Napa Valley

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Wine Columnist's Lament: She's Priced Out of Napa

Lettie Teague of the 'Wall Street Journal' thinks California region's 'main crop is cash, not grapes'

(Newser) - As a wine columnist, Lettie Teague of the Wall Street Journal has long been a fan of California's Napa Valley region. But in a column that details sky-high prices on everything from lodging to tastings, Teague offers a damning assessment: "I can’t help feeling that the region’...

California Wildfires Ruined a Winery's Grapes. It Had a Plan

Napa Valley's Pine Ridge Vineyards is now producing vodka made from the smoke-tainted fruit

(Newser) - When life hands you lemons, make lemonade. When it hands you ruined grapes, make ... vodka? That's what Napa Valley's Pine Ridge Vineyards opted to do when its grape crops were sullied by smoke from last year's California wildfires, thanks in part to a partnership with an Almeda...

Turns Out There Was a 2nd Ill-Advised Napa Valley Dinner

London Breed dined at French Laundry the night after Gavin Newsom

(Newser) - Gov. Gavin Newsom caught flak for dining at the esteemed French Laundry in November. He wasn't the only high-profile California Democrat to make that choice last month. The Chronicle reports San Francisco Mayor London Breed ate at the three-star Michelin restaurant in Yountville the night after Newsom did as...

Thousands Evacuate as Wildfires Surge in Wine Country

One blaze in northern California burns 7K acres in less than 5 hours

(Newser) - Thousands of people fled new, rapidly moving wildfires in northern California on Monday that have scorched almost 10,000 acres. Nearly all of northern California is under a red flag warning by the National Weather Service, with a heat wave and gusty winds compounding the difficulties faced by firefighters. A...

Vineyards Race to Save Grapes From Fire, Smoke

Lack of tourists also causes problems in California's wine country

(Newser) - With an early harvest already underway, a wildfire a few miles west of John Bucher's ranch added new urgency to getting his pinot noir grapes off the vine. If flames didn't do any damage to the delicate fruit, ash and smoke certainly could. Bucher hired an extra crew,...

Grape-Harvesting Accident Claims Napa Worker's Life

Leon Marcelo Lua was 49

(Newser) - A grim work-related death out of California's Wine Country, where a Napa man working at Beaucanon Winery's Deconinck Vineyards got pulled into a grape harvesting machine with fatal results. KTVU identifies the victim as Leon Marcelo Lua, 49. The San Francisco Chronicle reports his clothing got caught in...

Husband, 100, Dies Halfway to Wife's Room in Calif. Wildfires

'They were happy right up until the last minute,' son says

(Newser) - At least 17 people have been confirmed dead in the devastating wildfires raging in California —including a couple who died together after having been married for 75 years. Charles Rippey, 100, and Sara Rippey, 98, died Sunday night when a fast-moving wildfire engulfed their Napa County home. Mike Rippey,...

Trader Joe's Wine Is Less Than $3 a Bottle for a Reason

Lower quality grapes and mass production help

(Newser) - When Charles Shaw wines first debuted at Trader Joe's in 2002, they lived up to the name "Two Buck Chuck," costing just $1.99 a bottle. And yes, plenty of critics call the wine undrinkable and worse, even accusing parent company Bronco Wine of not removing such...

Black Women Who Were Kicked Off Wine Train Sue

Book club members want $11M in damages

(Newser) - A group of mostly black women filed a racial discrimination lawsuit Thursday after they were removed from a train that tours Napa Valley wineries, saying it was humiliating to be thrown off a rail car when loud and inebriated white passengers were allowed to stay. The 11 women sued Napa...

Wine Train Sorry for Kicking Black Women Off Tour

They're not the first 'noisy' group to have had problems

(Newser) - Rarely has a train gone into reverse as abruptly as the Napa Valley Wine Train. After initially defending its decision to kick a mostly black women's book club off the train mid-journey for being too noisy, the company has issued a statement saying it was "100% wrong in...

Book Club: Racism Got Us Kicked Off Wine Train

Book club members say they had to do 'walk of shame' off the train in 'racist attack'

(Newser) - Members of a book club out for a ride through California wine country say they endured a "humiliating" experience Saturday when they were kicked off the Napa Valley Wine Train, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. The women from the Sistahs on the Reading Edge club—10 of them black,...

Cops: Napa Winery Owner 'Executed' Investor

Business meeting ends in dramatic murder-suicide

(Newser) - An attempt at reconciliation between feuding business partners turned into a tragic murder-suicide this week. Investor Emad Tawfilis met with Robert Dahl at Napa's Dahl Vineyards on Monday to discuss a financial dispute, with their lawyers on speakerphone. But when the call ended during a break, police say Dahl...

Still Unknown: Exact Cause of Napa Quake

As volunteers pour in to clean up wine country

(Newser) - People in Napa Valley, Calif., are picking up the pieces after Sunday's 6.0 earthquake wrecked scores of homes and businesses, and they're getting plenty of help from outside. Volunteers have flocked from across Northern California to assist in any way they can, reports the Los Angeles Times...

Wine Country's Quake Damage Could Top $1B

100 Calif. homes declared unsafe to enter

(Newser) - Northern California is assessing the damage after the region's worst earthquake in 25 years and while no deaths have been reported, at least 100 people have been injured, more than 10,000 are still without power, dozens of buildings have been wrecked—and there is a heck of a...

6.0 Quake Shakes San Francisco
 6.0 Napa Quake 
 Injures 120 
UPDATED
Aug 24, 2014 4:10 PM CDT

6.0 Napa Quake Injures 120

Water mains rupture amid widespread power outages

(Newser) - California Gov. Jerry Brown has declared a state of emergency after a magnitude 6.1 earthquake rolled through the San Francisco area early today, reports the LA Times , in the biggest temblor to hit the region since 1989. It was initially reported at 6.0, and later revised upward by...

Rising Temperatures Threaten Vineyards in California

Climate change could take the 'wine' out of wine country in next 30 years

(Newser) - A new report warns that climate change could drastically shake up California’s wine country in the next 30 years. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts that Napa Valley will eventually see 10 more days with grape-scorching temperatures of at least 95 degrees, the Los Angeles Times reports. If...

'Oentrepreneurs' Hit Napa
 'Oentrepreneurs' Hit Napa 
GLOSSIES
Oct 9, 2008 1:34 PM CDT

'Oentrepreneurs' Hit Napa

Rich execs ditch fast-paced careers, look to winemaking

(Newser) - A new breed of winemakers is flowing into Napa Valley, writes Jeffrey O'Brien in a colorful look at the trend in Fortune. Investment bankers, tech entrepreneurs, and other wealthy refugees of the white-collar rat race are buying up vineyards at $400,000 per acre to pursue second careers that let...

In Vino, Cash: Amazon to Sell Wine

Firms has partnered with nonprofit association of vintners

(Newser) - Online shopping got a little more intoxicating today as Amazon announced it will start selling wine in the US starting in October, Reuters reports. The retailer —looking for a chunk of the $30 billion-plus US wine market —has partnered with Napa Valley Vintners, which will supply vino from...

Subtle Cabernets Recall Napa's Heyday
Subtle Cabernets
Recall Napa's Heyday
FOOD & WINE
Aug 20, 2008 6:33 PM CDT

Subtle Cabernets Recall Napa's Heyday

Old-school wineries show 'balance and restraint'

(Newser) - Forget "jammy fruit bombs" that crush the palate—subtle cabernets are making a comeback in Napa Valley. "You don’t hear much about these sorts of wines today," writes Eric Asimov in the New York Times. While critics swoon over rich, oaky cabernets, a few wineries still...

Napa Valley Girl Makes Splash in French Wine Marketing

(Newser) - France’s wine business is stuck in the doldrums, as American wines (and their aggressive marketing campaigns) explode onto the scene. But one Napa Valley girl is working to change that, by introducing stodgy French vintners to the modern concept of marketing. “A lot of what I do is...

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