The Chilean wine industry attempted a concerted move upmarket a few years ago. SPIT: California bargains. Mike Steinberger contemplates the puzzle of why so few “superstar&# winemakers in California make wines under $20. Tags: American wine tasting sized pours SPIT: a move upmarket. LA Times ]. NYT ]. Philly.com ]. MORE >>

Chile’s wine industry is digging from the massive earthquake. They state that the industry’s exports “will return to normal within a very short period of time and without major difficulties.&#. Consumers have filed a class-action lawsuit in California against E&J Gallo over the faux pinot, Red Bicyclette. MORE >>

The Silicon Valley Bank released their annual report on the California wine industry. Tags: tasting sized pours SPIT: extortion. In what seems to be a caper ripped from the pages of a Peter Mayle novel, a bumbling criminal tried to extort Domaine de la Romainée Conti for about $1.5 Telegraph ]. SIPPED: good times?!? MORE >>

As a chaser, check out Tom Wark’s “manifesto for change in the wine industry&# over on Fermentation. The aftershocks of the earthquake that rocked Chile and its wine industry continue to be felt. Three wine makers from California who were victims of the recession receive profiles in the LAT. SPIT: reform in Maryland. MORE >>

Jeff Morgan, winemaker and author whom I interviewed many times, gave a fabulous brief on winemaking bore Karen MacNeil (author of The Wine Bible and now invited to the Hall of Fame from our Wine Media Guild) in New York and Eric Asimov, Wine Editor of the New York Times , gave a great presentation on tasting notes. Stay tuned! MORE >>