The ninth annual Rich Smith Award of Excellence for outstanding contributions to the American grape and wine industry was presented today to Emily Hodson, the winemaker at Veritas Vineyards and Winery, a co-owner of Flying Fox Vineyards and Winery, and an active leader in the Virginia wine industry. Members of the Smith family and sponsoring organizations present the Rich Smith award to Emily Hodson (third from left). The prestigious award annually reflects the spirit and accomplishments of the late Richard (Rich) Smith, founder of Valley Farm Management and Smith Family Wines in California’s Santa Lucia Highlands wine region in Monterey County. Rich was first and foremost a family man, but also a successful grape grower and winery owner, and a highly respected colleague known for the combination of passion, commitment and collaboration which helped advance the American grape and wine industry. Ever since Rich passed away in December 2015, three organizations—WineAmerica, N

Majority Leader Chuck Schumer Meets with WineAmerica and Waterloo Container WATERLOO, NY–Senate Majority Chuck Schumer met on Friday, December 2 with leaders of WineAmerica, the National Association of American Wineries, and owners of Waterloo Container, a large supplier of bottles to the American wine industry located in the fabulous Finger Lakes wine region of upstate New York. WineAmerica President Jim Trezise, Vice Chair Scott Osborn of Fox Run Vineyards, and Board Member Erica Paolicelli of Three Brothers Winery met with their Senator and discussed WineAmerica’s National Economic Impact Study of the Wine Industry plus two legislative priorities. Scott Osborn, Erica Paolicelli, and Jim Trezise join Majority Leader Schumer The USPS Shipping Equity Act would allow the postal service to ship wine (and beer, and spirits) directly to consumers like FedEx and UPS have been doing for years. Federal funding for the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) of USDA to cond

Afternoon Brief, October 26th

Bouncing Back: Napa Valley Tourism Remains Strong Thanks to the Region’s Focus on the Land: Despite the devastating wildfires that recently rocked the region – and much to the delight of businesses that rely on tourism – visitors from around the world continue to flock to Napa Valley, Calif., one of the world’s premier wine regions...

Afternoon Brief, September 9th

Grapes, Berries and Robots: Is Silicon Valley Coming for Farm Workers Jobs?: The global ag-tech revolution has sped up in recent years, spurring a debate on how it will affect the workforce...