Barbara and Warren Winiarski, founders of Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, are donating $5 million to St. John’s College in Santa Fe. The Winiarskis met at St. John’s Annapolis campus in Maryland.
In an entirely unrelated story criminal complaints have been filed against three men suspected of having embezzled $200,000 worth of wine from Jackson Family Wine.

Man arrested for drunk-driving his lawn mower to a liquor store in Adrian, Michigan to purchase four bottles of wine.
I hope it was good wine, because you don’t want to waste an effort like that on some cheap garbage.

On February 11 and 12, 2008, the Ohio Grape and Wine Conference will take place at Shisler Conference Center in Wooster, OH.
Among the speakers are Steve DiFrancesco, winemaker for Glenora Wine Cellars and Knapp Vineyards in the Finger Lakes of New York; Ramón Mira de Orduna, Associate Professor at Cornell University; and Heidi Orsini, Breakfast [...]

The restrictive laws for shipping wine from wineries direct to customers both in-state and across state lines are a the subject of a articles in New York Times and Pittsburgh Post Gazette.
Pennsylvania allowed its in-state wineries to ship direct to customers in the state, while out of state wineries could only ship through the Pennsylvania [...]

Cima Collina has released Howlin’ Good Red, “a tasty and appealing blend of Syrah, Petite Sirah, Merlot, mostly,” to support the The SPCA of Monterey County. It turns out that naming the wine was the most challenging part.
Bart O’Brien of O’Brien Estate Winery in Napa Valley has decided to rename his Chardonnay and Merlot.
Sean at [...]

Elevage was invited by a winemaker to participate in a three-day long blending trial:
Blending trials are when you taste through every barrel that’s ready for bottling, evaluate the qualities of each sample, and make decisions about what wines will go into which bottlings. They are also a physical and mental challenge.
Seriously.
Read his post and you [...]

Napa County is the heart of America’s winde industry, and there is more to it than vineyards and wineries. Napa County is home to 12 million square feet of warehouse space, much of it in south Napa County, according to Napa Valley Register. In addition to sporting cheaper land than the valley, south Napa is [...]

Energy shortages during peak-hours may put a dent in South Africa’s harvest.
If the South Africans have a hard time making wine they can always buy fine wine from American wineries. Just saying.

Keith Winery in St. Helena, California is up for sale, which is great news…if you’re an ambitious entrepreneur with $80 million to spare. I know that this piece of real estate is way beyond most people’s budgets, and the hefty price tag gives you a clue as to why the average wine [...]

Appalachian State student newspaper The Appalachian reports that the school is likely to add a bachelor’s degree in oenology and viticulture this fall. The school already has several wine-related courses.
Writes Julia Harr for The Appalachian:
“The newest course will teach students about dessert wines and sparkling wines,” [chemistry professor and program director Grant] Holder said. “North [...]