TODAY'S TOP NEWS

• Glassy-winger sharpshooter eggs found in Sonoma, Napa counties
• Legislation Would Allow Retailers To Ship Wine in Michigan
• Northwest wine sales boom in northern European countries, especially Gothenburg, Sweden
• What Brexit may mean for Bordeaux 2015 en primeur
• Washington Ag Labor Group seeks help on H-2A delays
• This is how you can get meaningful reporting and compliance information from your business data *Sponsored Link*

• Napa Supervisor candidates tackle winery rules debate
• Santa Ynez Valley: Winery Appeal Turns Tense
• Mission Canyon: Women Winemakers Celebration @ Museum of Natural History
• Celebrating the Judgment of Paris
• Your ticket to the world of wine! Experience creations from 6,000 exhibitors at ProWein 2016 *Sponsored Link*

• U.S. EPA, Bureau of Reclamation Partner With Western Water Districts on Grant Program Seeking Water-Saving Devices of Tomorrow
• California water cutbacks draw flood of complaints as reservoirs rise
• Delta growers' voluntary water cuts reap savings
• Saving for when CA's March Miracle goes away
• Bay Area reservoirs still far from full: Conservation experts hope that drought lessons last
• Implementing the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act
• Groups file suit in Elk River watershed dispute
• As lakes fill, state squanders a good crisis
• California’s Drought Lessons
• Could Sites be California's next big reservoir?

• Online wine: Retailers must get creative on delivery
• Email marketing: How to stay out of the spam folder and increase open rates by 500% (webinar)
• “Crafty” Carlsberg sees greatest growth in craft hitches new strategy to “authentic craft champions”

• Smart-labels protect alcohol authenticity
• WSET Level 2 Common Wine Labelling Terms - Rest of the world

• 2016 Sparkling Wine Symposium (Oregon)
• Wine Importers and Distributors, meet the world in NYC and source your next brand at USATT. Get your trade Pass Now and Avoid Gate Fee. *Sponsored Link*

• Marketers say Instagram’s new Facebook-style feed could help improve brand experience
• Here are the winners and losers of an Instagram algorithm
• eMarketer Lowers Growth Outlook for Twitter

• Memo to Our Employees: How To Make Personalization Matter
• Beer and winemaking among top dream jobs

• Google will start ranking ‘mobile-friendly’ sites even higher in May

• Sulfites in wine: friend or foe?
• The new wine-speak of Savvy Blanc
• More on Pinot Noir and terroir: the concept of Cru
• Waiter… There’s Arsenic in My Wine!

• Haut-Brion chronicler dies
• Bordeaux's Modern Gentleman Farmer
• Joan Kautz of Ironstone Vineyards
• The intellectual winemaker
• 7 Things Buzzfeed Superstar Matt Bellassai's Learned About Building a Brand While Drunk

• A Visit To Virginia Wine Country + D.C.
• A Week in Walla Walla (an Instagram photo collection)

• Champagne Ruinart unveils 2016 sommelier Challenge

• Best Practices Examined for Tourism, Social Media

• Winemakers drop organic status to support environment

• Biocontrols Provide Progressive Grower Solutions

• UK Budget 2016: Wine trade disappointed to be ‘singled out’
• UK Budget 2016: Trade and analysts’ reaction
• Sussex PDO: MWs for and against

• Geographical indications law a step closer for NZ wine and spirit makers
• OZ: Irish scientist uncorks success as Canberra's founding winemaker
• OZ: Chilli wine and super hot sauce in production in New South Wales
• OZ: Pop the cork on our bubbles
• OZ: Winemakers welcome Government commitment to bring in ‘effects test’

• Alibaba chief revives China’s thirst for Bordeaux

• South Africa: There is a new face in the valley

• The Amount Of Wine You Need To Drink To Make It Through Sleep Training Your Child

• $2.6M grant freed for Wyoming Malting project
• Alabama ‘Growler Bill’ Awaiting Governor’s Signature
• WA: Columbia Distributing Strike Avoided For Now
• Are your beer labels TTB compliant? TTB releases its Alcohol Beverage Sampling Program
• Beer and winemaking among top dream jobs

 So many were so bad, I had to pour them down the drain. Judging from emails, many, many subscribers have found that amusing. I found it expensive. Pathetically, there is simply no trustworthy recommendation system to help consumers fine new wines that the will like.

I've tried every system: educating myself (since 1970), following critics, reading reviews, trying to get advice from wine retailers, working through those online retailer systems that use questionnaires ("Do you like your coffee black or with arsenic?" "Free market milk chocolate or greedy corporate dark chocolate?"). None of them work any better than random selection.

 Therefore, my extended experiment at buying wine like the average consumer at retail is over. Basta! Finito!

 As a result, I've stopped buying as much wine. Mostly, I avoid buying any wine that I have not already tasted. That's why you will notice more beer, cider and spirits in this space.

 And on those occasions when I do purchase vino that gags me, I head to my cellar and grab an old reliable bottle. You'll see more old favorites like this one which I buy by the case for times when my palate needs to forget the horror of a retail stinker.

 I would encourage the average wine drinker to follow this route.