Your daily dose of news and happenings from around the drink-o-sphere:
– America’s largest wine distributor is also the largest donor to California’s lawmakers.
– The Chicago Tribune has challenged local bartenders to translate the essence of the city into cocktail form.
– Winemaker Vassilis Papagiannakos is exploring new expressions of the savatiano grape.
– Finally, The Sacramento Bee on the transformation of California’s wine country into weed country.
[Photo: Flickr/Naotake Murayama]