winefeed

Federal THC cap stalls booming hemp-drink retail sector across US states

• Massachusetts retailer Art Nergaryan saw sales jump 25-35 percent after stocking THC-infused drinks in 2024, then collapse when state regulators banned them from wine stores in May 2024.
• The US hemp-beverage market grew 135 percent in the 52 weeks to April 2026, reaching $239 million in retail sales, with Whitney Economics projecting total potential at $9.9-14.9 billion.
• Congress passed legislation in November 2025 capping THC at 0.4 milligrams per beverage container, effective 12 November 2026, effectively banning hemp-derived THC drinks nationwide despite FDA ambiguity since 2018.
• State rules conflict sharply: Minnesota, Georgia, and Tennessee permit hemp beverages; California, Washington, and Vermont restrict them; the FDA deems interstate sales of THC drinks unlawful federally, leaving retailers and manufacturers in legal limbo.
• Diana Eberlein, chair of the Coalition for Adult Beverage Alternatives, says the patchwork of state laws without federal clarity has blocked industry legitimacy; a consistent federal framework is needed.

Silver Scope Media bids $400k for bankrupt Rogue Ales intellectual property

• Silver Scope Media Ltd, a U.K. digital marketing agency, offered $400,000 for Rogue Ales & Spirits' intellectual property nine months after parent company Oregon Brewing filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
• Rogue's IP includes recipes, yeast strains, trademarks, social media accounts, and domain rights; Oregon Brewing valued total IP at $2 million.
• The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Oregon accepts competing bids through August 21, with a minimum increment of $40,000 above Silver Scope's offer.
• Valley View Winery, an Oregon estate, filed an objection claiming a perpetual license to Rogue's wine and wine-based beverage rights under a 1997 settlement agreement.
• A court hearing on the sale and objections is scheduled for August 26.

English estates launch prestige cuvées rivalling Champagne in price and ambition

• Nyetimber, Chapel Down, Gusbourne, Langham and Squerryes have each released prestige cuvées priced £100 and above, matching premium Champagne positioning.
• Nyetimber pioneered England's prestige cuvée concept in 2018 with its 1086 range (white £150, rosé £175), followed by Chapel Down's Kit's Coty Coeur de Cuvée in 2017 and others through 2026.
• Extended lees ageing defines these bottlings: Nyetimber's 1086 minimum seven years, Gusbourne's Fifty One Degrees North eighty months, Langham's Perpetual four years.
• Producers source from chalk soils in Kent, Sussex and Dorset, blend single or multi-vintage lots with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, and release in small quantities with documented heritage stories.
• These cuvées mark English sparkling wine's shift from emerging category to luxury segment competing directly with established Champagne houses on brand narrative and cellaring investment.

American single malt ratification fails to lift sales amid whiskey slump

• The US Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau approved American single malt as an official whiskey category in December 2024, ending a decade-long push by distillers and the American Single Malt Whiskey Commission.
• Major producers including Westland Distillery in Seattle, Balcones Distillery in Waco, and Westward Whiskey in Portland have laid off staff or ceased production as sales have stalled across the American whiskey market.
• Retailers and bars have created dedicated American single malt shelf and menu sections since ratification, and consumer confusion about the category has declined among enthusiasts.
• The standard of identity has helped with export tracking and trade logistics but holds little meaning for mainstream consumers, who still require extensive education to distinguish American single malt from bourbon.
• Distillers are adapting by launching lower-priced cask-finished variants, blended products, and non-whiskey spirits to diversify revenue as American single malt fails to gain market share beyond connoisseur circles.

World Cup sponsorship fails to lift beer sales as industry decline persists

• Anheuser-Busch InBev spent $110 million on a global Michelob Ultra World Cup campaign in 2026, projecting only 0.25% volume lift for the year.
• US beer category sales fell 2.1% in dollars and 3.4% in volume year-over-year for the tournament's final week, outpacing prior four-week and year-to-date declines.
• On-premise draft beer rose 7.1% in dollars and 6.46% in volume during the tournament across BeerBoard's network, but fell back into decline by the final week.
• Spirits category grew 4.4% in dollars and 8.4% in volume in the tournament's final week, with Cutwater brands up roughly 60%, while beer remained flat or negative.
• Beer industry volume declined approximately 3.5 million barrels in the first half of 2026 versus 2025, a steeper drop than the 5% decline from 2024 to 2025.

Soju surges 133% in US market while shōchū lags behind

• Soju grew 133 percent between 2019 and 2025 to under 1 percent of U.S. spirits volume, while shōchū rose only 11 percent to a tiny fraction of 1 percent.
• James Barlow, Asia portfolio manager at Spec's in Texas, reports Asian spirits purchasing rose from under $1 million in 2018 to multimillions, with soju vastly outpacing shōchū.
• Green bottle soju dominates U.S. exports due to 1965 rice ban reforms that shifted Korean production toward sweeter, lower-alcohol products sold by mass producers like Jinro.
• Younger U.S. consumers drive soju demand via flavor variety and low ABV, while shōchū brands like iichiko and Mizu target bartenders with higher-proof cocktail expressions.
• Craft soju producers including Tokki Soju in Brooklyn faced initial resistance from retailers preferring mass-market brands but now see growing consumer interest as category awareness matures.

Chandon launches three ready-to-drink spritz flavors targeting aperitivo trend

• Chandon released Orange Peel & Spices, Lemon & Verbena, and Berries & Hibiscus ready-to-serve spritzes designed for early-evening drinking.
• IWSR 2025 research shows spritz consumption is rising, with premium-plus light aperitifs gaining ground in top 20 markets globally.
• Lemon and Berries variants use naturally low-alcohol sparkling wine at 6% ABV, layered with slow-extracted botanical macerates including gentian, rosemary, and artichoke.
• Ana Paula Bartolucci, chef de caves of Chandon Argentina, and Pauline Lhote, winemaking director of Chandon California, co-created the collection with mixologist Inés de los Santos.
• Bottles feature lighter weight, FSC-certified labels, and no foil neck wrap to reduce environmental waste.

Seven volcanic wine regions rival Etna for mineral complexity and old vines

• Volcanic soils worldwide, from Santorini to Oregon's Willamette Valley, produce wines marked by high acidity, salinity, and savory flavors rather than fruit-forward profiles.
• Santorini's Assyrtiko and Hungary's Tokaji Aszú gain depth and mineral tension from volcanic terrain; Santorini vines over 200 years old survive because volcanic regions resist disease.
• The Canary Islands' phylloxera-free volcanic soils preserved old-vine varieties like Listán Blanco and Listán Negro, sparking a winemaking revival in the 1980s and 1990s.
• Oregon's Dundee Hills and Eola-Amity Hills volcanic Jory soils yield red-fruit Pinot Noirs with more acidity and grip than marine-sediment counterparts in Willamette Valley.
• France's Auvergne and California's Lake County, both dormant volcanic zones, now attract natural winemakers seeking terroir suited to organic and low-intervention viticulture.

Sommelier uses Austrian Furmint to break beer drinker's wine stereotype

• Daria Volokitina, sommelier at Hotel Plaza Athénée in Paris, paired grilled kebabs with Austrian Furmint instead of beer to challenge her brother's food and wine assumptions.
• Volokitina chose Liszt's Minimaliszt 2022 from Burgenland, a low-alcohol natural wine with citrus and ginger notes, for its freshness and ability to cleanse the palate alongside rich meat.
• The wine, hand-harvested and fermented in amphora with no sulphur added, costs €26 and exemplifies how younger drinkers approach wine through sensation and emotion rather than formal tradition.
• Furmint, typically associated with Hungarian Tokaj, is gaining recognition among Austrian growers in Burgenland for mineral-driven dry styles outside its homeland.
• Most of Volokitina's friends admitted they did not understand natural wine, signalling a gap between emerging wine culture and mainstream consumer knowledge.

Spain's Sierra de Gredos fires destroy 200 vineyard hectares during revival

• Devastating fires burned 77,000 hectares across Ávila and Madrid provinces between July 22-26, affecting about 40 percent of Cebreros DO's 500 registered vineyard hectares.
• Bodegas Bernabeleva owner Juan Diez Bulnes lost vineyard land and winery infrastructure; Bodega El Reventón's San Gregorio parcel suffered severe vine damage, though owners expect 80-90 percent recovery.
• Comando G co-founder Daniel Landi's Las Iruelas single-vineyard wine in Cebreros faces likely loss due to heavy smoke exposure, though his main vineyard sites in other municipalities were spared.
• Producers including Landi and Juanan Martín of Rico Nuevo have proposed firebreak subsidies and forest-clearing support to regional authorities, arguing vineyards protect rural mosaic landscapes that naturally reduce fire fuel.

Pierce's Disease Bacterium Now Threatens 41% of European Vineyards

• Xylella fastidiosa bacterium, which causes Pierce's disease in grapevines by blocking water transport, has been detected in continental Europe since 2023, with cases now confirmed in Portugal, Spain, Italy, and France.
• A 2025 study using high-resolution climate modeling shows 41.2 percent of European vineyards face climate risk from Pierce's disease, up from 21.8 percent in previous estimates, with vineyard microclimates in river basins and valleys especially vulnerable.
• Unlike California, where infected vines are not mandated for destruction, many European regions require eradication, creating risk that growers may conceal infections rather than report them and lose vineyards.
• Researchers warn that symptom-free spread may create false security in Europe; the bacterium could establish widely before obvious epidemics occur, shifting management from eradication to containment once endemic.

Disease-resistant hybrid grapes cut fungicide spraying by 80 percent

• PIWIs are hybrid grapes bred from non-Vitis vinifera and European vinifera stock to resist powdery and downy mildew, reducing fungicide sprays from 8-15 times yearly to 2-3 times.
• Modern genetic testing technology rhAmpSeq, deployed since 2019 under the US VitisGen initiative, maps 2,000 genetic markers per vine, accelerating identification of resistance genes and reducing breeding time from months to days.
• Germany leads PIWI adoption with 4,000 hectares planted in 2025, a 10 percent annual increase; France is developing RegDur varieties that retain regional character, with Bordeaux experimentally crossing them with Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot.
• A 2026 Luxembourg study found PIWIs delivered twofold economic savings and threefold environmental benefit versus traditional varieties, chiefly through reduced spraying costs and lower soil and water toxicity.
• PIWI wines remain 71 percent direct-to-consumer sales in Germany; retail expansion hinges on supermarket adoption and competitive pricing that translates vineyard gains into shelf appeal.

Highlights: Nyetimber Blanc de Blancs 2018 England

• Nyetimber released its 2018 Blanc de Blancs from England's warm, abundant 2018 vintage, a breakthrough year for English sparkling wine.
• The 2018 vintage carries 12% alcohol, was disgorged February 26, 2026, with 9.4 g/L residual sugar dosage.
• Bottle codes allow consumers to access technical details including exact bottling, riddling, and disgorging dates for traceability.
• The wine shows pear and white peach on the nose with toasty autolytic notes; the palate is rich, fruity, and lemony with long finish.

Wine Gets a Category

• Substack launched a dedicated Wine & Spirits category on Monday, separating wine content from the larger Food & Drink section to improve discoverability for readers and writers.
• The 9th edition of The World Atlas of Wine, revised by Hugh Johnson, Jancis Robinson, and Julia Harding, ships October 6th with 18 new maps and content on climate change, sustainability, and emerging regions.
• Smith-Madrone Winery in Napa's Spring Mountain District used Hügelkultur, burying forest debris in trenches rather than burning it, to manage wildfire fuel while sequestering carbon after the 2020 Glass Fire.
• Sommelier Bodhi Landa argues skinny margaritas fail as cocktails because removing sugar eliminates the balance needed between spirit and citrus, leaving only bitter acid and alcohol.

Napa’s Royal Reds: The Taste of Oakville 2026

There aren’t many tastings in California where the wine trade lines up more than an hour in advance of the

Burgenland Winery Guide, Part 1

• Burgenland, Austria's warmest region, is one of few Austrian areas with serious red wine culture, famed for progressive viticulture and winemaking.
• Blaufränkisch, Chardonnay, and Weissburgunder thrive in Leithaberg's predominantly limestone and chalk soils.
• Boris Kovacic relocated to Sankt Margareten in 2021 from stem cell research to manage 12 rented plots with old vines and field blends, using no additives.
• Georg Priester makes terroir-focused Blaufränkisch from Marienthal and Goldberg sites, increasingly aging reds in amphora instead of oak.

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.
• Stina modernized the winery and planted new vineyards as part of a larger wave of well-funded Croatian wineries emerging around 2012.
• Andabak, a hotel owner on Brač, had both capital and an existing market through his hotels to support the wine venture.
• Croatia's 2013 EU ascension prompted wine entrepreneurs to establish projects before new agricultural regulations from Brussels took effect.

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 Coram products are already listed in over 100 restaurants and bistros across Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, and Chengdu.
• Coram's Chardomi blends 80% Chardonnay grapes with 20% glutinous rice; rice undergoes soaking, steaming, and saccharification before co-fermenting with pressed grape juice.
• Wang emphasizes huangjiu's complexity and tradition, noting the common misconception that it is merely cooking wine, and that quality huangjiu peaks between three and eight years of aging.

What I Learned at a Conference on Drinking

From the invention of moderation to the return of temperance