Mira Winery, which produces a limited amount of hand crafted, all natural wines, each a singular expression of unique grapes, announced today that Ed Thralls is joining the team as President. The hiring follows the opening of Mira winery and hospitality house last fall on the 16-acre estate just south of Yountville in the heart of the Napa Valley.“Ed has …

Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance — We are thrilled to announce the 2020 Paso Robles Wine Industry Persons of the Year awardees, founders and owners of Peachy Canyon Winery, the Beckett Family! This award, bestowed by the Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance (PRWCA), annually recognizes an individual(s) who exemplify the spirit of Paso Robles Wine Country with outstanding leadership, vision, …

Allied Grape Growers (AGG) has named Michael Haddox as its manager of Central Coast operations. The newly-created position expands AGG’s managerial grape sales team, which currently consists of positions in the North Coast, North Valley and Central Valley. In his new role, Haddox will oversee business development in the Central Coast, consisting primarily of winegrape marketing and sales as well …

E. & J. Gallo Winery (Gallo) today announced that it has completed the acquisition of more than 30 wine brands from Constellation Brands, Inc.  The closing of the agreement between Gallo and Constellation was approved by the Federal Trade Commission on December 23, 2020. The acquisition includes well known wine brands such as Arbor Mist, Black Box, Clos du Bois, …

Dr Chiara Mizzotti, Research Technician at the Università degli Studi di Milano, (Italy) writes about the latest research by the GrAptaResistance team, published in Scientific Reports. Grapevine: economic and agricultural valueGrapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) is a crop of great economic and agricultural value throughout the world. In 2019, the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) reported that over 7 …

In honor of Bill Powers, employees and associates of Badger Mountain Vineyard and Powers Winery developed the Bill Powers Sabbatical Fund to enable a professional currently employed in the Washington State grape or wine industry, to undertake a sabbatical in an established wine-producing region of the world to learn about an aspect of winegrape growing and/or winemaking that will further …

Oregon Wine Research Institute — The concerning emergence of fungicide resistant grape powdery mildew (Erysiphe necator) to numerous fungicides, has led to a need for new integrative pest management strategies in grape production. Ultraviolet spectrum C (UVC) radiation has been used for over a century to kill or disable microorganisms by damaging their DNA. However, prolonged exposure times have been …

University of Texas at Austin – Producing clean water at a lower cost could be on the horizon after researchers from The University of Texas at Austin and Penn State solved a complex problem that has baffled scientists for decades, until now. Desalination membranes remove salt and other chemicals from water, a process critical to the health of society, cleaning …

Sonoma County Farm Bureau — Tito Sasaki, a Sonoma Valley grape grower, scientist, and businessman, 35-year member and past president of Sonoma County Farm Bureau and Farm Bureau Foundation of Sonoma County, is the recipient of the 2020 California Farm Bureau Federation Distinguished Service Award. The California Farm Bureau has presented the Distinguished Service Award annually since 1953 to dedicated Farm …

A coalition of agricultural and business employers has filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court challenging the COVID-19 related emergency temporary standards (ETS) recently approved by the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board (Board). The complaint alleges, among other things, that the Board lacks statutory authority to impose many of the sweeping measures of the ETS on California …