After a second year of unseasonably cool temperatures, the grape tonnage has been tallied and the results are ready. According to the California Department of Food and Agriculture, 3.3 million tonnes of winegrapes were harvested in the 2011 growing season, a 9 percent drop from the previous year.

More than 100 people from around the world attended the 11th annual Pierce’s Disease Research Symposium in Sacramento last week, giving top researchers the opportunity to meet and discuss the latest progress in the search for a solution to Pierce’s disease.

The symposium highlighted research projects in disease and insect management, biology and ecology, as well as crop biology, and economics. A poster session held during the symposium allowed researchers to present their results and speak to attendees on a one-to-one basis and encourage further discussion in a more casual setting.

More than 100 people from around the world attended the 11th annual Pierce’s Disease Research Symposium in Sacramento last week, giving top researchers the opportunity to meet and discuss the latest progress in the search for a solution to Pierce’s disease.

The symposium highlighted research projects in disease and insect management, biology and ecology, as well as crop biology, and economics. A poster session held during the symposium allowed researchers to present their results and speak to attendees on a one-to-one basis and encourage further discussion in a more casual setting.

After years of regulatory wrangling, mega-producer E & J. Gallo Winery has emerged victorious in its quest to enlarge the Russian River Valley (RRV) AVA in a decision announced by the Alcohol and Tobacco Trade Bureau on 16 Noember which became effective on 16 Decenber. As requested in the petition from Gallo Family Vineyards, the ruling expands the RRV AVA by 14,044 acres and the overlapping Northern Sonoma AVA by 44,244 acres. The AVA now covers parts of what most locals might consider Central/Southern Sonoma or the Petaluma Gap.

Treasury Wine Estates, formerly known as Foster’s Group, laid off 30 of its Napa County employees at the end of last week, the company announced. “We are putting in place a new global organization structure to better position us to build strong global brands and drive top line growth and efficiencies,” Stephen Brauer, managing director at Treasury Wine Estates, said in a news release.

Think of wine critic Robert Parker as the E.F. Hutton of fermented grapes. When he talks, oenophiles listen. So, when Parker, publisher of the Wine Advocate, said recently that the world is entering the ‘age of the buyer’ – a prolonged period of stable or declining wine prices – it was enough to get sommeliers buzzing over their Chateau D’Yquem.

The sixth Frankland Estate International Riesling Tasting will be held in Sydney on 6-7 February to once again celebrate the quality and diversity of the world’s finest Riesling wines.

Growers have reported few immediate problems from the heavy rain that occurred across South Australia’s Riverland region over the weekend, according to senior viticulturist for the CCW Group, Andrew Weeks. According to the Riverland Winegrape Growers Association’s latest online newsletter, Weeks said inundation of low-lying areas in vineyards where the rainfall was heaviest was the biggest concern for growers immediately following the downpour, which saw the towns of Renmark and Loxton receive 56.8mm and 44.4mm, respectively, over Saturday night and Sunday morning

Heirs to one of California’s oldest wine families are battling for control in a bitter power struggle that recalls the epic clashes among the Mondavis and Sebastianis. Louis M. Foppiano, 64, chairman of his family’s 115-year-old winery and vineyards in Healdsburg, is being sued by his sister, Susan Valera, 59, who alleges her brother threatened the health of the family trust by using it to make a series of loans to the company, in part for executive bonuses, reports Press Democrat.

There is only one way to lift this current malaise and economic gloom and that is with a glass of fizz. The Yorkshire Post reports if we all pop the corks on sparkling wine this season then we won’t be able to hear Europe’s currency collapsing around us and our spirits will be lifted sufficiently to cope with whatever crisis appears next.