winefeed

Silver Scope Media bids $400k for bankrupt Rogue Ales' recipes and trademarks

• Silver Scope Media Ltd, a U.K. digital marketing agency, made a $400,000 bid for Rogue Ales & Spirits' intellectual property nine months after parent company Oregon Brewing filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
• Rogue's IP includes recipes, manufacturing specs, proprietary yeast strains, trademarks, and the Dead Guy IPA brand; Oregon Brewing valued the portfolio at $2 million.
• U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Oregon is accepting competing bids through Aug. 21, with any offer required to exceed Silver Scope's bid by at least $40,000.
• Valley View Winery, an Oregon producer, filed an objection claiming it holds a perpetual license to Rogue's wine and wine-based beverages under a 1997 settlement agreement.
• A hearing on the IP sale and objections is scheduled for Aug. 26; Rogue shuttered operations citing $17 million in debts against roughly $5 million in assets.

Texas High Plains grape growers struggle as wine sales soften after pandemic boom

• Texas wineries bought grapes aggressively from 2020 to early 2023 as pandemic-driven home consumption surged, then demand softened and inventories backed up, leaving growers with unsold fruit.
• High Plains growers now face uneven market terms: multi-year contracts have become rare, some wineries wait for harvest to buy cheaper spot-market fruit, forcing farmers to tier their vineyard care by buyer certainty.
• A March 2025 freeze damaged yields across High Plains and Hill Country, particularly white varieties, which growers and winemakers view as a painful but potentially stabilizing reset for oversupply.
• Some growers are professionalizing buyer relationships through formal contracts with deposits, while others including Connor Wilmeth at Lahey Vineyards are exploring East Coast distribution to reduce dependence on local Texas markets.
• Veteran growers including Jet Wilmeth, Andy Timmons and Neal Newsom are considering retirement or reduced operations, raising succession concerns for wineries that depend on their benchmark vineyard sites.

English estates launch prestige cuvées priced to rival Champagne

• Nyetimber released England's first prestige cuvée in 2018, the 1086 range, at £150 and £175 per bottle, matching premium Champagne pricing.
• Chapel Down's Kit's Coty Coeur de Cuvée (2016 vintage, £126) and Gusbourne's Fifty One Degrees North (2016 vintage, £195) join the super-premium English sparkling category launched between 2017 and 2022.
• Langham's Perpetual Blanc de Blancs (2025 release, £109.95) uses a solera-style blend across multiple vintages, a technique inspired by grower Champagne producers.
• Squerryes launched its prestige cuvée Patience 2014 in July 2026, completing a wave of five English estates entering the super-premium sparkling market.
• All five estates emphasise extended lees ageing (minimum seven years) and single-estate sourcing as markers of prestige-tier quality, with small production runs.

Historic vine-training systems decline as labor costs and mechanization reshape European wine regions

• Alberata vine-training in Italy, hoyos on Lanzarote, bellussera near Venice, and emparrado in Rías Baixas all face pressure from high manual labor demands and mechanization incentives.
• Lanzarote's hoyo vineyards shrank 19 percent between 2000 and 2026, dropping from 2,326 to 1,889 hectares, as labor costs drive growers toward conventional irrigated systems.
• Tourism sustains hoyos on Lanzarote; Alberto González Plasencia of Bodegas Timanfaya warns that disappearing vineyards would reduce visitor appeal and wine value.
• Familia Torres adapted machinery to pergola training in Rías Baixas, cutting labor demands; Stefano Quaggio notes bellussera vines near Venice may gain value for climate resilience and wine tourism.
• Regional survival depends on local economics: Lanzarote introduced subsidies; Veneto's flat terrain favored mechanizable systems; only systems integrating heritage, tourism, or climate advantage retain grower commitment.

Centre-Loire appellations gain traction as Sancerre prices soar past fifty dollars

• Sancerre Sauvignon Blanc now sells for $40 to $50 or more, reaching capacity with no vineyard expansion planned.
• Five neighboring Centre-Loire appellations, Pouilly-Fumé, Menetou-Salon, Quincy, Reuilly, and Coteaux du Giennois, produce comparable Sauvignon Blancs at $20 to $30.
• Clément Berthier, Sancerre appellation president, notes the region's outsized reputation exceeds its small physical size and production limits.
• Winemakers across the region now prioritize maintaining acidity as harvest dates accelerate due to climate change, with some experimenting with abandoned varieties.
• Paul-Henry Pellé, Domaine Pellé organic farmer in Menetou-Salon, reports mid-August harvests are becoming routine, forcing rapid adjustments to viticulture.

Celebrity wine brands surge from 2005 to 2025, peaking during pandemic

• Kyle MacLachlan launched Pursued by Bear in Walla Walla in 2005, marking an early entry by a major actor into winemaking.
• Francis Ford Coppola began releasing wines from Inglenook in 1978 and purchased Sonoma's Château Souverain in 2006, ahead of the celebrity wine wave.
• Celebrity wine launches accelerated sharply in 2020 during pandemic lockdowns, with Post Malone's Maison No. 9, Cameron Diaz's Avaline, Snoop Dogg's Cali by Snoop, and Mary J. Blige's Sun Goddess Wines all debuting that year.
• Brands launched by celebrities now range across styles: rosés dominate (Kylie Minogue, Jon Bon Jovi, Brad Pitt's Château Miraval), but portfolios span whites, reds, sparkling, and low-intervention offerings.
• The wave has slowed since 2020, though existing celebrity brands remain retail staples; Regina King's MianU launched in 2025 as a recent addition.

World Cup failed to lift beer sales despite $110 million marketing push

• Anheuser-Busch InBev spent $110 million on Michelob Ultra World Cup campaign but achieved only 0.25 percent volume lift, per CEO Michel Doukeris in July earnings call.
• ABI's US depletions fell 1.9 percent and shipments fell 0.6 percent in Q2 2026, when roughly half the tournament occurred, against overall beer category decline of 4.5 percent year-to-date.
• Category-level scan data from Circana showed beer down 2.1 percent in dollars and 3.4 percent in volume year-over-year for the week ending July 19, the tournament's final day.
• On-premise draft beer performed better with 7.1 percent dollar and 6.46 percent volume gains across BeerBoard accounts during the tournament, but tapered to negative territory by final week.
• Spirits category outperformed beer during the World Cup, up 4.4 percent in dollars and 8.4 percent in volume in the final week, with Cutwater brand up 60 percent.

Soju surges past shōchū in US market, driven by Korean culture and flavor trends

• Soju grew 133 percent between 2019 and 2025 to under 1 percent of US spirits volume, while shōchū grew only 11 percent over the same period, says Koryn Ternes, IWSR consulting director for the Americas.
• James Barlow, fine wine and Asia portfolio manager at Spec's in Texas, reports the chain's Asian spirits purchases jumped from under $1 million in 2018 to multi-millions today, with soju driving demand.
• Green bottle soju, the mass-produced sweet style created after Korea's 1965 rice ban in distilling, dominates US exports; Jinro has been the world's best-selling spirit for 25 consecutive years.
• Younger US consumers drawn to Korean cuisine, K-pop, and K-drama are trial-purchasing soju for its fruity flavors, low ABV under 20 percent, and affordable price, says Jun-Jun Vichaikul, co-owner of Chicago's Konbini & Kanpai.
• Craft soju brands like Tokki Soju, founded in Brooklyn in 2016, experienced explosive growth but faced initial retail resistance; Douglas Park, Tokki cofounder, doubled volume annually for seven years before plateauing.

RNDC files for bankruptcy after shedding US distribution markets

• Republic National Distributing Company, formerly the second-largest US wine and spirits distributor, filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in Texas yesterday to wind down remaining operations and seek buyers for surviving markets.
• 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 $93.92 million owed to Proximo Spirits.
• The distributor shed most US markets in recent months, selling to Reyes Beverage Group, Columbia Distributing, Martignetti Companies, and BreakThru Beverage Group after withdrawing from California last June.
• Roughly 1,450 workers remain employed; smaller suppliers with unsecured claims face risk of nonpayment as leverage-poor vendors lack alternatives to RNDC for market access.
• The bankruptcy excludes National Distributing Company, which merged with Republic Distributing in 2007, and most joint ventures in six states; only the Alaska joint venture is included.

Eight Grenache alternatives to pricey Château Rayas in Southern Rhône

• Château Rayas in Châteauneuf-du-Pape stands apart by making 100 percent Grenache in a region defined by blends, commanding four-figure prices for its terroir-driven style.
• Delas Frères produces a Grenache-forward Châteauneuf with 12 months in large oak and a year in concrete or steel, yielding 10,000 to 12,000 bottles yearly at around $63.
• Domaine Balme, founded by its namesake at 23, grows old-vine Grenache on family land using biodynamic methods and prefers concrete aging, bottling a fresh expression at $24.
• Domaine Clément's L'Amista is 100 percent Grenache from 1954-planted old vines using low-intervention and regenerative farming, retailing for $30 versus Rayas's price.
• Alternatives span Gigondas and Lirac appellations, including Gour de Chaulé at $72 and Domaine de Longue Toque at $88, offering Grenache-led wines with depth at lower cost.

Eight sommeliers name Sancerre bottles worth fifty dollars or more

• Eight US restaurant sommeliers identified specific Sancerre bottles they recommend at fifty-dollar-plus price points, citing terroir expression and food versatility as justification for cost.
• Vincent Gaudry's Le Tournebride and Mélodie de Vieilles Vignes were named by multiple sommeliers for textural precision and minerality without steep markups relative to peers.
• Domaine Vacheron's Guigne-Chèvres, from limestone-rich soils, was praised for consistent age-worthiness and ability to convert red wine drinkers to Sauvignon Blanc.
• Gérard Boulay and François Cotat producers from Chavignol sub-zone earned recommendations for vibrant, mineral-driven palates that differentiate them from flattened mass-market Sancerres.
• Sommeliers cautioned against thirty to forty-five dollar bottles as overpriced repricing of cheaper stock, suggesting either entry-level or premium tiers offer better value alignment.

Brooklyn housing complex builds playgrounds from 450,000 recycled wine corks

• Public Housing Community Fund, Cork Collective, and nonprofits installed pathways and playgrounds from upcycled corks at Marlboro Houses in Gravesend, Brooklyn, a NYCHA complex.
• Cork Collective, launched by Rockwell Group and cork manufacturer Amorim in 2024, collected over 450,000 wine corks from NYC restaurants and ground them for the $500,000 project.
• Children at Marlboro Houses submitted design mockups that Center for Justice Innovation, The Urban Conga, and the Resident Association incorporated into the final playground layout.
• Cork surfaces absorb stormwater, reduce ambient temperature by 20 to 30 percent, and provide non-toxic alternatives to plastic, rubber, and asphalt, according to NYCHA.
• Less than one percent of the 13 billion corks manufactured annually worldwide are recycled; three billion corks are discarded in the U.S. each year.

Light exposure and vine vigor shape pyrazine levels in wine grapes

• Methoxypyrazines, nitrogen-based compounds that create bell pepper and grassiness, accumulate early in berry development then decline sharply at veraison, possibly to deter animals before seeds mature.
• Light exposure is the primary driver of pyrazine concentration; removing shoots and leaves to increase cluster sunlight reduces pyrazines, as the compounds degrade when exposed to light.
• Vine vigor and canopy density determine cluster shade; rootstocks imparting high vigor create dense canopies that trap shade and raise pyrazine levels, while low-vigor rootstocks reduce them.
• Soil type affects pyrazine concentration indirectly through its impact on vine vigor; well-drained gravel soils produce lower pyrazines than water-retentive limestone or clay-silt soils in Bordeaux climates.
• Temperature shows a correlation with lower pyrazine intensity in warmer sites, though the mechanism remains unclear and is difficult to isolate from light's simultaneous effects.

Disease-resistant hybrid grapes cut fungicide sprays by 80 percent

• PIWIs, hybrid grapes bred from American fungus-resistant species and European Vitis vinifera, require two to three fungicide sprays per season versus eight to 15 for traditional varieties.
• Modern genetic testing technology rhAmpSeq, deployed since 2019 via the US VitisGen initiative, identifies resistance genes with precision and cuts seedling screening time from months to days.
• A 2026 Luxembourg study found PIWIs delivered twofold economic savings and threefold environmental benefit over traditional varieties, mainly through reduced spraying, chemical, fuel, and labor costs.
• Germany leads PIWI adoption with 4,000 hectares planted in 2025, four percent of total vineyard area, up ten percent year-on-year; France develops region-specific ResDur hybrids retaining Bordeaux character.
• Direct-to-consumer sales dominate PIWI distribution at 71 percent in Germany; retail expansion depends on demonstrating mature vine performance and competitive pricing alongside sustainability.

Vineyards deploy netting to cool grape clusters as heat stress intensifies

• UC Davis 2022 trial on Cabernet Sauvignon found shaded clusters had 27 percent more anthocyanins than unshaded fruit during heat stress, showing netting can prevent color degradation above 35 degrees Celsius.
• Catena Zapata in Mendoza uses light hail netting on 90 percent of vineyards to filter intense high-altitude sun into brief pulses rather than continuous exposure, reducing vine stress in dry conditions.
• Marco Simonit's 2025 field trials at Petra estate in Tuscany showed Merlot sunburn dropped from 41 percent in unshaded control to three percent under 90 percent shade netting, with cluster temperatures falling from 50 to 40 degrees Celsius.
• Boroli in Barolo's Villero vineyard found that net color matters; an open net reduced peak temperatures from 49.2 to 43 degrees Celsius, while denser netting exceeded 50 degrees by trapping heat against fruit.
• Netting creates tradeoffs: while it protects berries during heat, it can compress canopies, limit airflow, alter spray penetration, and increase disease pressure if applied too densely or touching fruit.

Highlights: Aphelion Grenache Noir ‘Wait’ 2025 Blewitt Springs, McLaren Vale

• Rob Mack's wine displays raspberry and red cherry fruit with good structure and grip.
• The wine is described as complex, layered, and deep with finesse.

Who's Afraid of Volatile Wines?

• Loire vigneron Sébastien David was ordered to destroy 2,000+ bottles of Cabernet Franc in 2019 for exceeding the EU's 1.2 g/L volatile acidity limit; a petition against the decision gathered nearly 175,000 signatures.
• The EU volatile acidity limit dates to 1979 and was revised in 1987 with vague consumer-protection language, but the US allows 1.4 g/L for red wines and up to 1.7 g/L for super-ripe grapes.
• The EU's 2025 exceptions list permits volatile acidity up to 2.4 g/L in hundreds of appellations across 18 countries, including Amarone, Madeira, and Tokaji aszú, contradicting the standard 1.2 g/L red wine limit.
• Volatile acidity becomes unsafe only above 10% concentration; the EU limit of 1.2 g/L sits between safe wine and vinegar's minimum 4 g/L threshold with no established health risk.
• Orange wines must conform to the white wine limit of 1.08 g/L despite having tannin and volatile acidity levels similar to reds, creating an inconsistent regulatory standard.

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

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 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 specific cuvées.
• Michelin owns Wine Advocate entirely since 2019 (acquired 40% share in 2017), raising questions about the guide's judging methodology and independence.
• Consumer wine guides emerged in the 1970s-80s but internet access from mid-1990s and vast wine variety expansion have rendered comprehensive printed guides obsolete.

Notable Releases from Troon Vineyard

• Troon Vineyard released 2025 Vermentino and 2023 Syrah from Oregon's Applegate Valley.
• Troon Vineyard farms using certified biodynamic and regenerative organic principles in Grant's Pass.
• Troon ferments with ambient cultures, uses minimal sulfites, and ages in neutral oak, concrete, qvevri, or stainless steel.
• Applegate Valley's high latitude and overnight temperature drops from Siskiyou Mountains create ideal ripening conditions for Mediterranean varieties.

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

• Coram Collective, founded in 2023 with 2024 production, co-ferments rice wine with Chardonnay and Merlot while innovating huangjiu, an ancient Chinese fermented beverage.
• Co-founder Alex Yuanzhu Wang's huangjiu with aged Chinese tangerine peel came from a Christmas Eve moment when colleagues wanted refreshing beer after steaming rice.
• Coram's Chardomi (80% Chardonnay, 20% glutinous rice) blends two fermentation processes: rice undergoes saccharification before co-fermenting with freshly pressed grape juice.
• Products launched June 2024 are now stocked in over 100 restaurants and bistros across Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, and Chengdu.

A wine of straw

• Dessert wine consumption has declined for approximately 75 years, with no expected recovery due to negative perceptions of sugar and alcohol.
• Raül Bobet, co-owner of Ferrer-Bobet in Priorat, Catalunya, produces dessert wines requiring 20-year aging processes despite the category's commercial decline.

What I Learned at a Conference on Drinking

• Drinking studies is an interdisciplinary field treating alcohol as cultural and social practice, not merely a drink or health hazard.
• Researching drinking history is difficult because drinking was so ubiquitous that ordinary people's habits were rarely documented.
• Ireland's 2018 Public Health (Alcohol) Act introduced minimum unit pricing, advertising restrictions, and cancer warning labels, with labels delayed to September 2028 due to international trade pressure.
• The meaning of moderation shifted in the 18th century from avoiding disgraceful drunkenness to self-regulation tied to industrial productivity demands.
• Insurance companies' observation that non-drinkers had better health outcomes shaped modern understanding of alcohol harms.