Baril named VP/sales at Crimson
Tom Baril was appointed vice president of sales for Crimson Wine Group, Ltd., Napa. Previously, he was national director of Foster's Estates Wine Group. Crimson includes Pine Ridge Winery in Napa's Stags Leap district; Archery Summit Winery in Oregon's Dundee Hills and a new vineyard in Washington's Horse Heaven Hills.

Pällmann is Twomey Winemaker
Twomey Cellars, Calistoga and Healdsburg, named Christina Pällmann its winemaker. Previously, she was winemaker at Fritz Winery in Cloverdale.

Trentadue has new president
Trentadue Winery and Vineyards, Geyserville, appointed Shawn Loggins as president. Previously, he was with Foster's.

Jamie Davies dead at 73
Jamie Davies, considered the grande dame of American sparkling wine, died Feb. 12 at the Calistoga estate where she and her late husband Jack had founded their Schramsberg brand in the 1960s. She had battled Parkinson's disease for several years. A UC Berkeley graduate, she co-founded a contemporary art gallery in San Francisco. Schramsberg wines were served at state functions for every U.S. president starting with Richard Nixon. The Davies were committed to agricultural causes. Davies is survived by her sons John, Bill and Hugh Davies and their families.

WSU workshop is April 12 & 13
Washington State University extension viticulturists and enologists will collaborate with industry professionals to host "Vine to Wine" in Prosser, Wash. The first day will focus on establishing a vineyard; the second will address winemaking, winery design and economics. For details of the workshop, sponsored by the Washington Association of Wine Grape Growers, visit winegrapes.wsu.edu.

McWatters to open academy
Harry McWatters, founder of Sumac Ridge Estate Winery in Summerland, B.C., now owned by Constellation Brands, has stepped down and will establish the Okanagan Wine Academy to educate consumers about premium B.C. wines. He's also re-activating his consulting business for newcomers to
the industry.

Classes have begun in Southern Oregon
Umpqua Community College, Roseburg, Ore., will initiate its two-year degree program in viticulture and enology this fall, under the auspices of the Southern Oregon Wine Institute. A marketing and promotion class, "From Cellar to Seller," was held in early March, and another has begun on starting a vineyard. The initial class reached its 35-student limit and a waiting list was established. For more information and enrollment, phone (541) 440-7657.

Winery owner joins Oregon commission
Anne Root, co-owner and general manager of Eden Valley Orchards and EdenVale Winery, Medford, Ore., was appointed to a four-year term on the Oregon Economic and Community Development Commission. A graduate of Southern Oregon University, she earned a masters degree in commerce from the University of Wollongong in New South Wales, Australia.

Wine educators will meet in New Orleans
The Society of Wine Educators will hold its annual conference May 28-30 in New Orleans, La. It will include 50-plus seminars presented by Masters of Wine, Master Sommeliers, Certified Wine Educators and global personalities. For details, visit societyofwineeducators.org.

Justin Morris publishes start-up guide
Morris, food scientist for the University of Arkansas's Division of Agriculture, and co-inventor of the mechanized vineyard system marketed by Oxbo International, has published Considerations for Starting a Winery, for those who hope to get into the industry. Download the guide at arkansasagnews.uark.edu/983.pdf.

Michigan winery opens fifth tasting room
St. Julian Winery opened a 3,148-square-foot tasting room in February at 700 Freedom Ct. in Dundee, Mich. St. Julian also has tasting rooms in Frankenmuth, Parma, Union Pier and at the winery in Paw Paw.

Michigan industry met in February
Some 200 attendees at the Michigan Wine Industry Annual Meeting Feb. 28-29 in Thompsonville learned that sales of Michigan wines continue to increase within the state, and laid plans for Michigan Wine Month this month, to include a new edition of Michigan Wine Country Magazine, and a redesign of the association's website, michiganwines.com. David Creighton, long-time spokesperson for the association, was honored upon his retirement.

Gerling appointed to Cornell extension
Christopher J. Gerling was appointed extension associate in Cornell University's Department of Food Science and Technology at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, N.Y. He will play a leading role in the coordination of enology and extension programs, facilitating education programs to support growth and improved quality of state wines. Previously, he was assistant winemaker at Anthony Road Wine Company in Penn Yan, N.Y.

New York couple starts consulting
Bernard and Lisa Julian Cannac have founded Wine Connection Consulting, specializing in Long Island wine. Their services include wine list consultation, wine buyer and staff training, wine and food pairing, winery operations, winemaking/blending, tasting room, image, marketing, sales and lab services. Bernard Cannac is winemaker at Duck Walk Vineyards and Pindar Vineyards; Lisa Cannac was wine lab director for Premium Winegroup and assistant winemaker at Castello di Borghese and Ternhaven Cellars. For more information, visit wineconnectionconsulting.com.

Winemaking comic to teach wine course
Winemaker and stand-up comedian John Altmaier will teach a 90-minute class, "From Vine to Glass," every Saturday through April at Alba Vineyard & Winery, Milford, N.J. The barrel room classes are limited to 20 people; reservations are required and the $15 per person fee includes an Alba wine glass. For details, visit albavineyard.com.

Long Island wineries will host wine camps
The Winemakers Series Wine Camp is scheduled for April 17-20 and May 29-June 1, including tastings and classes, accommodations and meals, and a case of local wine for each couple attending. For details, visit winecamp.org.

Vermont to inaugurate wine fest
The Mount Snow Valley Chamber of Commerce and Vermont Life magazine are organizing a new, outdoor event scheduled for Sept. 26-28. The Vermont Life Wine & Harvest Festival will have events in Wilmington, Dover and Whitingham, celebrating wine, food and Vermont producers and artisans. For details, visit thevermontfestival.com.

Direct to consumer symposium in May
Coalition for Free Trade and Free the Grapes! Will host the first annual Direct to Consumer Symposium May 1 and 2 in Napa Valley. Session topics include enotourism, state legislation, start-up, wine clubs and more. For details, visit coalitionforfreetrade.org.

G3 adds synthetic closure
G3 Enterprises, Modesto, Calif., introduced the Vinotop synthetic cork, with foamed core and outer skin for predictable oxygen transmission rates and tight seal. For details, visit g3enterprises.com.

Oak Solutions added tank staves
Oak Solutions Group, Napa, has added the Latitude series of tank staves to its evOAK line of barrel alternatives. The 44º Bordeaux, 45º Rhône and 46º Burgundy staves are designed for specific varietals. Sample kits are available from oaksolutionsgroup.com/samplekits.

Winesecrets has mobile filtration
American Winesecrets, LLC, Napa, Calif., acquired the mobile filtration division of Vinovation, Inc., to deliver the patented reverse osmosis filtration technology through its fleet across North America. Vinovation will continue to provide the service at its custom crush facility in Sebastopol, Calif. For details, visit winesecrets.com.

New mobile bottler is Napa based
A•T Mobile Bottling Line opened in February, with a 48-foot truck/trailer with its own nitrogen generator and steam sterilizer, and bottling speeds up to 100 bpm. For details, visit atmbl.net.

News from Tonnellerie Quintessence
Tonnellerie Quintessence, Bordeaux, France, added Zach Thompson and Elizabeth Van Emst to its North American sales team based in Sonoma, Calif.

TCW adds brands
TCW Equipment (The Compleat Winemaker) now represents the Flath and KVT membrane presses in North America. For details, visit tcw-web.com.

ReCoop represents Bordelaise
ReCoop, Inc., Sebastopol, Calif., barrel refurbisher, is exclusive representative for Tonnellerie Bordelaise French barrels in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Learn more at recoop.net.

Corrections

Out-of-date obituary
A glitch on a Washington newspaper website resulted in Wines & Vines publishing an out-of-date obituary on Washington state wine pioneer Walter Clore as current news in its March 2008 issue. A Wines & Vines writer found what appeared to be a current article on Clore's death from a web page of the Tri-City Herald that was dated Jan. 22, 2008. The magazine summarized the content in its March issue.

Wines & Vines editor Jim Gordon apologized to members of the Washington wine industry for the magazine's lapse in reporting and editing rigor. The magazine had run a proper obituary on Walter Clore in 2003. The author of the Tri-City Herald article explained that the old article accidentally re-appeared on a current page of tri-cityherald.com during site renovations.

Column text missing
Due to a production error, parts of three paragraphs were inadvertently omitted from Cliff Ohmart's Vineyard View column, March 2008. They are printed below in their entirety:

CDFA continually reassesses the format of the symposium to provide as useful a meeting as possible. This year, the presenters were a combination of researchers funded by the winegrape assessment, and others working in related areas around the U.S. that could be of value to work being done in the PD Research Program.

The poster session held concurrently with the talks briefly summarized the results of all the current research, and the scientists were available to discuss their work and answer any questions. One new feature of the symposium was a series of roundtable discussions where researchers and other conference attendees brainstormed about a specified topic.

The first session was dedicated to presentations on general but important program matters. The first two summarized a report from a Research Scientific Advisory Panel that CDFA convened to review the progress of the PD/GWSS Research Program since the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) reviewed the program in 2004. If you think the two reviews are pretty close together in time, you are not the only one.