AMERICAN CANYON � Wine shipment compliance and fulfillment house New Vine Logistics has what it thinks is a cool solution to the long-running problem of wine damaged during shipment to consumers in the hottest and coldest months of the year.

Starting March 1, New Vine clients will be able to ship wine club, tasting room and Internet purchases in insulated, chilled boxes that are supposed to be able to keep bottles above 45 degrees Fahrenheit and below 70 degrees for up to five days.

New Vine founder and CEO Katie Hoertkorn said the new WineAssure packaging �helps wineries manage costs and cash flow, especially during winter months.�

The company has calculated that 125 of its wine-producer customers held up nearly 36,000 orders last year because the weather in transit was too hot or cold, resulting in some $1.43 million in deferred revenue.

MIDDAY GETAWAY - Gannett Road, North Scituate

Does a lunch hour have to be about lunch? Not if you live on the South Shore.Each Thursday, we'll show you where to go and what to do to unwind, grab a bite or have some fun, all in 60 minutes or less. WALK AROUNDStroll the packed aisles of CT Outfitters, a small clothing outlet with a great selection of name-brand clothing at half price. Stacks and stacks of bargain-priced jeans, bins of great shoes and buckets of cheap name-brand accessories make it easy to spend your lunch hour hunting for deals. Check for new arrivals and specials - such as $11 to celebrate the store's 11th anniversary.CHECK IT OUTAfter grabbing lunch, walk down to The Weinery, a shop with an extensive selection of wine, as well as cheese, cigars and gifts. Join the wine-a-month club or pick up a bottle of Spanish wine with images of Scituate on the label.QUICK BITESFor homemade soups, salads and sandwiches with gourmet flair, head to Circe's Grotto.

State Wineries: Record start-up year predicted

Hard to believe now, but two decades ago, less than a dozen wineries existed in Michigan.

Among those early adopters were Chateau Grand Traverse on Old Mission, Boskydel, L. Mawby and Leelanau Cellars on the Leelanau Peninsula, and St. Julian and Tabor Hill in the southwest.

The industry's growth curve has been steep the last several years, but with at least three new northwest wineries opening this year, 2008 is shaping up to be a watershed for the industry, whose members will gather at their biggest annual event later this month at Crystal Mountain.

“We are really expecting a record number of openings in 2008. We're going to be close to 60 wineries by the end of 2008," says Linda Jones, executive director of the Michigan Grape and Wine Industry Council, the division of the Department of Agriculture officially charged with promoting the industry.

York Supes in 2nd

Here is a highly competitive three-way race for York supervisor, in the middle of the county covering Kiln Creek, Coventry and Foxwood.

Incumbent Sheila Noll lost a bitter Republican primary to Brenda Pogge for the 96th House. Noll was considered by many a sore loser for appealing to the courts, but she insists she was cheated at the polls. So did Nixon in 1960 and Gore in 2000, but they did the gracious thing.

This is no small matter. The minute Noll announced for the 96th, she signaled her intent to move on. Had she lost gracefully, it might have been okay to run again for supervisor. But her dragging this out and dragging the county Republican Party down with her served no useful purpose. The supervisor job is not hers by primogeniture.

Neal, Beshear top fundraisers in Madison Co.

Richmond attorney Earl Ray Neal has gained more than $2,000 than his opponent, David Perdue of Clark County, in a bid to become 25th District Court judge.As of Monday, nearly a week before the Nov. 7 election, Neal had raised $17,860 and spent $11,624.84, while Perdue had received $15,571 in donations and spent $13,928.24, according to data from the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance.The maximum allowable contribution to a candidate from individuals is $1,000 per election.Neal received his donations through a total of 64 contributions — 47 for $250 or less, nine between $251 and $500 and eight for $1,000.Local elected officials who donated to Neal's campaign include: Madison County Coroner Jimmy Cornelison, $250; Richmond City Commissioner Robert Blythe, $100; Madison County Jailer Ron Devere, $1,000; state Rep.

Markets of biodiversity and equity in trade: An illusion?

Since the end of the 1980s, the idea has become predominant that the best way to ensure conservation of biodiversity was to create value for it in the framework of markets. The great upsurge in genetic engineering techniques at that time offered a glimpse of many possibilities for money-earning uses of natural substances by living-resource-based industries. In this context, the Convention on Biological Diversity, a measure adopted in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, advocated the development of trade agreements between holders and users of genetic resources, foreseeing a fair and equitable sharing of benefits derived from such resources. Fifteen years after the signature of the Convention on Biological Diversity, a multidisciplinary team involving researchers from the IRD and other institutions conducted a review of the current situation.

Cooking.com Receives $7 Million in Financing to Expand Operations ...

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Jan. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Cooking.com, a privately-held internet marketplace and community for the kitchen, announced today that it has entered into a $7 million loan agreement with ORIX Venture Finance. The venture debt credit facilities will be used by Cooking.com to expand operations, enhance its community content, and support continued acceleration of its private label online programs.

"We were delighted to have worked with the Cooking.com team in putting this financing together which will enable the company to accelerate growth and further its leadership position in the online cooking market," commented Rob Winkelmann, Managing Partner and CEO of the DiBari Group.