winefeed

Texas High Plains growers struggle as wineries cut grape purchases

• Texas wineries saw explosive sales from 2020 to early 2023, then demand softened and inventories backed up, leaving High Plains growers with unsold fruit.
• Growers including Katy Jane Seaton at Farmhouse Vineyards now tier vineyard care by contract status, reserving premium farming for committed buyers only.
• Multi-year contracts have become rare; some wineries wait until harvest to buy cheaper fruit on the spot market, forcing growers to plan without certainty.
• Producers like Connor Wilmeth at Lahey Vineyards and Kim McPherson of McPherson Cellars are seeking East Coast buyers to reduce dependence on local Hill Country wineries.
• Veteran growers including Jet Wilmeth and Neal Newsom are considering retirement or reduced operations, threatening continuity of benchmark vineyard sites.

English estates launch prestige sparkling cuvées at Champagne price points

• Nyetimber, Chapel Down, Gusbourne, Langham and Squerryes have released prestige cuvées priced £100 to £395, mimicking Champagne's luxury positioning and production model.
• Nyetimber launched England's first prestige cuvée in 2018, the 1086 range, after proprietor Eric Heerema acquired the West Sussex estate in 2006 with this ambition.
• Extended lees ageing, typically seven to eight years, and selection from finest vineyard parcels define these bottlings, which are released in small quantities with vintage-specific stories.
• Gusbourne's Fifty One Degrees North (2016, £195) and magnum (£395) exemplify the segment's ambition, while Langham's Perpetual Blanc de Blancs employs solera ageing inspired by grower Champagne.
• Squerryes's Patience 2014, launched July 2026, connects the prestige cuvée to the Warde family's 300-year ownership and 17th-century wool merchant heritage linking England to Champagne trade.

Centre-Loire rivals offer Sauvignon Blanc value as Sancerre prices soar above $40

• Sancerre Sauvignon Blanc now sells for $40 to $50 per bottle, with production capped at current levels and no plans to expand vineyard area.
• Five neighboring Centre-Loire appellations, Pouilly-Fumé, Menetou-Salon, Quincy, Reuilly, and Coteaux du Giennois, produce comparable Sauvignon Blancs and Pinot Noirs at $20 to $30, gaining market share from price-sensitive buyers.
• Sancerre exports nearly three-quarters of its production, with half to the US, while exports from neighboring appellations remain smaller but growing.
• Winemakers in the region now face climate-driven harvest acceleration, with 2024 potentially starting as early as August 20, forcing experimentation with abandoned acidic varieties to preserve freshness.
• Pinot Noir from the region is improving in quality and emerging as an alternative to Burgundy at better value, according to producers including Matthieu Delaporte at Domaine Delaporte.

Celebrity wine launches surge from 2005 peak to 2020 flood

• Kyle MacLachlan launched Pursued by Bear in Walla Walla in 2005, marking an early entry by actors into wine ownership and production.
• A wave of celebrity wine brands accelerated sharply in 2020, with Post Malone, Cameron Diaz, Snoop Dogg, and Mary J. Blige all launching lines that year during pandemic lockdowns.
• Celebrity wine brands leverage existing fan bases to drive sales; Kylie Minogue's rosés became best-selling pink wines in the U.K. within years of launch.
• The brands span multiple styles and price points, from organic-focused Avaline to fruit-forward blends, capturing different consumer segments and distribution channels.
• Most celebrity labels partner with established winemakers and producers rather than operate independently, outsourcing production to focus on brand and marketing.

Soju surges in U.S. market while shōchū lags, driven by Asian food and younger drinkers

• Soju sales rose 133 percent between 2019 and 2025 in the U.S., now under one percent of total spirits volume, while shōchū grew only 11 percent over the same period, reflecting soju's acceleration post-2020.
• Growth drivers include expansion of Asian cuisine restaurants, K-pop and K-drama cultural interest, younger consumers seeking lower-ABV and flavored spirits, and mass availability of affordable green-bottle brands like Jinro.
• Spec's wine retailer in Texas increased Asian spirits purchases from under $1 million in 2018 to multi-millions today, with soju now a high-performer that forces the buyer to reject new brand pitches.
• Craft soju makers like Tokki Soju in Brooklyn faced resistance from establishments favoring mass-produced green-bottle soju but achieved explosive growth by educating accounts on premium expressions pre-1965 Korean distilling styles.
• Shōchū brands iichiko and Mizu target bartenders as key ambassadors, emphasizing higher-proof options around 40 percent ABV for cocktail applications to compete with tequila and mezcal drinkers.

U.S. spirits exporters face tariff barriers as DISCUS seeks new markets

• The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS) is pursuing $900,000 in federal grants to boost U.S. spirits exports as tariffs block traditional markets in Canada, the EU, and Brazil.
• Canada cut U.S. alcoholic beverage sales by 81 percent in retaliation for Trump administration tariffs; Brazil now faces a 25 percent U.S. tariff, complicating export plans.
• India reduced its tariff on U.S. spirits from 150 percent to 100 percent last year, but new EU and U.K. trade deals offer Scotch and Irish whiskey rates of 40 percent and 75 percent, disadvantaging American competitors.
• In India, a market of 1.4 billion people consuming the world's largest whiskey volume by quantity, bars like Four Seasons Bengaluru report strong demand for American bourbon among enthusiasts despite high tariffs.
• Vietnam's emerging cocktail scene shows growing interest in American whiskey, though Scotch currently dominates; DISCUS is funding consumer education programs in key markets to build category awareness.

2026 World Cup drove US breweries to record on-premise sales and foot traffic

• Breweries across North America reported volume surges during the June-July 2026 World Cup, with draft beer sales up 6.46 percent overall and 16 percent on Mondays and Tuesdays.
• Headlands Brewing in California doubled production of its collaborative West Coast Mexican lager Common Ground from 90 to 180 barrels after initial stocks sold within weeks.
• On-premise venues installed infrastructure and hosted watch parties; Boulevard Brewing's Kansas City taproom saw 25 percent foot traffic growth since mid-June, while Bitburger's on-premise sales rose 130 percent.
• Newport Craft Brewing scaled It's Called Soccer from a planned 30 barrels to 300 barrels distributed across 315 venues in three states, now planning year-round distribution.
• Breweries credited the World Cup with reviving casual drinking occasions lost during the pandemic, particularly among younger drinkers, and plan to leverage sports sponsorships for future sales growth.

RNDC files Chapter 11 bankruptcy after shedding majority of US markets

• Republic National Distributing Company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Texas federal court yesterday after a year of contraction, seeking court oversight to sell remaining operations and wind down.
• RNDC lists liabilities between $1 billion and $10 billion against assets of $500 million to $1 billion, with over 100,000 creditors and $300 million in top unsecured claims led by Proximo Spirits' $93.92 million trade debt.
• The distributor shed California operations last June, then sold 11 markets to Reyes Beverage Group and stakes to Columbia Distributing, Martignetti Companies, and BreakThru Beverage Group while claiming to preserve 5,000 jobs.
• Roughly 1,450 workers remain employed; RNDC sought immediate court permission to continue payroll and benefits to prevent staff exodus during reorganization.
• Small suppliers holding unsecured claims face high risk of total loss, as they lack leverage to demand prepayment and cannot easily route products through competing distributors.

Decanter World Wine Awards 2026 sees record medal counts across regions

• Decanter World Wine Awards 2026 received 16,631 entries judged by 245 experts including 106 women, a record female judge count.
• Platinum medals rose to 196 (1.2% of entries), Gold to 924 (5.6%), and Silver to 6,193 (37.2%), each category increasing significantly versus 2025.
• Cool-climate regions gained ground: Oxfordshire won its first Gold; New Zealand took two Best in Show and eight Platinums; Savoie took Platinum and two Value Golds.
• Warm-climate producers excelled with 52.4% more top medals than 2025: Spain achieved Platinum for Jumilla, Castilla-La Mancha and Priorat; Rías Baixas took Best in Show.
• Germany's top medal went to Weisser Burgunder from Pfalz rather than Riesling, reflecting judges' recognition of shifting ripeness and styles across regions.

Ancient vine-training systems decline as labor costs and mechanization pressure historic landscapes

• Italy's alberata system, shown in 1793 paintings intertwining vines with trees across Naples, survives on only a handful of hectares today, replaced by mechanizable methods like Guyot.
• Lanzarote's hoyo pits, carved after 1730-1736 volcanic eruptions to reach soil beneath lapilli ash, drew thousands of tourists and supported the island's economy until labor demands forced 19 percent vineyard abandonment between 2000 and 2026.
• Alberto González Plasencia of Bodegas Timanfaya and Juan Glaria of Bodegas Rubicon warn that without subsidies, Lanzarote's hoyos will disappear and tourist visits, and wine values, will follow.
• Familia Torres maintains Rías Baixas pergola training for Albariño on six hectares at Pazo Torre Panelas using specialized machinery, viable because the region's DO bans mechanized harvesting across all systems.
• Veneto's 19th-century bellussera pergola-alberata hybrid, which once supported silk production and livestock, covers nine percent of Piave DOC but may survive through climate-change adaptation and wine tourism, if regions balance heritage with economics.

Brooklyn housing complex installs pathways from 450,000 recycled wine corks

• Corks were ground and mixed with adhesive at a Wisconsin recycling center, then laid as playing surfaces that absorb stormwater, reduce ambient temperature by 20 to 30 percent, and replace toxic plastic or rubber.
• Resident children at Marlboro Houses submitted design mockups reviewed by Center for Justice Innovation, The Urban Conga design studio, and the Marlboro Resident Association, who shaped the final layout.
• Global cork production reaches 13 billion stoppers annually, yet less than one percent are recycled; three billion are discarded in the US each year.

Disease-resistant hybrids cut fungicide sprays 80%, gain European vineyard ground

• PIWIs (fungus-resistant hybrid grapes) reduce fungicide sprays from 8-15 times yearly to 2-3, cutting chemical, fuel, and labor costs by up to 80 percent.
• German breeders pioneered modern PIWIs in the late 20th century; today's varieties contain up to 95 percent Vitis vinifera genetic material while retaining mildew resistance from American species.
• Genetic technology rhAmpSeq, adopted globally since 2019, identifies disease-resistance genes with precision and cuts breeding timescales from months to days via marker-assisted selection of seedlings.
• Germany leads adoption with 4,000 hectares of PIWI plantings in 2025 (4 percent of vineyard area, 10 percent annual growth); France develops ResDur hybrids bred to maintain regional signature varieties like Cabernet Franc.
• Luxembourg 2026 study showed PIWIs delivered twofold economic savings and threefold environmental gains; retail expansion accelerating as supermarket chains stock PIWIs alongside traditional wines.

Vineyards use netting to cool fruit zones as heat stress intensifies

• Vineyard netting, traditionally used for hail and bird protection, is now deployed to lower cluster temperatures and preserve color, acidity, and phenolics during heat events.
• UC Davis research on Cabernet Sauvignon found shaded clusters had 27 percent more anthocyanins than unshaded fruit when temperatures exceeded 35 degrees Celsius during heat spikes.
• At Petra in Tuscany, Marco Simonit's 2025 trials showed Merlot clusters under nets measured 40-41 degrees Celsius versus 50 degrees in unshaded controls, reducing sunburn from 41 percent to three percent.
• Luis Reginato at Catena Zapata in Mendoza found nets intercept just 15 percent of radiation in high-altitude vineyards, allowing filtered light while reducing water stress on vines.
• Net color and placement matter critically: white or green nets perform better than black, and nets must stay away from clusters to avoid heat damage from contact with the material itself.

Grape sunburn spreads north as heat waves force vineyard practice shifts

• Sunburn in grapes is a stress response to excess light and heat that degrades chlorophyll, polyphenols, and aromatic compounds, producing flavors of asphalt, rubber, and leather in the finished wine.
• Berry surface temperatures can reach 122°F on a 95°F day; Chardonnay shows damage within five minutes at 104-109°F under high light, while cell death occurs at 126°F.
• Producers in warm regions including Provence and Napa now avoid mid-summer leaf removal, limit defoliation to east-facing sides only, and skip it entirely for white varieties due to heat-wave risk.
• Tyrrell's in Australia's Hunter Valley has used kaolin clay spray since 2014 to cool canopy by up to nine degrees Celsius, while Matthiasson Wines redesigns trellis and orientation to shade fruit.
• Climate change is pushing sunburn damage into regions that never faced it before, forcing growers to prioritize canopy cover and sorting over traditional sun-exposure practices.

Why South Africa is the Most Exciting Wine Region on the Planet, Part I

That’s not just a headline designed to attract attention. It’s my professional opinion as someone who tastes and writes about

The new releases from Radford Dale, including Elgin and Vinum bottlings from 2025

• Petroné Thomas was promoted to winemaker at Radford Dale in 2024 and took responsibility for Elgin wines after Jacques de Klerk departed later that year.
• Radford Dale Elgin Estate will plant Cabernet Franc to replace Semillon vineyards; currently only 0.4ha of Cabernet Franc exists in the ground.
• The 2025 vintage marks the final Semillon release from Radford Dale Elgin Estate as vineyards are being regrafted to Cabernet Franc.
• First crop of young Chardonnay and Pinot Noir vines (planted 2022) harvested in 2026; Gamay 'Antidote' name returning with 900 litres from new plantings.
• No 2024 Frankenstein or Renaissance bottlings released; 2024 fruit redirected to Vinum bottlings due to lack of desired directness in the wines.

Michelin And The Death Of The Wine Guide

• Michelin's Wine Selection Burgundy 2026 awarded nine producers three grapes, 20 two grapes, 33 one grape, and 32 "selected" status.
• Domaine Arnoux-Lachaux publicly demanded removal from Michelin's guide after receiving only one grape despite being a celebrated Vosne-Romanée house.
• Michelin rates producers based on vineyard management and consistency rather than individual wines, unlike competitor Guide Hachette des Vins which rates cuvées one to five.
• Consumer wine guides emerged in the 1970s with Decanter, Wine Spectator, Hugh Johnson's Pocket Wine Book (1977), and Parker's Wine Advocate, but internet availability and vast wine expansion have eroded their utility.
• Michelin's wine venture signals the end of traditional consumer wine guides, with future advice increasingly driven by AI apps rather than human-authored publications.

Six Wines That Stopped Me in My Tracks

• Charly, originally from Burgundy, moved to Lower Austria a decade ago and produces wines under his own label with a French sensibility.
• Charly's Blauer Portugieser, sourced from grapes grown by Christoph Hoch, offers ripeness and creamy texture atypical of the variety.
• Charly's Grüner Veltliner 2022, Blaufränkisch 2023, and Zweigelt 2023 are available from Gute Weine for €27 per bottle with EU delivery.
• Charly sources grapes from friends farming organically or biodynamically for his wines while owning just one hectare of vines.

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.
• Troon uses ambient cultures for fermentation, minimal sulfites, and neutral or alternative vessels, no new oak.
• Applegate Valley's alluvial soils, Mediterranean heat, and cold overnight temperatures from Siskiyou Mountains suit sun-loving grapes.

A wine of straw

• Dessert wine consumption has declined for approximately 75 years and shows no signs of recovery.
• Raül Bobet, co-owner of Ferrer-Bobet in Priorat, Catalunya, released a dessert wine requiring 20 years of aging.
• Goût Russe Champagne of the 19th century contained 300g/l of sugar, made for the Russian market.