winefeed

Record Spanish wildfires damage Sierra de Gredos vineyards, threatening region's revival

• Between July 22 and 26, wildfires destroyed 77,000 hectares across Ávila and Madrid provinces, which contain 85 percent of Sierra de Gredos's 2,000 vineyard hectares.
• Approximately 200 hectares of vineyards in Cebreros DO, roughly 40 percent of registered area, suffered fire, smoke, or both damage.
• Bodegas Bernabeleva lost office space, facade sections, windows, tanks, and equipment; Bodega El Reventón lost the San Gregorio parcel but expects 80 to 90 percent vine recovery.
• Comando G's Las Iruelas single-vineyard wine, the region's flagship, likely lost to heavy smoke exposure, though their primary vineyard sites in Villanueva, Navatalgordo, and Cadalso de los Vidrios escaped fire.
• Wine producers have proposed regional subsidies for forest clearance and firebreaks to prevent future disasters, framing vineyard maintenance as rural fire prevention infrastructure.

Federal THC drink ban upends state retail markets as rules shift overnight

• Massachusetts retailers selling hemp-derived THC beverages faced a May 2024 state ban on these products in wine and liquor stores, forcing distributors to pull inventory overnight and crushing sales.
• Art Nergaryan, owner of Art's Specialties with four Massachusetts locations, saw revenue jump 25 to 35 percent after stocking THC drinks, then plummet when the ban took effect with no warning.
• Federal law will impose a 0.4 milligram THC per container limit effective November 12, 2026, with enforcement by December 11, 2026, effectively banning most hemp-derived THC beverages nationwide.
• The THC-infused beverage market grew 135 percent to $239 million in 52 weeks prior to April 2026, but federal and state rules now conflict, leaving retailers, distributors, and manufacturers navigating an illegal gray area.
• States regulate hemp drinks inconsistently, Minnesota and Georgia permit them, while California, Washington, and Vermont ban them outside licensed cannabis systems, making compliant nationwide distribution nearly impossible.

English estates launch prestige cuvées to rival Champagne's super-premium tier

• Nyetimber, Chapel Down, Gusbourne, Langham and Squerryes have each released prestige cuvées priced £100 to £395, modelled on Champagne's premium positioning rather than volume sales.
• Nyetimber released England's first prestige cuvée, the 1086 range, in 2018 at £150-£175 after proprietor Eric Heerema acquired the estate in 2006 and head winemaker Cherie Spriggs selected the 2009 vintage.
• Extended lees ageing of seven to eight years is a defining marker across these releases, with producers emphasizing structure and balance over immediate flavour to justify premium pricing.
• Chapel Down's Kit's Coty Coeur de Cuvée (2016 vintage, £126) and Langham's Perpetual Blanc de Blancs (2020 bottling, £109.95) employ single-vineyard and solera-aged techniques respectively to build provenance and complexity.
• Gusbourne's Fifty One Degrees North and Squerryes' Patience 2014 anchor their prestige lines in family history and terroir, with Gusbourne releasing a £395 magnum in 2025 and Squerryes drawing on 17th-century Warde family links to Champagne trade.

American single malt ratification fails to boost sales amid whiskey downturn

• The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau approved a standard of identity for American single malt in December 2024, the first new whiskey category in over 50 years, after a decade of petitioning by the American Single Malt Whiskey Commission.
• The category faces a crowded retail shelf and weak consumer recognition outside connoisseur circles, even as Jack Daniel's and other major bourbon brands released American single malt lines.
• Retailers have created dedicated shelf sections for American single malt in response to the official designation, and consumers are now distinguishing it from peated Scotch and bourbon mash bills.
• Producers are adapting by diversifying into other spirits: Virginia Distillery Company shifted sales to cheaper cask-finished single malts and launched tequila and vodka brands; Whiskey Del Bac added bourbon and rye to offset single malt weakness.

World Cup boost fails to arrest beer industry decline

• Anheuser-Busch InBev spent $110 million on Michelob Ultra World Cup campaign but reported only 0.25% full-year volume lift to analysts.
• US beer category fell 2.1% in dollars and 3.4% in volume for the week ending July 19, outpacing declines from prior benchmarks.
• ABI's US depletions and shipments fell 1.9% and 0.6% respectively in Q2 2026, when half the tournament occurred.
• On-premise draft beer sales rose 7.1% in dollars during the tournament across BeerBoard's bar network, but off-premise retail sales deteriorated.
• Beer industry declined 4.5% year-to-date through mid-2026; spirits rose 4.4% in dollars and 8.4% in volume in the tournament's final week.

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

• Silver Scope Media Ltd, a U.K. digital marketing agency, offered $400,000 for Rogue Ales & Spirits' intellectual property nine months after Oregon Brewing filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
• Rogue's IP includes website domain, proprietary yeast strains, recipes, trademarks, and social media accounts; Oregon Brewing valued the total portfolio at $2 million.
• U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Oregon will accept competing bids through Aug. 21, with minimum increments of $40,000 required to top Silver Scope's offer.
• Valley View Winery, an Oregon producer, filed an objection claiming perpetual license rights to Rogue beer products under a 1997 settlement agreement.
• A hearing on the IP sale and objections is scheduled for Aug. 26; Rogue cited $17 million in debts against $5 million in assets when it collapsed.

Nine US sommeliers name overlooked American wine regions worth exploring

• Nine sommeliers across the US were asked to name one American wine region they believe deserves more attention from drinkers and collectors.
• Hudson Valley, New York produces food-friendly, nuanced wines with eclectic identity unlike Long Island or Finger Lakes, according to Vanessa Price, wine director at Wildflower Farms in Gardiner.
• Northern Michigan, Ballard Canyon in Santa Barbara, Laurelwood District in Willamette Valley, and San Luis Obispo Coast AVA each produce distinctive, age-worthy wines at fair prices, the sommeliers said.
• Seneca Lake in New York's Finger Lakes yields site-specific Rieslings with racy acidity shaped by shale soils, while Applegate Valley in Southern Oregon excels with Rhône varieties like Mourvèdre, they noted.
• Washington State's Yakima Valley and Walla Walla Valley offer savory Syrah and black-fruit Cabernet Sauvignon shaped by the Cascade Mountains and Columbia River, completing the roster of overlooked regions.

Burgenland emerges as Austria's quality wine powerhouse after EU investment

• Burgenland, ceded to Austria in 1920 and isolated by the Iron Curtain until 1995, received over €1 billion in EU Objective 1 investment funding that rebuilt its wine infrastructure and economy.
• Judith Beck's reinvention of Welschriesling as a dry skin-contact wine exemplifies how growers reclaimed forgotten varieties and vineyards to suit contemporary taste rather than Austria's traditional paradigm of bulk reds and easy whites.
• Burgenland's relatively inexpensive vineyards, 26 percent organic acreage, and proximity to Vienna's natural wine bars enabled early adoption of low-intervention winemaking; Gut Oggau became a sensation at the 2014 RAW wine fair in Vienna.
• Producer collectives like Pannobile, founded 30 years ago by Hans Nittnaus around Gols, fostered peer criticism and experimentation that propelled members including Beck, Preisinger, and Heinrich to international recognition.

Sauvignon Blanc thrives across US regions and traditional European homes

• 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 best-of list.
• Virginia Sauvignon Blancs showed exceptional quality in 2026, with Dogwood & Thistle's bottling combining stainless steel and neutral barrel aging for texture and freshness.
• Oregon and Colorado now produce competitive Sauvignon Blancs; CHO Wines in Willamette Valley uses two-pass harvests for layered tropical fruit, while Colorado winemakers Steese and Henderson prove high-quality wine outside legacy regions.
• Loire Valley, Friuli, and Alto Adige continue evolving: Loire shows more texture and depth than flinty past styles, while Friuli's early adoption of stainless steel remains an asset for the variety.
• Sauvignon Blanc's US journey began with Charles Wetmore importing Bordeaux cuttings to Cresta Blanca in the 19th century and Robert Mondavi's oak-aged Fumé Blanc style in Napa Valley.

Sommelier challenges beer drinker with Austrian natural wine pairing

• Daria Volokitina, sommelier at Hotel Plaza Athénée in Paris, paired Liszt's Minimaliszt 2022 Furmint with grilled kebabs to convince her beer-drinking brother that wine suits casual occasions.
• She chose the Austrian natural wine for its citrus and freshness to balance rich grilled meat and bright tomato pasta, prioritizing sensation over traditional food-pairing rules.
• Liszt estate in Burgenland, Austria, hand-harvests Furmint grapes into amphora and uses no added sulphur; Bernhard Liszt converted the family vineyards to organic and Demeter-certified biodynamic farming in 2003.
• Volokitina observed that while natural wine appeals to younger drinkers, most friends without wine knowledge cannot define what natural wine is.
• Wine industry no longer requires formal settings or expertise to enjoy; generational shift toward casual, emotion-driven consumption is underway but requires better consumer education.

Seven volcanic wine regions beyond Etna showcase terroir shaped by ancient eruptions

• Volcanic soils create complex, layered terrain from lava flows and debris; they are naturally hostile to pests and disease, making organic farming easier than in non-volcanic regions.
• Soave in Italy, dormant for 25 million years, produces high-acidity whites from Garganega grapes that express the region's ancient volcanic substratum.
• Santorini, in the Hellenic Volcanic Arc, grows 200-year-old Assyrtiko vines in basket-trained rows that protect against wind and debris; the island's mineral-driven whites are unmatched elsewhere in Greece.
• The Canary Islands' volcanic isolation prevented phylloxera and foreign influence, preserving old-vine varieties like Listán Blanco and Listán Negro; Lanzarote's intense heat requires hand-dug individual vine holes called hoyos.
• Oregon's Willamette Valley volcanic Jory soil produces red-fruit Pinot Noirs in Dundee Hills and Chehalem Mountains, contrasting marine sediment's darker fruit expression in the same region.

Pierce's disease detected in Europe; warming climate threatens 41% of vineyards

• Xylella fastidiosa bacterium, which causes Pierce's disease by blocking water transport in grapevines, was found in continental European grapevines for the first time in Portugal in 2023, then identified in Spain and France.
• A 2025 climate study using high-resolution data found 41.2 percent of European vineyards now face climate risk from Pierce's disease, up from 21.8 percent in earlier models, with river valleys especially vulnerable.
• California growers and researchers are sharing decades of experience with Pierce's disease management, including early detection, vector control, and genomic surveillance, to help European regions prepare before the pathogen becomes endemic.
• European countries lack unified communication and reporting strategies; some have no mandate to report infections or destroy vines, creating risk of concealment and uncontrolled spread unlike California's culture of early disclosure.
• Winemakers in affected regions including Mallorca and Sicily are adopting long-term coexistence strategies focused on vineyard health and early detection rather than fear-driven responses to inevitable vine losses.

Disease-resistant hybrid grapes cut fungicide sprays by 80 percent in European vineyards

• PIWIs, fungus-resistant hybrid varieties bred by crossing non-vinifera American vines with European vinifera, reduce fungicide applications from 8-15 sprays yearly to 2-3 for powdery and downy mildew control.
• German grape breeders developed modern PIWIs in the late 20th century; today's varieties contain up to 95 percent vinifera genetic material through backcrossing, preserving traditional wine quality.
• Rapid genetic testing technology rhAmpSeq, deployed since 2019 under the US VitisGen initiative, identifies disease-resistance genes with precision and enables marker-assisted selection of seedlings in days rather than months.
• Germany leads adoption with 4,000 hectares of PIWI vines in 2025, representing 10 percent growth; Bordeaux University and French researchers are developing ResDur varieties that retain regional character while resisting mildew.
• A 2026 Luxembourg study showed PIWIs delivered twofold economic savings and threefold environmental benefit versus traditional varieties, with gains in soil ecology and reduced water toxicity offsetting higher vine costs.

Highlights: Graham Beck Blanc de Blancs 2020 Robertson, South Africa

• Graham Beck is South Africa's leading traditional method sparkling wine (Cap Classique) producer.
• Graham Beck Blanc de Blancs 2020 is 100% Chardonnay from Robertson, using only cuvée press fraction.
• The wine aged 60 months on lees with 46% fermented in neutral oak and remainder in stainless steel.
• Scored 93/100; features bright citrus, baked bread, grapefruit notes, and a bitter finish with linear acidity.

Wine News: What I’m Reading the Week of 8/30/26

Hello and welcome to my weekly roundup of the wine stories that I find of interest on the web. I

Wine Gets a Category

• Substack launched a dedicated Wine & Spirits category on Monday, splitting it from the larger Food & Drink section to improve discoverability for wine writers and readers.
• The 9th edition of The World Atlas of Wine, first published in 1971, ships October 6th with 18 new maps and coverage of climate change, sustainability, and emerging regions.
• Smith-Madrone Winery in Napa's Spring Mountain District used Hügelkultur to bury fire debris in trenches rather than burn it, sequestering carbon while managing wildfire fuel loads.
• Sommelier Bodhi Landa argues that traditional cocktails require sugar balance; a margarita without it is "bitter acid and alcohol in a staring contest.".

Burgenland Winery Guide, Part 1

• Burgenland is one of Austria's warmest regions and one of few Austrian regions with serious red wine culture, known for progressive viticulture.
• Blaufränkisch, Chardonnay, and Weissburgunder thrive in Leithaberg's predominantly limestone and chalk soils.
• Boris Kovacic relocated to Sankt Margareten in 2021 and rents 12 plots with old vines, making wines without additives; Linsnwuscha 2022 and Gramuri 2022 are standout offerings at €15, €20.
• Georg Prieler produces terroir-focused Blaufränkisch from top sites Marienthal and Goldberg, increasingly aging reds in amphora; entry-level wines start €12, €15, premium bottlings €70+.

The taste of stone

• Jako Andabak purchased an ailing cooperative in Bol, Brač island in 2009, founding Stina (commercially known as Jako Vino) and modernizing the winery with new vineyard plantings.
• Stina produced bold, big wines that debuted at Zagreb Wine Gourmet Weekend in April 2012, establishing it as part of the 'Hrvatski Vrh' movement of new Croatian wineries.
• Andabak's hotel ownership on Brač provided capital backing and direct sales channels for the wine project, distinguishing it from traditional Croatian wineries.
• The 'Hrvatski Vrh' wave of new Croatian wineries emerged during the Global Financial Crisis, with owners seeking EU market entry before Croatia's 2013 European Union ascension.

Michelin And The Death Of The Wine Guide

• Michelin's Wine Selection Burgundy 2026 awarded nine producers three grapes, 20 vignerons two grapes, 33 one grape, and 32 were merely 'selected.'.
• 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, differing from competitor Guide Hachette des Vins which rates specific cuvées.
• Consumer wine guides began in the 1970s with publications like Decanter, Wine Spectator, and Hugh Johnson's Pocket Wine Book, but internet access from the mid-1990s made printed guides obsolete.
• Michelin's guide marks the definitive end of the consumer wine guide era as printed format; future wine advice will likely shift to AI-powered apps and regional online guides.

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 huangjiu with aged Chinese tangerine peel emerged from a Christmas Eve 2024 experience in Shaoxing inspired by citrus beer.
• Coram's products are listed in over 100 restaurants and bistros across Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Chengdu within one year of launch.
• Wang debunks that huangjiu is cooking wine; quality huangjiu ages best between three and eight years, with modern styles fresher and cleaner than older, sweeter varieties.
• Chardomi blends 80% Chardonnay grapes with 20% glutinous rice through separate preparation before co-fermentation, with the same 80-20 ratio used for the Merlot rice rosé.

What I Learned at a Conference on Drinking

From the invention of moderation to the return of temperance