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Federal cap on THC drinks takes effect November 2026, ending gray-market boom

• U.S. hemp-derived THC beverage sales rose 135 percent to $239 million in the year to April 2026, driven by retailers like Art's Specialties in Massachusetts adding THC drinks to wine and liquor store shelves.
• Congress passed legislation in November 2025 capping total THC concentration at 0.4 milligrams per container, effective November 12, 2026, with enforcement by December 11, 2026, closing a loophole in the 2018 Farm Bill.
• Massachusetts regulators issued guidance in May 2024 banning cannabis-infused beverages from wine and liquor stores, forcing retailers like Art Nergaryan to remove stock and see revenue collapse immediately.
• State-by-state rules create a patchwork: Minnesota, Georgia, and Tennessee allow hemp beverages, while California, Washington, and Vermont restrict or ban them outside licensed cannabis systems.
• The FDA has consistently held that interstate trade in hemp-derived THC beverages violates federal food law, yet many brands operate in legal gray areas without federal clarity.

English estates launch prestige cuvées priced like premium Champagne

• Nyetimber released England's first prestige cuvée in 2018, a white and rosé priced at £150 and £175, mirroring top Champagne positioning.
• Chapel Down's Kit's Coty Coeur de Cuvée (2016 vintage, £126) and Gusbourne's Fifty One Degrees North (2016 vintage, £195) followed, establishing a super-premium English sparkling tier.
• Langham's Perpetual Blanc de Blancs (2025 release, £109.95) uses solera-style ageing in Slavonian oak, drawing inspiration from grower Champagne methods.
• Extended lees ageing of seven to eight years is a defining marker across all releases, positioning them as investment-grade sparkling wines.
• Squerryes launched Patience 2014 in July 2026, the newest prestige cuvée from the Warde family estate in Kent, completing a wave of high-end English sparkling launches since 2017.

World Cup failed to boost US beer sales despite $110m marketing spend

• Anheuser-Busch InBev spent $110 million on a global Michelob Ultra campaign tied to the 2026 World Cup, projecting only 0.25% volume lift for the year.
• US beer category sales fell 2.1% in dollars and 3.4% in volume for the final week of the tournament versus a year prior, outpacing earlier declines.
• ABI's American portfolio dropped 0.7% in dollars and 2.3% in volume for the four weeks through July 12, while its quarterly depletions fell 1.9%.
• On-premise draft beer sales rose 7.1% in dollars and 6.46% in volume during the tournament across BeerBoard's bar network, but tapered after the US men's team was eliminated.
• Spirits outperformed beer in the same period, with the category up 4.4% in dollars and 8.4% in volume, as brands like Cutwater surged 60%.

Rogue Ales' bankruptcy IP auction draws $400k bid for Dead Guy recipe

• U.K. digital agency Silver Scope Media bid $400,000 for Rogue Ales' IP nine months after Oregon Brewing filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy, with bidding open until Aug. 21.
• Rogue's IP includes Dead Guy IPA trademark, recipes, yeast strains, website, social accounts, and manufacturing specs; Oregon Brewing valued it at $2 million.
• Valley View Winery, Oregon-based, objected to the sale, claiming perpetual license rights to Rogue beer products from a 1997 settlement agreement.
• Rogue collapsed citing $17 million in debts against $5 million in assets, shuttering its distillery and taprooms with minimal employee notice.

Soju surges in U.S. market; shōchū trails as distinct categories emerge

• Soju grew 133 percent in U.S. spirits volume between 2019 and 2025, while shōchū rose only 11 percent over the same period, according to IWSR consulting director Koryn Ternes.
• James Barlow, fine wine and Asia portfolio manager at Spec's in Texas, reports his retailer's Asian spirits purchases climbed from under $1 million in 2018 to multi-millions today, driven by soju demand.
• Green bottle soju, a mass-produced style sweetened with added starches and flavorings since a 1965 rice ban, dominates U.S. exports; Jinro has held world's best-selling spirit rank for 25 consecutive years.
• Rising interest in Korean cuisine and culture, plus soju's fruity flavors and sub-20% ABV, attract younger, moderation-minded drinkers, but craft soju brands like Tokki Soju face resistance from green bottle loyalty.
• Shōchū brands iichiko and Mizu target bartenders with higher-proof expressions suitable for classic cocktails, positioning the spirit for on-premise growth rather than retail.

U.S. spirits exporters face tariff walls while DISCUS seeks new markets

• The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS) is pursuing export growth funded by a $900,000 USDA grant, targeting Brazil, India, and Vietnam as key markets.
• U.S. spirits exports face headwinds: a 50 percent tariff on Canadian whisky starts August 19, and India's 100 percent tariff on U.S. spirits compares unfavorably to 40 percent rates for EU and U.K. competitors.
• India, the world's largest whiskey consumer by volume, is shifting preference toward American bourbon over Scotch, but tariff parity with Irish and Scottish imports would accelerate growth.
• Argentina signed a free trade agreement with the Trump Administration but remains a weak market for American whiskey due to importer strategy and distribution gaps, according to Buenos Aires whiskey educator Vero Tomagheli.
• Vietnam's emerging cocktail scene presents untapped opportunity; bars like Workshop14 in Hanoi compete globally, but Scotch currently dominates the market.

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

• Draft beer sales rose 6.46 percent during the six-week 2026 World Cup in North America, with Monday and Tuesday game days seeing volume growth of nearly 16 and 12 percent respectively, per BeerBoard data.
• Headlands Brewing in California doubled production of its collaborative West Coast Mexican lager Common Ground from 90 to 180 barrels as bars and restaurants depleted stock within weeks.
• Boulevard Brewing in Kansas City saw foot traffic and beer hall sales increase roughly 25 percent since mid-June after upgrading its taproom with televisions and an outdoor patio.
• Newport Craft Brewing & Distilling in Rhode Island brewed 300 barrels of Its Called Soccer, ten times its initial plan, reaching 315+ retail locations across three states.
• Bitburger pilsner's on-premise sales in the US increased 130 percent in June as the German brewery sponsored watch parties and used limited-edition football labels to draw crowds.

Scotland's 154 distilleries span five official regions plus emerging Islands cluster

• The Scotch Whisky Association counts 154 malt and grain distilleries as of 2026 across five SWA-protected regions: Highland, Lowland, Speyside, Islay, and Campbeltown.
• Speyside, in the northeastern Highlands along the River Spey, holds over 50 distilleries and is the world's most densely populated whisky region, known for sweet, fruit-forward styles.
• Campbeltown, once home to 30 distilleries in the late 1800s, now operates just three: Springbank, Glen Scotia, and Glengyle, producing oily, briny malts.
• Islay's 11 distilleries are famed for heavily peated smoky malts but include unpeated producers like Bunnahabhain and the varied Bruichladdich range.
• An informal sixth region, the Islands, has emerged across the Hebrides and Northern Isles with new distilleries including Torabhaig on Skye (2017) and Isle of Harris (2015).

Hungary reds, Georgia orange wines, and Pico's volcanic whites shine at DWWA 2026

• Hungary earned its first-ever Platinum for a red wine at Decanter World Wine Awards 2026: Heumann's La Trinità Cabernet Franc from Villány, signalling Central European reds are moving beyond the region's dessert-wine reputation.
• Brazil achieved record Gold and Silver medals at DWWA, including first-ever Golds for a sparkling Moscato and a red Cabernet Franc, marking the country's strongest competition showing.
• Bosnia and Herzegovina's indigenous Žilavka white grape broke through with a 96-point Gold for Vino Milas's Mostarsko Vinogorje 2024, demonstrating demand for unfamiliar regional varieties.
• Skin-contact orange wines spread from Georgia to Oregon and Argentina, each earning first-ever Golds in the style, confirming the technique has shifted from natural-wine trend to established category.
• Pico, Portugal's tiny Azores volcanic island, won its first DWWA Gold for Tarelo's Monumental 2018 Arinto, a wine possible only from its unique basalt-walled landscape.

Queens restaurant rebuilds wine program with backup cellar after basement fire destroys list

• A basement refrigerator fire in early August destroyed Rolo's entire wine collection at the Ridgewood, Queens restaurant, leaving bottles exploded, cooked, or covered in smoke residue.
• Beverage director Leo Bayless-Hall, who doubled the wine list over two years focusing on American and East Coast wines, decided to discard all damaged bottles rather than risk poor pours.
• An offsite storage facility acquired at the start of the year containing premium, older bottles became the restaurant's lifeline, allowing service to resume within a week.
• Rolo's is now selling from the backup collection at historically low markups, averaging a third or half of typical pricing, with premium bottles near cost to maintain the restaurant's reputation for accessible wine.
• The team now features one special bottle nightly, including rare pours like 2002 Robert Ampeau Mersault and 2013 Thomas Perseval Blanc de Blanc, drawing customer interest despite the emergency circumstances.

Wine Buyers Champion Classical Natural Wines as Category Reaches $2.8 Billion

• Natural wine lacks legal definition, causing confusion: producers define it as minimal-intervention winemaking, while consumers often expect funky flavors, says Courtney Wieland, vice president of private clients at Parcelle in New York.
• Global natural wine market valued at $2.8 billion in 2025, forecast to reach $6.1 billion by 2034 at nine percent annual growth, driven by younger generations, per Data Intelo and IWSR reports.
• Wine buyers across the US now stock natural wines in dedicated sections and by-the-glass lists, reversing a decade-old resistance; Jerry Chandler, sommelier and buyer at The Exchange CLT in Charlotte, says the shift occurred drastically in the last five years.
• Natural wines span classical to unconventional styles; recommended picks include Claire Villars-Lurton's sulfite-free Bordeaux, Common Wealth Crush's Virginia Chambourcin blend, and Limited Addition's Oregon Cabernet Franc.
• Top global producers increasingly use natural techniques to make clean, polished wines, contradicting the stereotype that natural wine must taste unconventional, says Adam Lapierre, Master of Wine at Total Wine & More.

VinePair names 30 best Sauvignon Blancs across US, France, Italy, Slovenia

• VinePair's tasting panel scored hundreds of Sauvignon Blancs on a 100-point scale, evaluating aroma, flavor, structure, balance, and regional typicity to compile a curated list of 30 bottles.
• Virginia emerged as a rising source of quality Sauvignon Blanc in 2026, with producers like Dogwood & Thistle delivering crisp, textured wines that punch above their price point.
• Loire Valley bottlings show a shift toward greater texture and depth beyond the region's traditional flinty, angular profile, as seen in Coteaux du Giennois examples from Vignobles Berthier.
• Friuli, Italy, and Alto Adige co-operatives like Erste + Neue continue to excel with the variety, leveraging early adoption of stainless steel fermentation to produce bright, balanced expressions.
• Unexpected terroirs including Oregon, Colorado, and Slovenia now produce compelling Sauvignon Blancs worthy of exploration and investment.

Two young sommeliers champion approachable wine for their generation

• Daria Volokitina, sommelier at Hotel Plaza Athénée in Paris, paired Austrian Furmint with kebabs and tomato pasta by focusing on sensation rather than formal pairing rules.
• Alex Padilla at Hi-Time Wine Cellars in Costa Mesa recommends natural and low-intervention wines like a 2024 Gamay to customers seeking approachable, character-driven bottles under $40.
• Both sommeliers describe wine as no longer reserved for formal settings or those who 'understand' it, but increasingly casual and inclusive for younger drinkers.
• Padilla entered wine after a career change from audio engineering; Volokitina transitioned from civil engineering, both now positioning themselves as youthful faces making wine less intimidating.
• Young wine professionals say their peers lack basic knowledge of wine styles like natural wine, indicating a gap between generational interest and education despite growing accessibility.

Ancient vine-training systems vanish as labor costs and mechanization reshape European viticulture

• Italy's alberata system, once widespread around Naples, survives on only a handful of hectares, replaced by mechanizable methods like Guyot and vertical shoot positioning.
• Lanzarote's hoyo system, created after volcanic eruptions (1730-1736), attracts thousands of tourists annually; vineyard area fell 19 percent between 2000 and 2026 despite recent subsidies.
• Familia Torres maintains pergola training for Albariño in Rías Baixas by adopting specialized machinery; local harvest rules require manual picking regardless of training system.
• Bellussera, a 19th-century pergola hybrid in Veneto, declined from 9 percent of Piave DOC as silk and subsistence farming vanished, but climate resilience may revive it.
• The loss of historical vine-training systems erodes cultural heritage, weakens local economies, and reduces viticultural diversity needed for climate adaptation.

Pierce's Disease Threatens 41 Percent of European Vineyards as Climate Warms

• Xylella fastidiosa, a bacterium that causes Pierce's disease, has infected grapevines in Portugal, Spain, and Italy; a 2025 climate study shows 41.2 percent of European vineyards now face risk, up from 21.8 percent in prior models.
• The pathogen spreads via glassy-winged sharpshooter insects and kills vines by blocking water transport; warming winters mean previously safe regions, especially river valleys and microclimates, are becoming vulnerable.
• California growers lost over $48 million annually to Pierce's disease in the late 1990s and early 2000s; European regulators are now learning from that experience to improve surveillance, early detection, and vector management.
• European Union member states are conducting annual surveys and eradication in isolated cases, but lack coordinated communication strategies; growers fear mandatory vine destruction, which threatens historic vineyards.
• Olakunle Olawole, assistant professor at University of California Riverside, notes that once the bacterium becomes established, management shifts from eradication to slowing spread, as California has learned over decades.

Disease-resistant hybrid grapes cut fungicide spraying by 80 percent

• PIWIs (fungus-resistant hybrid grapes) reduce fungicide sprays from 8-15 times yearly to 2-3 times, cutting chemical, fuel, and labor costs while lowering environmental toxicity.
• Modern genetic testing (rhAmpSeq) lets breeders pinpoint disease-resistance genes with precision and stack multiple resistance layers, accelerating development of new varieties.
• Germany leads PIWI adoption with 4,000 hectares in 2025, up 10 percent annually, while Bordeaux and Luxembourg are developing region-specific resistant hybrids retaining local grape signatures.
• A 2026 Luxembourg study found PIWIs delivered twofold economic savings and up to threefold environmental benefit compared to traditional varieties managing the same mildew pressure.
• PIWIs now contain up to 95 percent Vitis vinifera genetic material and behave like traditional vines in the vineyard, requiring no significant change to existing practices.

Vineyards deploy netting to cool grape clusters amid heat stress

• Vineyard netting, traditionally used for hail and bird protection, is being repositioned to lower cluster temperatures and preserve color and acidity during heat events.
• A 2022 UC Davis trial on Cabernet Sauvignon found shaded clusters had 27 percent more anthocyanins than unshaded fruit when temperatures exceeded 35 degrees Celsius, the degradation threshold.
• Catena Zapata in Mendoza uses light netting to filter direct sunlight into brief pulses rather than continuous exposure, reducing vine stress in high-altitude desert conditions without depleting beneficial UV radiation.
• Petra estate in Tuscany tested nets on Merlot and reduced sunburn from 41 percent to three percent under 90 percent shade, with white and green nets outperforming black nets that absorb excess heat.
• Boroli in Barolo found that open-weave nets on sun-facing sides lowered peak cluster temperatures from 49.2 to 43 degrees Celsius, but net placement and density matter; contact with grapes risks burn damage.

Vinography Images: On the Rocks

Some creative stonework greets visitors at the ArmAs winery in the Aragatsotn region of Armenia, carrying on a tradition of

Re-entry

• Belgian tech consultant Boris de Vloed launched Open Wine Map, a free interactive tool exploring European wine regions using INAO, French cahiers des charges, Italian disciplinare, and appellation datasets.
• Open Wine Map allows searching, sorting, and filtering by region, grape, and wine style with precise visualization enabling direct regional comparisons.
• The map reveals scale contrasts between regions: Barolo and Barbaresco appear tiny relative to broader Piemonte wine territory; Côte de Nuits parcels are minuscule.

Burgenland Winery Guide, Part 1

• Burgenland is one of Austria's warmest regions and one of few with serious red wine culture, famed for progressive viticulture.
• Blaufränkisch, Chardonnay, and Weissburgunder thrive in Leithaberg's predominantly limestone and chalk soils.
• Boris Kovacic relocated to Sankt Margareten in 2021 to pursue winemaking after two decades in stem cell research, working with minimal additives.
• Georg Priester makes terroir-focused Blaufränkisch from two top sites, Marienthal and Goldberg, using amphora aging and minimal oak intervention.

Gallery: in the vineyards of the Ahr Valley, Germany

• The Ahr Valley in Germany specializes in Pinot Noir production.
• Frühburgunder is also grown alongside Pinot Noir in the Ahr Valley.
• Ahr Valley vineyards feature schist soils on steep hillside terrain.
• Vineyards in the region show variable cropping levels and ripening stages.

The taste of stone

• Jako Andabak founded Stina winery (initially called Jako Vino) on Brač island in 2009 after buying out a cooperative in Bol village.
• Stina modernized the winery and planted new vineyards starting around 2012, producing big, bold wines.
• Andabak, a hotel owner on Brač, had capital and a ready market through his hotels to establish and sustain the winery.
• Croatia's 2013 EU accession prompted wealthy entrepreneurs to establish premium wineries before agricultural policy moved under Brussels jurisdiction.

Michelin And The Death Of The Wine Guide

• Michelin's Wine Selection Burgundy 2026 awarded nine producers three grapes, 20 vignerons two grapes, and 33 one grape; Domaine Arnoux-Lachaux publicly demanded removal after receiving one grape.
• Michelin rates producers based on vineyard management and consistency rather than individual wines, unlike competitor Guide Hachette des Vins which rates specific cuvées one to five.
• Michelin acquired Wine Advocate entirely in 2019 after a 40% stake purchase in 2017, raising questions about whether Editor-in-Chief William Kelley influenced Burgundy selections.
• Consumer wine guides emerged in the 1970s-1980s with publications like Decanter, Wine Spectator, and Hugh Johnson's Pocket Wine Book, but internet access from mid-1990s onward made print guides obsolete.
• The wine guide genre's viability is now challenged by vast global wine variety, internet availability, and emerging AI-driven apps, while human-authored guides retain authority mainly among wine professionals and producers.

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, while also innovating traditional huangjiu.
• Coram's products are listed in over 100 restaurants and bistros across Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, and Chengdu since launching last June.
• Huangjiu peaks between three and eight years of aging; most ages poorly after 10 years, contrary to common assumptions that older always means better.
• Chardomi blends 80% Chardonnay grapes with 20% glutinous rice through a multi-step process: soaking, steaming, saccharification, then co-fermentation with grape juice.
• Co-founder Alex Yuanzhu Wang studied Chinese literature, worked in wine importing in Shanghai, and was inspired by a Burgundy winemaker's optimism about Chinese wine's future.

What I Learned at a Conference on Drinking

From the invention of moderation to the return of temperance