• Chilean wine losses: The Chilean earthquake has caused significant damage to the country's wine industry, but it could have been worse. The Wine Spectator reported that officials expect to lose about 14 million cases of wine worth $250 million. But that's only about 12 percent of the 2009 harvest, which is the good news. Some wineries, though were more hard hit, including Santa Rita and Montes. The latter, in the Colchagua valley, lost of 20 percent of its Alpha M, Folly and Purple Angel wines.
• Consumer files lawsuit: A California wine drinker has sued Gallo and the French company that supplied it with fraudulent pinot noir. The lawsuit alleges that Gallo and its supplier, Sieur d ‘Arques, engaged in unfair competition, false advertising, and fraud in the bottling, distribution, and sale of Red Bicyclette pinot noir. That's an odd lawsuit -- not because fraud was committed by Sieur d'Arques officials, but because of the money involved. What's the point of suing over a $10 bottle of wine. How much in the way of damages -- even punitive -- could a jury reasonably expect to award? Gallo, as reported, was not involved in the French criminal case.
• Happy 50th birthday: Ridge Vineyards, which dollar for dollar may be the best red wine producer in the United States, has celebrated its 50th anniversary. Eric Asimov at the New York Times has the details: "Perhaps because of its longevity and its consistency, and because its wines are actually available to consumers, Ridge tends to be taken for granted, its achievements noted dutifully even as attention shifts to the new, the expensive and the scarce. That seemed reason enough to spend an afternoon visiting Ridge before the celebration."
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