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US buyers drive fine wine market stability in first half 2026

• US fine wine buyers' share of purchase value rose to 26.9% in Q2 2026, up from 20.7% in 2025, as participants navigated new tariffs and depleted stocks.
• Liv-ex data shows US buyers paid an average 1.1% above market price in Q2, compared to 0.03% in Q1, actively supporting price stability.
• Asian buyers retreated as shipping costs surged up to 60% due to the Iran War, softening local trade prices despite global stabilisation.
• All major fine wine indices stabilised in H1 2026, though limited trade volume growth indicates buyers remain cautious despite selective opportunity.
• Private collectors now drive the market as merchants reduce stock purchases and stay risk-averse, making geopolitical shocks a direct threat to valuations.

Australian wine harvest hits 25-year low as demand and weather collapse

• Australia's 2026 crush totalled 1.27 million tonnes, down 19% year-on-year and 25% below the 10-year average, according to Wine Australia.
• The vintage value dropped 26% to A$837 million despite the smaller harvest, with grape prices falling 6% on average from 2025.
• Red varieties bore 80% of the decline; white grapes now comprise the majority of the crush for only the second time in 12 years, signalling a shift in global consumer preference.
• Late frosts, heatwaves and flooding across Australian regions compounded weak global demand, with Peter Bailey of Wine Australia warning that four consecutive vintages below average suggest a structural reset in grape requirements.
• The smaller harvest will yield 33 million fewer nine-litre cases, reflecting both shrinking red wine demand globally and Australia's persistent oversupply of reds.

Rioja brands Federico Paternina, Lagunilla auctioned via insolvency sale

• IAG Auction will sell four Rioja DO brands from Marqués de la Concordia Group, 27-29 July, as part of insolvency proceedings involving United Wineries entities.
• Federico Paternina and Lagunilla are the portfolio's strongest performers, generating €18.49 million in normalised Rioja sales during 2019-21.
• The brands command 41% export share historically, with Nordic countries and Central Europe accounting for 49.65% of overseas revenue.
• Buyers acquire only trademarks and intangible assets, not vineyards or production facilities, enabling rapid market entry without operational infrastructure.

US restaurants' six-times wine markups drive drinkers to drink at home first

• New York restaurants now mark up wine bottles six times wholesale cost, versus the old four-times convention, pricing a €1.70 Prosecco at $60, according to Gino Colangelo, founder of New York wine PR agency Colangelo & Partners.
• By-the-glass markups have reached $12-16 per pour, with some Manhattan restaurants' cheapest bottles starting at $100, deterring entry-level drinkers and younger diners unfamiliar with wine lists.
• On-trade wine sales in the US have fallen roughly 25% since 2019, while ready-to-drink cocktails gained share and fine-dining outlets shrunk, per Southern Glazer's Wine and Spirits and NielsenIQ data.
• More than 75% of US wine drinkers told the Wine Market Council they will not pay over $16 per glass, yet restaurants continue raising prices to offset rising rent and staffing costs.
• Consumers are increasingly preloading alcohol at home before dining out to avoid inflated restaurant markups, shifting spending away from on-premise venues and toward retail.

California wine exports collapse 35%; Asia offers recovery path

• California wine exports fell 35% in 2025; US lost $134 million in Canadian sales alone after Trump tariffs triggered retaliatory duties.
• E&J Gallo, world's largest family-owned winery by volume, closed facilities and cut staff; four other California wineries closed or restructured.
• Christopher Beros, California Wine Institute's Greater China and Southeast Asia director, says Asia remains underdeveloped wine market with room for growth among affluent, internationally minded consumers.
• California wine imports to China dropped $69 million year-on-year despite tariff headwinds, but Beros expects clarity and growth in Chinese local wine market to lift imported California bottles.
• California wines appeal to Asian consumers via lifestyle branding, food pairing versatility, and origin story; Beros advises staying engaged to capture long-term regional growth.

Wanderlust Wine imports Sardinian producer MESA as UK sommeliers seek regional alternatives

• Wanderlust Wine, a UK importer, appointed exclusive distributor for MESA, a Sardinian winery founded in 2004 by Gavino Sanna in Sant'Anna Arresi, south-west Sardinia.
• MESA's flagship wines, Giunco Vermentino di Sardegna DOC and Buio Carignano del Sulcis DOC, target the circa £12 price point in premium UK restaurants, bars and hotels.
• Richard Ellison, Wanderlust founder, says UK sommeliers are abandoning saturated established Italian regions; Super Tuscan and Chianti now appear on every list.
• Wanderlust observed steady demand growth for coastal island Italian wines over several years, particularly those with volcanic elements and indigenous varieties.
• MESA had prior UK distribution through Bibendum; Wanderlust plans organic growth over 12 months through targeted activations and focus on premium on-trade listings.

New Generation Wines acquires Bancroft Wines to expand UK distribution

• New Generation Wines, a UK premium wine importer and wholesaler, is acquiring Bancroft Wines to create a larger combined business serving retailers and hospitality venues.
• New Generation's current portfolio includes South African producers Boekenhoutskloof, The Chocolate Block, Porseleinberg, Porcupine Ridge and Robertson.
• The deal aims to broaden the combined company's producer portfolio and market reach while strengthening long-term growth prospects amid UK economic pressures.
• Customer contacts, ordering processes and supplier relationships will remain unchanged during transition; full operational integration is planned for January 2027.
• Financial terms were not disclosed; Managing director James McKenna cited shared values and complementary strengths between the two businesses as drivers of the merger.

Sicilia DOC unifies regional identity after decade-long negotiations

• Sicilia DOC was established in 2011 after years of negotiation to create a unified regional brand, competing against narrower sub-regional designations like Etna DOC.
• The appellation faced slow adoption initially because individual producers preferred their own sub-regional identities, but has now become an important market force.
• Post-COVID travel and The White Lotus television series filmed in Taormina have boosted Sicily's profile, driving American consumer interest in indigenous grapes like Grillo and Nero d'Avola.
• Sicilia DOC producers like Tasca d'Almerita range from dessert wines sourced in Pantelleria to minerally whites from Mount Etna slopes, using the broad designation to market diverse styles.
• The appellation balances simplification for consumers against over-reduction, allowing producers to claim regional identity without obscuring individual terroir and grape variety.

Napa's Profitable Half Rely on Direct Sales and Member Loyalty Over Tasting Rooms

• WineBusiness Monthly's annual survey found 50 percent of Napa vineyards saw revenue fall and 51 percent reported profit declines; the other 49 percent remain profitable by pivoting strategy.
• Successful wineries are cutting tasting room fees, offering immersive experiences, and building direct-to-consumer channels; Julien Fayard's downtown Napa bottle shop grew 66.45 percent year-over-year via foot traffic and repeat visits.
• Flexible membership tiers lower barriers to entry and boost retention; Domaine Carneros' memberships rose 4 percent and Chateau Montelena diversified its club model after listening to member preferences.
• Tasting room visitation has dropped since 2022 as costs soared, but wineries converting fewer visitors into loyal buyers are seeing higher average order values and referral-driven growth despite foot traffic declines.

BrewDog co-founder Watt bids to reclaim brewer months after Tilray sale

• James Watt, BrewDog co-founder in Aberdeenshire, has submitted an offer to buy back the brewer from US group Tilray Brands, which acquired it for £33 million in 2024.
• Watt promises that roughly 20,000 former Equity for Punks crowdfunding investors would receive their original shareholdings free of charge if his bid succeeds.
• BrewDog's core UK business and 11 brewpubs collapsed before Tilray's acquisition, rendering investor shares nearly worthless before the takeover.
• Watt has since launched Second Best, a competing beer venture offering roughly 20 percent equity to former BrewDog investors as partial compensation.

Stoli launches UK Pride campaign with new flavoured vodka lines

• SPI Group's Stoli vodka will run its biggest UK on-trade Pride campaign this summer, centred on Brighton Pride 1-3 August, featuring new products Stoli Halapeño and Stoli Ginger Beer.
• The campaign activates across Brighton venues including R-Bar, Revenge, The Cleveland Arms and The Chimney House, plus The Black Cap in Camden and Lost & Found in Balham, with more to follow.
• Stoli Halapeño launches with two signature serves: the Spicy Mary Shooter, a 50ml premium Bloody Mary variant designed as high-margin festival service, and the Spicy Passion cocktail.
• Stoli Ginger Beer becomes official mixer for Stoli Mule across principal Brighton Pride festival bars throughout the weekend.
• Limited-edition 'Cheers to Pride' bottles roll out nationwide across Tesco, Sainsbury's, Waitrose and Morrisons, while Booker Brighton hosts a wholesale 'Stoli By The Sea' display installation.

Champagne houses turn artists and celebrities into marketing assets

• Ruinart commissioned Czech artist Alphonse Mucha in 1895 to design an Art Nouveau advertisement, launching a trend of creative partnerships that continues today with 35 art fair collaborations globally.
• Veuve Clicquot enlisted Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama in 2021 to create labels and sculptures for La Grande Dame 2012, and partnered with designer Simon Porte Jacquemus on a linen-wrapped limited edition during New York Fashion Week.
• Dom Pérignon assembled seven cultural figures including actor Zoë Kravitz, singer Iggy Pop and artist Takashi Murakami for a 2024 campaign promoting four new vintages at a Tate Modern launch event.
• Moët & Chandon secured a ten-year Formula 1 sponsorship deal in 2025 replacing Ferrari, reported worth £750 million, while Bollinger expanded its James Bond association by partnering with Aston Martin for VIP global experiences.
• Marketing strategists credit limited-edition drops and high-fashion collaborations with converting Champagne into lifestyle accessories for social media, borrowing from streetwear tactics to reach beyond traditional wine buyers.

Trinchero launches Sauvy B, wine spritzer with electrolytes for younger drinkers

• Trinchero Family Wines, the third-largest US wine supplier, released Sauvy B, a canned citrus spritzer made with 9 percent Sauvignon Blanc, 90 percent sparkling water, and added Himalayan salt electrolytes.
• Winemaker Joel Gott, whose brands Joel Gott Wines and Three Thieves are owned by Trinchero, designed the 4.5 percent ABV product to introduce younger consumers to wine through a ready-to-drink format positioned as hydrating.
• Grapefruit and lime are the first flavors; pineapple and watermelon versions arrive fall 2025. Four-packs retail for $14 and launch at Target, Total Wine & More, and Walmart nationwide this week.
• Gott aims for Sauvy B to serve as a gateway to traditional wine drinking, citing younger consumers' preference for malt and spirit RTDs over wine-based alternatives in the pre-mixed category.
• The product joins recent low-ABV RTDs like Stateside Brands' Super Lyte and Svedka Vodka Water, both marketed as health-conscious options aligned with active lifestyles.

Fifteen sommeliers name expensive Bordeaux bottles worth their price tags

• Fifteen US restaurant sommeliers were asked which high-priced Bordeaux bottles merit their cost despite the region's brand premium and outdated classification systems.
• Scott Woltz, beverage director at Bibliotheque in New York, named Château Palmer for its emotional complexity and Burgundian perfume of violets and graphite despite third-growth ranking.
• Julie Dalton, master sommelier at Stella's Wine Bar in Houston, championed Château Haut-Brion's rusticity and minerality over other first growths, and Château Trotte Vieille at around $100.
• Cody Pruitt, co-owner of Capitaine in NYC, selected Château Lafleur for extraordinary farming and craftsmanship rather than label prestige and marketing spend.
• Other picks included Château Pontet-Canet as an undervalued fifth growth with biodynamic farming, La Mission Haut-Brion for gravelly Graves character, and Château d'Yquem dessert wine.

Ten lesser-known Scotch brands offer alternatives to household names.

• A VinePair guide recommends ten Scotch brands outside the mainstream, including single malts and blends, to broaden drinker appreciation beyond Johnnie Walker, Dewar's, The Glenlivet, and The Macallan.
• Monkey Shoulder, a Speyside blended Scotch, has become the standard Scotch cocktail mixer for bartenders and works in classics like Bobby Burns through balanced honey, vanilla, and citrus notes.
• Glenglassaugh Sandend, a Highlands expression finished in bourbon and sherry casks, uses tropical pineapple and grapefruit notes to counter the false belief that all Scotch is heavily peated.
• Ardbeg 10 and Bruichladdich's The Classic Laddie serve different entry points to Islay Scotch: Ardbeg balances intense smoke with citrus sweetness, while The Classic Laddie is unpeated with fruity and salty notes.
• Mortlach 12-year, Glengoyne White Oak, Compass Box Artist Blend, The Glendronach Original 12, and Auchentoshan American Oak round out the list with regional diversity from Speyside, Lowland, and independent blenders.

Texas A&M sends grape seeds to space station to study radiation effects

• Texas A&M University aerospace and viticulture researchers will send hundreds of grape seeds to the International Space Station for a six-month mission studying cosmic radiation's impact on plant genetics.
• Aerospace engineering students Coby Arnold and Arvind Subramanyam designed a protective carrier allowing seeds to survive space exposure while experiencing measurable genetic changes from radiation.
• Upon return, seeds will be planted at AgriLife Research vineyard at Thomas Ranch alongside control seeds that remained on Earth to compare growth, genetics, and grape production.
• Three varieties selected include Lomanto, a Texas cultivar developed by viticulturist T.V. Munson in the early 20th century, chosen for disease resistance and climate tolerance.
• If successful, researchers led by viticulture specialist Justin Scheiner could eventually produce wine from radiation-exposed seeds, potentially improving future grape breeding and crop resilience.

Grape sunburn spreads north as heat waves force vineyard practice overhaul

• Sunburn occurs when berry surface temperatures exceed 104-109°F under high light, causing chlorophyll and aromatic compounds to degrade and producing flavors of leather, asphalt, and creosote.
• Joanna Gambetta, wine scientist at University of Newcastle Australia, found that berries exposed to defoliation at flowering build photoprotective compounds, while defoliation at veraison increases damage risk.
• Producers in warm regions including Provence and Napa are abandoning or retiming midsummer leaf removal and shifting to reflective kaolin clay sprays and canopy-cover strategies instead.
• Steve Matthiasson, winemaker at Matthiasson Wines in Napa Valley, emphasizes vineyard design, orientation, trellis architecture, and shoot positioning, to minimize direct fruit exposure.
• As heat waves arrive earlier and further north, sunburn sorting at harvest has become critical; producers recognize that sunburned fruit contaminates finished wine regardless of vintage quality.

Heat-tolerant Mourvèdre struggles as southern France grows hotter and drier

• Mourvèdre, the heat-tolerant grape long dominant in Bandol and Jumilla, faces new stress as temperatures rise and droughts intensify across southern France.
• Producers in Bandol are experimenting with canopy management, higher pruning, and shade-planting to prevent sunburn and slow ripening cycles as heatwaves intensify.
• A severe three-year drought from 2022 to 2024 in Jumilla killed some old bush vines despite their deep roots, forcing growers to consider irrigation for survival.
• Jumilla's vineyard area has halved in 20 years as hotter southern sites are abandoned; cooler, high-altitude parcels around 600 to 800 meters remain viable.
• Bandol's cooler rosé sites are being converted to red production as climate shifts, threatening the region's tradition of 75 percent rosé output.

Six Wines That Stopped Me in My Tracks

• Charly, originally from Burgundy, produces wines in Lower Austria with French sensibility and Austrian varieties on just one hectare of owned vines.
• Charly's Blauer Portugieser 2023 from grapes sourced by Christoph Hoch shows ripeness and creamy texture unusual for the variety.
• Charly's Grüner Veltliner 2022, Blaufränkisch 2023, and Zweigelt 2023 are available from Gute Weine for €27 per bottle with EU delivery.

Revisiting the brilliant low-intervention wines of Espera, from Portugal’s Lisboa region

• Espera, a natural wine producer in Alcobaça (Lisboa region), is run by Rodrigo Martins and Ana Leal on ten hectares across Alcobaça and Óbidos.
• Espera's soils are clay limestone; ocean proximity moderates the climate in this Lisboa region location.
• The producer makes low-intervention wines across white, red, and sparkling styles, with five 2024 releases and one 2023 scoring 93/100.

Marketing Natural Wine

• Natural wine is the leading opportunity in wine according to IWSR's Opportunity Index and expands at 13% annually, far outpacing the struggling broader wine market.
• Paris alone has 600 natural wine bars according to French app Raisin, with proliferation across Europe, North America, and Asia signalling mainstream acceptance.
• Sophie Parker-Thomson MW's research found wines with no added SO₂ contained the highest levels of biogenic amines, contradicting the natural wine movement's anti-sulphite narrative.
• Natural wine labels feature bold, artistic imagery and creative names, with design decisions more intentional than expensive; winemakers may feel less peer pressure than traditional producers.
• Natural wine has successfully captured Gen Z consumers, a demographic the broader wine industry has struggled to reach.

Wine News: What I’m Reading the Week of 7/12/26

Hello and welcome to my weekly roundup of the wine stories that I find of interest on the web. I

Notable Releases from Troon Vineyard

• Troon Vineyard released 2025 Vermentino and 2023 Syrah from Oregon's Applegate Valley.
• Troon Vineyard practices certified biodynamic and regenerative organic farming in Grant's Pass, western Applegate Valley.
• Troon uses ambient cultures for fermentation, minimal sulfites, and neutral or mixed aging vessels; no new oak.
• Applegate Valley's alluvial soils, Mediterranean sun exposure, and cool mountain nights create conditions for ripening warm-climate grapes.

The Sysco-ification of Wine

• The top 11 wine suppliers controlled 71 percent of U.S. wine market in 2024, with consolidation accelerating through mergers and acquisitions.
• Gallo alone controlled 33 percent of all wine in the market in 2023 and has since acquired Rombauer, Hahn Family Wines, Massican, Whiny Baby, and Bev canned wine.
• Independent wine distributors fell from roughly 3,000 in the 1990s to just over 1,000 today; three dominant players controlled 53 percent of wine and spirits distribution in 2024.
• Mass-market wine lists at popular restaurants across the U.S. offer limited selection from corporate wineries, creating the illusion of choice while restricting consumer exposure to alternative wines.

Q&8 | Wang Yuanzhu Talks Grapes, Grain & Ancient Wine

• Coram Collective, founded in 2023 with production from 2024, co-ferments rice wine with grape varieties like Chardonnay and Merlot, and innovates huangjiu (yellow wine).
• Co-founder Alex Yuanzhu Wang's products are already listed in over 100 restaurants and bistros across Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, and Chengdu within one year of launch.
• Huangjiu peaks between three and eight years of aging; most examples lose freshness after 10 years, contrary to the belief that older always means better.
• Chardomi blends 80% Chardonnay grapes with 20% glutinous rice, requiring separate processing: rice undergoes soaking, steaming, and saccharification before co-fermenting with pressed grape juice.
• A major misconception conflates huangjiu with cooking wine; true huangjiu is a complex fermented beverage meant for drinking, while 'cooking wine' uses lower-grade huangjiu with added salt.

A wine of straw

• Dessert wine consumption has declined for approximately 75 years, with no expected recovery amid concerns over sugar and alcohol content.
• Raül Bobet, co-owner of Ferrer-Bobet in Priorat, Catalunya, Spain, released a dessert wine requiring 20 years of aging, driven by personal passion for the style.