As the country eases its way into February, couples in every corner of the U.S. are racking their brains for original ideas on how to surprise and indulge their loved ones come this Valentine’s Day. While flowers and chocolate may serve as an old standby for what I like to call the slackers “eleventh-hour [...]

The Shelbyville, Tennessee, Times Gazette reports that Lynchburg Cakes and Candies is teaming up with Shelbyville winery Tri-Star Vineyards to produce Tennessee Wine Drops:
Lynchburg Cakes and Candies has already had great success with its Whiskey Cakes, which went into high demand after they were featured on the Food Network and “The View” on several occasions. [...]

$20 will buy you a commemorative wine glass and free samples at the Missouri Wine Fest next weekend.
Victoria of the Tastes of Life blog files a report from a well-attended tasting of wines from Alma Rosa Winery in California.

The Stimsons blog has posted a few pretty pictures from Casa Rodena Winery in New Mexico.
Adam McHugh is happy he and his wife have become members of the Rusack Winery wine club after spending several months on the waiting list.
Mat Garretson owns a small winery together with his wife. While he loves what he [...]

Erie Times-News weighs in with an article on the bill in the Pennsylvania state legislature that would ban wineries from shipping straight to consumers, a topic we mentioned in a post last week. Pennsylvania wine-makers quite reasonably fear that the proposal will hurt the state’s wineries. The ban would force wineries to sell only through [...]

The 2008 Unified Wine & Grape Symposium was held at the Sacramento Convention center on January 29-31. The event is organized jointly by the American Society for Enology and Viticulture and the California Association of Winegrape Growers to bring growers and vintners the latest information relevant to the industry.
Among the speakers was Jon Fredrikson, who [...]

Wine Business Monthly has named Willamette Valley Vineyards in Oregon the country’s “Hottest Small Brand” of 2007.
Jon Fredrikson has named Ste. Michelle Wine Estates in Washington the 2007 Winery of the Year.
Napa Valley-based blog The Cork Board visits the Sequoia Grove winery.
Cannon River Winery in Minnesota drew 134 visitors to its Night at the Winery [...]

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 [...]