Weekly Wine Web Wrap-up - V-Day Hangover Edition

Welcome to the post-Valentine's Day Hangover edition of the Weekly Wine Web Wrap-up (where Dude highlights some of his favorite wine news items over the past week)!

Is it Getting Hot in Here, or is it Just Me?
You'd have been hard-pressed (ha-ha) to miss stories this week about the impact of global warming on the wine world, such as this nice article from the AFP. According to the report, the French in particular are in big trouble. The article does not state how the U.S. will save France this time around (we can only assume America will want to go for the "Bail France Out Trifecta" having already performed that service when France was threatened by phylloxera, and zee Germans...).

And the Winner Is...
Once again, Gallo is tops in U.S. domestic wine sales, shipping an estimated 66 million cases in America during 2007. That's about 792 million bottles of wine, or 59.4 billion ml of our favorite beverage. The only comparison to that in the scientific world in terms of concentration is spermatozoa. Yuck. OK, let's just agree to forget that I said that...

Yeaaaahhhhh
Looks like Tennessee is trying to do things right when it comes to Internet wine sales, according to this little blurb on TriCities.com. The article even cites the benefits that the state can reap by opening up their markets to Internet and mail-order wine sales. When will the other states listen to reason? Tennessee is showin' you folks how it's done (with good ol' Southern hospitality)!

Boooooooooo
By contrast, Colorado is getting it way wrong, as liquor stores and grocery stores battle it out to see who will get the Sunday liquor business from the state's consumers. Can't we all just get along?

Never Judge An Appellation by its Label
If you think total wine consumption and wine sales are the only titles the U.S. is battling the French and Italians over for the #1 spot, you've obviously missed this SanLuisObispo.com article on the debate over proposed changes to their appellations' wine labels. Because now it appears that CA is trying to catch up France & Italy in the battle of who has the most complex appellation and labeling laws. Drat.

The WORST News EVER!
This story is, like, the worst news EVER! I can't even finish reading it... Oh the humanity!!! Close your eyes, Marion! Keep your eyes SHUT!!!

Searching for Wine 2.0
Finally, the San Francisco Chronicle has given some nice publicity to Doug Cook's new wine search engine venture AbleGrape.com. Right On!!!

Cheers!