TODAY'S TOP NEWS

• Cal drought: Getting grimmer
• OpenSoon To Let You Sell To Restaurants and bars Before they Are Even Open
• Winning in U.S. Retail When Flat is the New Norm
• Last Chance For Vintners To Participate In Silicon Valley Bank Wine Industry Survey
• Early Bird Pricing Ending Soon – Enter Your Brands in 2015 BTN USA Guide Now! *Sponsored Link*

• US 2014 Vintage - Early, Fast, Eventful
• Santa Cruz Mountains harvest features a fast, flavorful ending
• SJValley grape growers face two different markets for this year
• Napa Harvest news
• Take control of your wine costing and set your prices with confidence *Sponsored Link*

• Napa Board postpones controversial Woolls Ranch Winery decision
• Sonoma County wine trade group gets $377,000 grant
• Calif: Oak Farm Vineyards opens new winery and tasting room
• Calif table grape volumes high for holidays
• Is unlimited pesticide spraying in California’s future?
• Kick start your DTC wine sales business with the DTC Consultant Network *Sponsored Link*

• Calif: A long road brought us to Proposition 1 water bond
• PG&E plan may reduce water flowing into Lake Mendocino
• El Nino still unlikely this year
• Cities call on Nipomo water district to be more aggressive about conserving
• California's Drought Taking a Toll on Hydropower
• Merced County leaders talk about groundwater ordinance
• Sustainability: A History *Sponsored Link*

• Does Your 2015 B2C Content Marketing Plan Include These 3 Elements?
• Why Borough Wines customers can't stop coming back
• UK: The New Retail Buccaneers
• Brits chat on flights while Aussies drink
• How To Pitch Your Brand In National Restaurant Chains *Sponsored Link*

• Interactive Radio Ads Let Consumers Vocally Respond to Brands
• Wine Brands: Success Strategies for New Markets, New Consumers and New Trends *Sponsored Link*

• Southeastern Wine Symposium Expands
• Trade Show & Event Marketing *Sponsored Link*

• How paid social has changed social media management
• Millennial media-consumption habits explained
• The 4 Qualities of Businesses That Should Advertise on Facebook
• The Rise of the Paid Social Network Business Model
• Launching New Wine Brand Without A Winery? *Sponsored Link*

• Microsoft identifies PowerPoint security flaw that leaves all Windows versions vulnerable
• Microsoft warns users to kill botched KB 2949927 patch

• Why there's no formula for writing your headlines (Take this with a grain of salt)
• Wine Marketing & Sales, 2nd Edition *Sponsored Link*

• Tasting Wines By Price—An Exercise in Futility
• What Does it Take for New grape Crosses to Become Classic Varieties?
• Amador couple strives for sangiovese success
• Douro Wine’s Destiny
• Pontet-Canet second wine loses AOC
• On the anomalies of aging wine
• Six common wine faults and tips on how to identify them
• Australian Fumé Blancs fail to inspire
• Terroir Gives Champagne Its Soul
• Shadows in the Vineyard: The True Story of the Plot to Poison the World's Greatest Wine *Sponsored Link*

• Helen Turley and John Wetlaufer
• Aloft Wine leads Marc Mondavi to new vistas
• Passion, determination, drive East Texas winemaker
• Nicolás Catena
• How Antinori Changed the Face of Tuscany
• Sommelier Angela Stem Brings Joy to the Table
• Neal Martin
• NZ: Easier now at Mt Difficulty
• The Tastemakers: Why We're Crazy for Cupcakes but Fed Up with Fondue *Sponsored Link*

• 12 Reality Stars & the Wines To Pair

TODAY'S FEATURED WINE

Ravenswood: Besieged Red Blend: Sonoma County-California: : 2013: United States

After way too many vintages of bland, wimpy, freeway-aged, tanker-truck Zins from the Constellation regime of Ravenswood, here's a genuine ravin', misbehavin' bad boy that can finally raise hell with your bored tastebuds.

It was nowhere right after opening, and took damn near a week to wake up and yell,but it was worth the wait.

This is a little bit of everything from everywhere in Sonoma County: Petite Sirah, Carignane, Zinfandel, Syrah, Barbera, Alicante Bouschet and Mourvèdre. From Alexander Valley, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma Valley, Russian River Valley, Knights Valley and Sonoma Mountain.

Good stuff! $13.99 with the 6-bottle discount at Safeway.

 REVIEW POLICY:

For winery tasting samples, gifts from friends or family or samplings at a party or event, review it truthfully, but only if I like it. If I have paid my own very-hard-earned money on a bottle, the gloves are off and it gets what it deserves ... whether perfect or puerile.