North Bay Business Journal

SANTA ROSA — Two of the North Bay’s largest financial institutions have unveiled new mobile banking applications, seeking to address a wave of consumer demand for technology that was once only within reach of the nation’s largest banks.

ROHNERT PARK — After three years of work, ThumbsUpWine has released a smartphone app packed with hundreds of video reviews, up-to-date price comparisons and the startup’s own value-for-the-price comparisons, features the venture aims to be an in-aisle guide for the perplexed aspiring wine consumer.

MILL VALLEY – Marin County is new home to another interesting Internet company, joining Glassdoor, ImageSpan and many others in Sausalito.

The Napa Valley Destination Council’s iPhone application, Visit Napa Valley, received platinum honors from the Adrian Awards, a prestigious designation in the marketing and public relations industry. … After working together for more than a decade to keep Rohlffs Manor, a senior living facility in Napa affordable, EAH Housing and Lutheran Care for the Aging is celebrating the future of this community. … On Feb. 18th, Queen of the Valley Medical Center will host the world’s only portable, inflatable, walk-through heart exhibit on the hospital’s front lawn. … The developer of Napa Valley’s residences at the Calistoga Ranch, an Auberge Resorts location and home to the signature Vintner Program, announced more sales were closed in 2010 than in the past two years combined.

In conjunction with the story “Wineries increase use of smartphone, social media technologies,” the Business Journal is collecting ideas wine marketers submitted about how their experiences.

Smartphones and social media are being employed in new ways as many wineries increase their use of the latest technology to reach consumers and maintain control of branding — all across the U.S. To add your experience, comment on this story.

A disproportionate number of soured crop sales resolved by the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s Market Enforcement Branch last year involved North Coast winegrapes, according to department records.