Wineries in Mendocino, Napa and Sonoma are battling to finish harvest and fermentations as wildfire rages across the region, according to the Wine Institute of California. The industry body said its thoughts and prayers are with all of those who have been impacted by the fires, but it put out a defiant statement about the resilience of its members. It said that fewer than 10…

The Wine Institute of California has spoken out to reassure the UK trade that it is not abandoning the UK market after news that the London office run by John McLaren and Venla Freeman is to shut. Linsey Gallagher, vice president for international marketing at the Wine Institute, told OLN: “I want to reiterate that our recent actions in the UK are most definitely not…

OLN was shocked and saddened to learn today that the UK office of the Wine Institute of California will close due to severe cuts in funding from the Department of Agriculture in Washington DC. John McLaren and Venla Freeman have spent 21 years spearheading the Californian wine category in the UK from their London office and it is the end of an era for these…

Satirical website the Daily Mash has invented a spoof academy, the Institute for Studies, to provide expert comment for its fictional reports. It probably wasn’t inspired by the Institute for Alcohol Studies, but it does say something about the media’s craving for a white-coated boffin to shore up their stories. The IAS is one of the go-to organisations for journalists writing…

A record number of Masters of Wine will gather in Florence next month for the Institute’s eight international symposium. Wine professionals are invited to attend and learn from some of the most notable figures in the wine world, and more than 400 people from 30 countries have already signed up. A total of 124 MWs will be on hand as talks, tastings and themed lunches…

US west coast states California, Oregon and Washington will team up for a joint generic tasting in 2014, creating the most comprehensive tasting of the region’s wines ever available to the UK trade. The event will be called “Go West!” and will take place on March 17 at the QEII Conference Centre in Westminster, London. John McLaren, UK director of the Wine Institute of California,…

The UK market is benefiting from its most diverse range of sherry ever, according to the Sherry Institute. The institute is to hold the biggest sherry tasting in the world in London next week, and UK director Graham Hines said the buzz around the wine is bigger than he has known it in nearly 30 years of working with sherry. “There are more people bringing…