Napa Valley vintner & drywall mogul forced into corner by bankruptcy court

April 27, 2017

Southern California drywall mogul Michael Ru Bello, who federal records allege looted his company to support a luxury lifestyle that included a Rolls Royce, thoroughbred race horses and a Napa Valley winery, may have been forced into a corner by a default on an $18 million payment settlement agreement. Bello is listed in bankruptcy documents […]

Premium, Full-Sized Images: Women may not always be your best wine buyers. Data says things vary with age.

April 18, 2017

NOTE: This is the first of what we plan to be a weekly premium graphic offering using new data not previously provided by any other wine publication or research organization. The purpose is to offer you more data points for your important decisions. A long-held maxim in wine marketing is that women are your best […]

Calif could be headed for needless woes in cannabis trademark legislation

April 3, 2017

The California Secretary of State’s (SOS’s) office is shortchanging legal cannabis businesses and their consumers by failing to register trademarks for the newly legalized industry, according to a long-time wine industry attorney, Jay Behmke, of Healdsburg. Including the word “cannabis” or “marijuana” in the state trademark application has, so far, been the kiss of death. […]