"They're giving away free loads so they can unload grapes they can't sell. It's a marketing tool. But wine makers are in a tough spot too, because now they're getting backed up with their own product."

Most of those grapes, perhaps 80 percent, have been pre-sold under contracts to wineries. The remaining 20 percent of the crop typically sells on the open market in the months before harvest.

The governor should give legislators a bit more time to work out a comprehensive plan

Wine industry tells supervisors it will offer suggestions by February

The first demonstration of a renewable method for hydrogen production from wastewater using a microbial electrolysis system is underway at the Napa Wine Company in Oakville. The refrigerator-sized hydrogen generator will take winery wastewater, and using bacteria and a small amount of electrical energy, convert the organic material into hydrogen, according to a Penn State environmental engineer.

"In a sense, we become personal wine shoppers for people as we get to know them. We have a great track record of introducing our clients to the next great thing.

From high atop Diamond Mountain in Calistoga, Tom Seaver has a stunning view of the Napa Valley.

perhaps every other fan in the county is more quiet than his and the technology clearly exists.

Proceeds were being tallied but Cohn expected the total to be the best to date. In previous years, the benefit festival raised about a half-million dollars, more than $4 million since its inception 23 years ago.

harvest is in full swing and running smoother than growers expected

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.

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

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.

Napa County Farm Bureau announced the release of a unique gift for wine lovers: the 2010 Napa Uncovered Calendar where 14 farmers are showing more than their farmer's tan. The proceeds support Napa County Agricultural Preservation.

It may have been a sour year for the national economy, but bottle it up and 2009 will probably taste better on reflection.

Examples of both Napa and Sonoma counties showing their individual Appellations and what an acre of vineyard will cost in each of the many Appellations along with a typical cost and cash-flow breakdown of buying land, sales of grapes and the cost of bottling.

The North Coast harvest enters its eighth week after a weekend of triple-digit heat.

A massive, unprecedented and unpredictable river restoration project will begin, reawakening miles of dried riverbed and salmon runs that have been extinct for six decades.

the wine industry's self-assessment has "proven to be a very successful effort to control the spread of Pierce's disease and the glassy-winged sharpshooter