July 18, 1984

Soviet and American officials initialed a diplomatic note today upgrading the 21- year-old hot-line link between Moscow and Washington for crisis communications. The new version, to be installed within two years, will speed up word transmissions threefold from the present 64 words a minute. It could also transmit graphics, such as maps showing the disposition of forces, according to a senior Administration official who briefed reporters at the White House today. President Reagan issued a statement describing the agreement as a ''modest but positive step'' toward reducing the risks of nuclear war by ''accident, miscalcuation or misinterpretation.''

A Baghdad dispatch yesterday about American and Soviet support for Iraq misstated the amount of oil Iraq is pumping through its Turkish pipeline. It is about 850,000 barrels a day.

HEALDSBURG, Calif. Knowledgeable wine drinkers want to know more than just the name of the winery when they buy an expensive California wine these days. They want to know the name of the vineyard, too. More and more often, the winery and the vineyard names are not the same. A good California winery may own its vineyards and make its wine only from its own grapes. It may blend its grapes with those of growers it knows and regularly buys from. Or it may have no vineyards and may make its wine only from purchased grapes. If a winery gets a particularly fine batch of grapes from one specific vineyard, it may keep them apart, make a special wine from them and add the vineyard's name to the label. This is called a vineyard-designated wine.

The Democratic National Convention compromised on two critical platform issues today after defeating three proposals by the Rev. Jesse Jackson, including one calling for the elimination of a chief target of his Presidential campaign, the runoff primary. While supporters of Walter F. Mondale were winning the three floor contests, they agreed to compromises on platform planks dealing with affirmative action and the use of American military force abroad, avoiding debates and divisive votes on those sensitive issues. No Defeats for Mondale As a result, all challenges to the platform were turned aside without any recorded defeat for the Mondale convention majority. The Mondale forces defeated the runoff primary plank proposed by the Jackson camp only after Mayor Andrew Young of Atlanta, a Mondale supporter, was nearly booed off the rostrum when he led the debate against the Jackson proposal. Mr. Jackson repeatedly charged in the primary campaign that runoff primaries discriminated against black candidates by diluting black voting strength when a second, or runoffelection occurs under that system.

Stymied in its attempt to find a private solution to the run on Continental Illinois National Bank, a Federal Government agency is preparing to assume liability for its billions of dollars in problem loans. The plan, under which the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation would end up owning at least 80 percent of Continental, was outlined yesterday at a Washington meeting between William M. Isaac, chairman of the F.D.I.C., and a committee of Continental directors, according to sources familiar with the proceedings. The plan, which would severely dilute the equity of existing Continental stockholders, would not immediately involve the expenditure of new cash by the Federal agency. In late May, the F.D.I.C., along with 28 commercial banks, joined in a $7.5 billion rescue plan for Continental, including a $1.5 billion loan by the Federal agency. But that was insufficient to stanch the outflow of deposits.