winefeed

Gusbourne creates bespoke sparkling wine for British Airways Club World

• Gusbourne, a Kent sparkling wine producer, launches Airbourne Reserve 2021 in British Airways Club World cabins from July 2026, a Pinot Noir-dominant wine chosen by Tim Jackson MW for its altitude performance.
• The listing continues Gusbourne's presence on British Airways; First Class currently receives Fifty One Degrees North 2016, while Club World previously served Sparkling Rosé 2019.
• Gusbourne now exports to more than 40 markets worldwide. Norway alone accounts for 40% of export volume, where the producer had no presence nine years ago.
• The bottle design references British aviation heritage with Airforce Blue labelling and a herringbone deboss inspired by Royal Air Force twill uniforms and the RAF roundel.
• Duncan Brown, Head of Exports and Travel Retail at Gusbourne, also sits on the Wine GB Export Council and frames airline distribution as a vehicle to promote English sparkling wine internationally.

Kweichow Moutai raises Feitian price 100 RMB for second time this year

• China's Kweichow Moutai increased retail price of flagship Feitian Moutai to 1,639 RMB per 500ml bottle on 18 July, the second hike since March.
• Ex-factory price to wholesalers rose 100 RMB to 1,369 RMB per bottle, matching the retail increase as the distiller defends profitability.
• Stock price lifted 4.2% on announcement, signalling investor relief after baijiu sector sales fell nearly 15% last year.
• Baijiu industry faced widespread pressure in first half of 2025: 58.1% of liquor firms reported inventory buildup, over 50% of distributors saw price inversions.
• Moutai's 2024 net profit fell 4.5% to 82.32 billion yuan, its first annual decline since Shanghai listing in 2001, below guidance.

Cru World Wine raises £1.5m via customer shareholding offer

• Cru World Wine, spun from Bibendum's fine wine business in 2013, is raising £1.5 million by selling shares to its clients as voting stakeholders.
• Over 420 clients have already expressed interest in investing before the full public offer launched, far exceeding the company's initial expectations.
• Shareholders receive financial returns tied to company growth plus immediate benefits: loyalty points, priority allocations, lower selling fees, preferential borrowing rates up to 65% of portfolio value, and free delivery.
• Chief executive Jeremy Howard argues fine wine distribution is consolidating due to fragmentation, inefficiency, and merchants oversized for post-2022 demand levels.
• The model aligns client incentives with merchant success, reversing traditional relationships where collectors fund merchant operations but receive no stake in created value.

Stag's Leap 1973 sells for $22,500, five times estimate, at Christie's auction

• A bottle of Stag's Leap Wine Cellars 1973 Cabernet Sauvignon, the wine that defeated French reds at the 1973 Judgment of Paris, sold at Christie's online auction for US$22,500 against a US$4,000-6,000 estimate.
• The winemaker Warren Winiarski created the 1973, which outscored France's greatest reds in a blind tasting organised by Steven Spurrier and Patricia Gallagher with nine French judges, launching California wine onto the global stage.
• Juan Muñoz-Oca, estates director at Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, called the result a testament to the wine's enduring legacy and Napa Valley's place among the world's greatest winegrowing regions fifty years after Judgment of Paris.
• Christie's offered 50 lots from Stag's Leap's reserve cellar, including rare verticals and a magnum of which only 1,973 were produced, though two other significant lots sold below estimate or failed to sell entirely.
• The record price reflects continued collector appetite for the historic 1973 vintage and Stag's Leap's singular place in American wine history, despite mixed results across the broader auction.

Bird in Hand expands cool-climate operation from Adelaide Hills to Tasmania

• Bird in Hand, founded by Andrew and Susie Nugent in Adelaide Hills in 1997, is opening a new winery in Tasmania's Tamar Valley, its first project outside South Australia.
• Australian wine exports fell 8% in value in 2025, but premium wines priced above $7.50 per litre grew 15% in the UK, Bird in Hand's largest export market by volume.
• Tasmania's maritime climate and longer ripening season produce high-acid Chardonnay and Pinot Noir comparable to Burgundy, positioning the island as a growth opportunity for cool-climate specialists.
• Bird in Hand operates hospitality venues across Adelaide Hills, Tasmania, and internationally, including a new partnership at Claridge's in London launching summer 2025.
• The winery is targeting demand for premium, terroir-driven wines with authentic provenance rather than competing on price in a market pressured by cost-of-living concerns and reduced alcohol consumption.

Bordeaux vineyard land values collapse as sales sink below three million hectolitres

• Bordeaux shipments fell to 2.98 million hectolitres in the 12 months to March 2026, down 12% year-on-year and below the three million hectolitre threshold for the first time in modern history.
• Vineyard land prices fell steeply across appellations: Pauillac down 22.7% to €1.7m per hectare since 2018, Margaux down 27.3% to €800,000, and Saint-Émilion down 25.9% to €200,000.
• Lesser-known regions suffered sharper declines: Médoc fell 81.8% to €10,000 per hectare, Saint-Émilion Satellites fell 73.7% to €25,000, and generic Bordeaux Rouge fell 60.6% since 2018.
• Nearly 30,000 hectares of Bordeaux vines were uprooted between 2023 and 2026, with two-thirds funded through government compensation schemes paying €4,000 to €6,000 per hectare.
• Producers including Xavier Buffo at Château de la Rivière in Fronsac are consolidating by removing weaker vineyards and acquiring land in stronger locations to improve profitability.

Sicilia DOC unites fractious producers under single regional brand

• Sicilia DOC was established in 2011 after a decade of negotiation to create a unified regional designation, simplifying consumer choice against competing sub-regional brands like Etna DOC.
• The appellation struggled to gain traction until recent years, when Sicily's tourism boom and The White Lotus television series raised international demand for Sicilian wine.
• American travelers now seek specific Sicilian indigenous grapes discovered on holiday, a 'Souvenir Effect' that drives retail sales of Sicilia DOC wines back in the United States.
• Producer Donnafugata and Tasca d'Almerita exemplify the appellation's diversity, offering wines from disparate regions and styles while maintaining a shared Sicilian identity.
• The strategy mirrors successful regional consolidation in Abruzzo DOC, 2010, balancing broad brand strength against pressure from sub-regions to fragment the designation further.

Napa's Profitable Wineries Build Loyalty Through Hospitality, Not Reputation

• WineBusiness Monthly's annual survey found 50 percent of Napa vineyards reported declining revenue and 51 percent saw profit drops in the past two vintages.
• Profitable wineries, representing 49 percent of the region, are succeeding by lowering tasting-room prices, offering immersive experiences, and prioritizing direct-to-consumer sales over walk-in traffic.
• Chateau Montelena, Domaine Carneros, and Baldacci Family Vineyards credit growth to member-only events, flexible club tiers, and relationship-building that convert guests into loyal repeat buyers.
• Julien Fayard's downtown Napa bottle shop saw 66 percent growth in one year by attracting foot traffic and weekend visitors from the Bay Area with lower tasting fees.
• Access to premium fruit from Beckstoffer and Hyde vineyards has improved as grape prices fell, giving surviving producers a cost advantage in an unstable market.

Hedonism Wines launches own-label single malts as whisky prices soften

• Mayfair retailer Hedonism Wines released its first own-label single malts: a 20-year-old Laphroaig at £195 and a 15-year-old Bunnahabhain at £115, in batches of 128 and 59 bottles respectively.
• Rare whisky prices fell sharply from post-pandemic peaks as consumers resisted unsustainable valuations, creating a buyer's market for cask inventory.
• David Mellor, Hedonism's head of spirits, cited softened cask prices and distillery stock rationalization as enabling acquisition of aged, quality casks at competitive rates.
• The range emphasizes flavour, individuality and value over collectability, signalling a market shift away from the investment-driven fervour of the late 2010s and early 2020s.
• Further releases planned include a 19-year-old Glen Garioch, 15-year-old Bowmore, and 50-year-old Scotch; Bourbon and rum remain under consideration for future expansion.

Conte Vistarino releases single-vineyard Pinot Nero crus from Oltrepò Pavese

• Conte Vistarino, a 175-year-old estate in Rocca de' Giorgi, Oltrepò Pavese, has developed four single-vineyard crus of still Pinot Nero to showcase regional diversity and terroir.
• The four crus, Costa del Nero, Tavernetto, Bertone and Pernice, each reveal distinct personalities shaped by elevation, exposure and soil, from generous fruit-driven to energetic and mineral-driven styles.
• All four crus won Silver medals at this year's Global Pinot Noir Masters, affirming their quality against international benchmarks and validating the estate's shift from sparkling-wine focus.
• Réserve des Amis, a limited-edition collection of selected vintages from three crus, demonstrates confidence in the ageing potential and long-term identity of Oltrepò Pavese Pinot Nero.
• The cru project may establish a model for strengthening Oltrepò Pavese's international reputation as a distinct territory for still Pinot Nero, moving beyond the region's sparkling-wine identity.

Two Ukrainian wine professionals awarded six-month conflict scholarships

• Eleonora Kolieichik, sommelier at Archives in Paris, and Anastasiia Igorevna Fedchenko, wine data specialist at AVU Luxury Wine in Tarragona, won the 2026 Artémis Domaines Golden Vines Victims of Conflict Scholarships.
• The programme, created by Liquid Icons, the Gérard Basset Foundation and Artémis Domaines, funds six-month internships at estates including Château Latour, Bouchard Père & Fils and Champagne Jacquesson.
• Both recipients fled Ukraine after Russia's 2022 invasion and rebuilt careers abroad; they were selected from 26 applicants, the highest number since the programme began.
• Placements will be tailored to each scholar's experience and ambitions across viticulture, winemaking, production, hospitality, communications and marketing.
• The initiative supports wine professionals whose careers have been disrupted by war and geopolitical conflict, continuing Gérard Basset's legacy of nurturing talent in the international wine trade.

Aldi launches rosé colour guide as UK shoppers reject wrong shades

• Aldi UK commissioned research showing 31% of UK adults have refused a glass of rosé due to colour, costing the market £103m annually in rejected glasses.
• Light Provence-style blush is preferred by 41% of respondents, followed by pale salmon at 21%, while 29% distrust others to select the correct shade for them.
• The supermarket created a pocket-sized Rosé Swatch keyring to help shoppers identify preferred shades before purchase, launching as a limited giveaway through August 2026.
• UK rosé sales grew 5% in value to £882m in 2025, with volumes up 3% to 129m bottles, driven by affordable French brands under £10.
• Sam Caporn MW, Aldi wine expert, cautioned against treating pale rosé as superior; darker styles from Primitivo or Syrah offer deeper fruit and pair better with food.

Spanish sparkling wine leaders debate dropping Cava name for premium tiers

• At London's Taste Spain trade event, Carlos López de la Calle (technical director, Bodega Artadi), Richard Bigg (Camino Restaurants founder), and Sarah Jane Evans (Master of Wine) argued that Spain's top sparkling wines need a new identity separate from Cava.
• López de la Calle stated Cava's reputation has suffered from high-volume production and proposed region-specific names like Cava de Penedès, Cava de Rioja, or Cava de Requena to build fine wine status.
• Evans suggested Cava be reserved for sparkling wines aged under 18 months, with premium bottles over 18 months called by their Catalonian or regional origin to reflect their quality and distinctiveness.
• Producers Recaredo and Gramona left the Cava regulatory board to create Corpinnat, a stricter collective mark for high-end Penedès sparkling wines using native Spanish grapes like Xarel-lo.
• The Cava DO counters that quality focus and the brand's global recognition remain its strength, with all Guarda Superior Cavas from 2025 certified 100% organic.

Young fine-wine collectors worldwide show identical habits, Areni Global study finds

• Areni Global surveyed 308 respondents aged under 40 across London, Paris, New York, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Singapore in February 2026; most learn about fine wine through friends rather than family.
• Buyers purchase for occasions; collectors acquire strategically to satisfy ongoing desire. The transition typically occurs between ages 26 and 40 when financial means, access channels and community support align.
• Young collectors in Asia favour formal wine education to meet peers, while Western counterparts rely on social and workplace networks. More women in Asia buy expensive wines, attributed to recent gender-neutral status and financial independence.
• Digital auction platforms and modernised trading tools since the pandemic have lowered barriers for young entrants; traditional merchants' demands for minimum spends and loyalty history face declining acceptance.
• Hong Kong wine educator Corinne Mui challenges the study's HK$550 price floor for fine wine, arguing ageing potential, not price alone, defines collectibility in space-constrained markets.

Independent wine shop owner wins inaugural sustainable buyer award

• Di Camillo, owner of Wine & Such in the UK, won the inaugural Sustainable Wine Buyer award from Decanter's Wine Buyers Awards.
• The judging panel found her entry distinctive because sustainability informed her entire sourcing model and daily operations, not isolated initiatives.
• Majestic won the separate Sustainable Drinks Buying Team of the Year award, showing both independent and chain retailers embed sustainability.
• A significant portion of award entrants omitted the sustainability section entirely, suggesting many buyers still do not prioritize it.
• The category launched in 2025 to recognize buyers shaping industry trends toward quality, value and sustainability in their wine ranges.

Trinchero launches Sauvy B, a wine spritzer with electrolytes targeting younger drinkers

• Trinchero Family Wine and Spirits, the third largest US wine supplier, released Sauvy B, a ready-to-drink citrus wine spritz in collaboration with winemaker Joel Gott.
• Each 12-ounce can contains 9 percent Sauvignon Blanc, 90 percent sparkling water, and Himalayan salt for electrolytes, at 4.5 percent ABV in grapefruit and lime flavors.
• Gott designed the product to introduce younger consumers to wine through a health-conscious, trendy format rather than traditional bottled wine.
• Four-packs will retail for $14 through Target, Walmart, Total Wine & More, and regional grocers, with on-premise availability starting October.
• The launch reflects wine industry efforts to compete in the low-ABV, RTD category dominated by spirits and malt beverages.

Fifteen US sommeliers name expensive Bordeaux worth premium prices

• Fifteen US restaurant and retail sommeliers were asked which three-figure Bordeaux bottles justify their cost to wealthy buyers.
• Scott Woltz, beverage director at Bibliotheque in New York, named Château Palmer for its emotional complexity and Burgundian perfume despite third-growth classification.
• Julie Dalton, master sommelier at Stella's Wine Bar in Houston, chose Château Haut-Brion for its angular minerality, and Château Trotte Vieille for around $100 as better value.
• Cody Pruitt, co-owner of Capitaine in NYC, nominated Château Lafleur for its combination of power and elegance tied to precise family farming rather than marketing.
• Other picks included Château Pontet-Canet for biodynamic leadership, La Mission Haut-Brion for Graves terroir, and Château d'Yquem dessert wine, with sommeliers emphasizing craftsmanship over historical classification rank.

Cork producer M.A.Silva deploys AI to detect flaws and predict aging consistency

• M.A.Silva, a Portuguese cork producer, integrated an AI system called Bionic Eye into quality control for its Nobeltech closure line.
• The AI runs 12 independent inspections per cork, detecting structural cracks, contamination, lenticel exposure and insect damage with near 100% consistency versus 75% for human checkers.
• Machine learning analysis of oxygen transmission rates in cork batches now predicts long-term aging consistency, allowing M.A.Silva to select corks that will age wines uniformly over extended periods.
• Every Nobeltech cork receives documented quality decisions with imaging and classification, creating full traceability of production at a scale of 40,000 corks per hour.
• The system adapts as it encounters new product patterns and learns from them, improving fault detection without changing the cork's natural composition or production method.

Costco recalls desert willow plants carrying grape-killing pest eggs

• Costco customers who bought desert willow plants between 24 June and 3 July should inspect them for glassy-winged sharpshooter eggs, an invasive leafhopper native to the southeastern US and northeastern Mexico.
• The insect transmits Xylella fastidiosa, the bacterium causing Pierce's disease, a fatal infection that blocks water flow in grapevines, causing leaf discoloration, shriveled grapes, and vine death.
• Pierce's disease has no cure; infected vines must be removed and destroyed immediately to prevent spread, according to the USDA.
• This is the second Costco plant recall in 2026 involving the pest; California's $73 billion wine industry faces particular vulnerability to the disease.
• Customers with planted trees should isolate them and contact their county agricultural commissioner; disposed plants must be double-bagged and placed in household rubbish, never compost.

Château Galoupet remakes Provence rosé through regenerative farming and parcel selection

• Mathieu Meyer, technical director of LVMH-backed Château Galoupet in La Londe, Provence since 2019, shifted the 65-hectare estate to regenerative organic certification by 2025 with parcel-by-parcel vinification.
• Cover crops ploughed into soil, contour trenches, and a restored reservoir capture water runoff to manage drought risk as summers grow hotter on the south-facing schistous slopes.
• Increased insect populations and predator chains since regenerative farming began have stabilized the ecosystem and reduced chemical pest control requirements.
• The 2025 vintage uses less Cinsault and more Tibouren than usual because larger berries required adjusted ripeness targets, and tank lees are now aged together for two weeks to build complexity.
• Galoupet uses recycled brown glass bottles and 100% biodegradable wax capsules made from pine resin and paraffin, rejecting industry packaging norms.

Grape sunburn shifts vineyard practices as heat waves intensify globally

• Sunburn in grapes is a stress response to excess light and heat that damages chlorophyll, polyphenols, and aromatic compounds, producing sensory notes of cooked fruit, asphalt, and creosote in finished wine.
• Defoliation timing now critical: leaf removal at veraison increases sunburn risk, while removal at flowering allows berries to build photoprotective compounds, reversing decades of standard practice in warm regions.
• Producers including Tyrrell's in Australia's Hunter Valley and Chêne Bleu in Provence's Ventoux have abandoned summer defoliation, adopted kaolin clay sprays to cool canopy by up to nine degrees Celsius, and limited fruit exposure.
• Winemakers including Steve Matthiasson of Matthiasson Wines in Napa Valley now design vineyards to provide canopy shade and sort sunburned fruit at harvest, treating direct sun as a liability rather than an asset for ripeness.

Mourvèdre growers adapt as heat and drought push southern France vineyards to the limit

• Mourvèdre, long prized for heat tolerance in Bandol and Jumilla, is now struggling to maintain balance as temperatures and drought intensity exceed what even this variety can withstand.
• Jean-François Ott of Domaines Ott and other Bandol producers are experimenting with canopy management, gobelet training and three-dimensional shade, to protect grapes from sunburn as summers intensify.
• A three-year drought from 2022 to 2024 killed older bush vines in Jumilla, forcing growers to consider irrigation despite dry-farming tradition and concerns about terroir expression.
• Bandol's cooler rosé sites are now being converted to red wine production as climate shifts, raising questions whether rosé output, currently 75 percent of regional production, will decline.
• Jumilla's planted surface area has halved in 20 years, with low-altitude vineyards abandoned in favor of higher-altitude parcels offering cooler, continental conditions.

The impressive wines of Wolfgang Seher, Weinviertel, Austria

• Weingut Wolfgang Seher, based in Platt in Austria's Weinviertel region, operates 18 hectares across two villages with calcareous loess and granitic soils.
• Wolfgang Seher took over the family winery in 2001 and produces approximately 60,000 bottles annually, with 70% Grüner Veltliner.
• Seher's Neue Zeit Grüner Veltliner (2023), a selection of three single vineyards first made in 2012, scores 95/100 and ages 2 years in large old oak.
• The estate's Ried Nussberg and Ried Kapellenberg Grüner Veltliners (2025 and 2024) both score 92-94/100, with the latter aged in 500-litre barrels with battonage.

The Yang Of Greek Wine

• Malagousia has risen to rival Assyrtiko as Greece's major white wine story over the past 20 years, catching up with Chardonnay in vineyard acreage by 2020.
• Vangelis Gerovassiliou saved Malagousia from extinction in the late 1970s through collaboration with an agriculturalist, viticulture professor, and winery owner.
• Malagousia is characterized as rich and generous with tropical fruit flavors, contrasting with Assyrtiko's sharp, acidic, mineral profile, described as Assyrtiko's Yang to its Yin.
• Greek consumers increasingly favor native varieties as protagonists in wine, driving Malagousia's popularity domestically since the late 2000s.

In Praise of Older White Wines

• Octavian Wine data shows 78% of white wines delivered to collectors come from the previous six vintages, versus only 40% of red wines, indicating white wines are consumed far earlier than reds.
• White Burgundy's premox crisis, beginning in the 1995 vintage through mid-2000s, caused premature oxidation in bottles from top producers like Puligny-Montrachet and Meursault, with no consensus on cause or why it disappeared.
• Professor Maurizio Ugliano's team at University of Verona is mapping volatile compounds and aroma precursors of Italian grape varieties including turbiana to understand aging potential and aromatic development.
• The Burgundy Wine Board's six-year VOLTA study concluded that much of white Burgundy's aging potential is built during pressing and élevage, not determined by grape variety alone.
• Only two Lugana producers visited held back stock for aging, limiting secondary market development and consumer confidence in mature white wine longevity.

Unfiltered Wine Festival: July 25-26, Berkeley

You know what’s better than a wine tasting event that features some really excellent producers of low-intervention wines? Two days

Six Wines That Stopped Me in My Tracks

• Charly, from Burgundy, produces wines in Lower Austria with a French sensibility using Austrian varieties like Grüner Veltliner, Blaufränkisch, and Zweigelt.
• Charly's Blauer Portugieser 2023 (grapes from Christoph Hoch) displays ripeness, vivid fruit, and creamy texture unusual for the variety.
• Charly farms one hectare of his own vines and sources grapes from friends practicing organic or biodynamic farming.
• Charly's wines are available from Gute Weine at €27 per bottle with EU delivery, except the Blauer Portugieser.

Notable Releases from Troon Vineyard

• Troon Vineyard released 2025 Vermentino and 2023 Syrah from Oregon's Applegate Valley.
• Troon Vineyard farms biodynamic and regenerative organic certified vineyards in Grant's Pass.
• Troon uses ambient cultures for fermentation, minimal sulfite at bottling, and avoids new oak.
• Applegate Valley's alluvial soils, Mediterranean climate, and Siskiyou Mountain cooling create ideal ripening conditions.

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

• Coram Collective, founded in 2023 with 2024 production, co-ferments rice wine with grape varieties like Chardonnay and Merlot, and innovates huangjiu, China's ancient 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 since launching last June.
• Huangjiu shows its best between three and eight years of aging; most ages gracefully for decades, while many lose freshness after 10 years.
• Chardomi blends 80% Chardonnay grapes with 20% glutinous rice through a process requiring rice saccharification before co-fermentation with fresh grape juice.

A wine of straw

• Dessert wine consumption has declined for approximately 75 years, with limited recovery prospects amid concerns over sugar and alcohol content.
• Raül Bobet, co-owner of Ferrer-Bobet in Priorat, Catalunya, released a dessert wine requiring 20 years of aging, reflecting personal passion rather than commercial expectations.