medical researchers, may be able to fight off viruses, according to a new Italian study.

Wildman said a winery representative warned fair officials on Monday that the winery might not have enough of its 2007 Russian River Pinot, the fair's top-ranking red wine.

Rhone producer Nicolas Jaboulet is set to release his first wine from a new joint venture with the Perrin family of Chateau Beaucastel

"The macroeconomic environment remains challenging but we are beginning to see some signs of stabilization," Chief Executive Rob Sands said in a statement.

Stores will add liquor departments and more staples such as toilet paper and toothpaste, and will cut back on impulse items such as Chia Pets.