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Seven sommeliers reveal wine markups span 60 to 76 percent of restaurant bill

• Seven US beverage directors shared how they calculate wine markups, ranging from 60 to 76 percent of the final menu price across Denver, Alabama, Charleston, Boston, and Phoenix venues.
• Kinga Mackowiak at Apple Blossom in Denver prices wines with 60 to 70 percent markup but keeps only 38 to 48 percent as profit after glassware, labor, and credit card fees.
• William Jones at Deep Roots Restaurant Group in Alabama targets 58 percent prime cost including labor and insurance, yielding 42 percent revenue per bottle, but tariffs and wage rises now threaten those goals.
• Beverage directors price strategically by wine type, demand, and inventory age rather than applying a single multiplier; established regions support higher markups while cheaper bottles carry larger percentage increases.
• Alcohol sales, once 60 percent of restaurant profits, now hover near 30 percent as fewer consumers dine out, forcing operators to defend markups by emphasizing selection, storage, service, and proper glassware.

Early harvests shift wine tourism and logistics across global regions

• Wine tourism is shifting: Aaron Jackson, winemaker at Aaron Wines in Paso Robles, California, reports July visitation drops sharply as heat deters tasting-room visits, and hot weather discourages buyers from transporting wine home.
• Operating costs are rising across production: refrigeration and electricity peak during August instead of October when temperatures are higher; insurance and water fees are climbing; label application fails in excessive heat, requiring costly rework.
• Tourism upside offsets some losses: earlier fall weather in regions like Champagne and Burgundy is extending wine tourism into November, and harvest season now overlaps peak summer travel, potentially boosting visitor numbers to wine regions.

Spain's devastating wildfires ravage Sierra de Gredos wine revival

• Record Spanish wildfires burned 77,000 hectares across Ávila and Madrid provinces between July 22-26, destroying approximately 200 hectares of vineyards in Cebreros DO, roughly 40 percent of the region's registered vineyard area.
• Bodegas Bernabeleva in San Martín de Valdeiglesias lost its office, winery facade, windows, and equipment; Bodega El Reventón's San Gregorio vineyard was severely damaged, though owners expect to recover 80-90 percent of vines.
• Comando G's Las Iruelas single-vineyard bottling in Cebreros suffered heavy smoke exposure and will likely not be produced this vintage, though the founders' main vineyard sites in other locations were spared.
• Daniel Landi and Fernando García of Comando G have co-drafted proposals to regional authorities requesting forest clearance subsidies, firebreak creation, and support for vineyard planting and dry-stone wall restoration.
• Local producers argue fire prevention must integrate rural development, livestock farming, and agricultural management; vineyards act as a mosaic element that maintains active land use and reduces fuel accumulation in the countryside.

Federal THC limit sets November deadline for hemp beverage retailers nationwide

• Congress included a provision in November 2025 shutdown legislation capping THC at 0.4 milligrams per container, effective November 12, 2026, with enforcement by December 11, 2026.
• The cap effectively bans most hemp-derived THC-infused beverages, though the market grew 135 percent in the year to April 2026, reaching $239 million in US retail sales.
• Massachusetts banned THC drinks from wine and liquor stores in May 2024, forcing retailers like Art Nergaryan of Art's Specialties to halt sales after his revenue jumped 25 to 35 percent.
• State regulation remains inconsistent: Minnesota and Georgia permit hemp beverages, while California, Washington, and Vermont restrict or ban them outside licensed cannabis systems.
• Diana Eberlein, chair of the Coalition for Adult Beverage Alternatives, said the industry needs clear federal guidance; currently brands operate in a legal gray area despite FDA stating interstate THC-beverage sales remain unlawful.

American single malt ratification fails to lift sales as category struggles

• The US Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau ratified American single malt as an official whiskey category in December 2024 after a decade of industry petitioning, but anticipated sales gains have not materialized.
• Westland Distillery in Seattle lost $1 million to theft in 2025 and laid off staff; Diageo shut Balcones in Waco, Texas, laying off 17 workers in August 2025; Westward Whiskey in Portland filed for bankruptcy when its parent Distill Ventures wound down.
• The official standard has helped retailers create dedicated shelf sections and improved export tracking, but most consumers outside whiskey connoisseur circles remain unaware the category exists.
• Distillers report bourbon's dominance and retail shelf oversaturation make growth difficult; Virginia Distillery Company's single malt sales fell from two-thirds to one-third of revenue in two years as consumers gravitated to cheaper cask-finished versions.
• Producers are adapting by diversifying into other spirits, blending single malt with bourbon as a gateway product, and expanding rye and bourbon lines to survive current market conditions.

World Cup sponsorship fails to lift declining US beer sales

• Anheuser-Busch InBev invested $110 million in World Cup campaigns globally, projecting only 0.25 percent US volume lift for full year 2026.
• Off-premise beer sales fell 2.1 percent in dollars and 3.4 percent in volume for the tournament's final week versus year-ago, worse than prior benchmarks.
• On-premise draft sales rose 7.1 percent in dollars and 6.46 percent in volume during tournament, but volume declined in the final week as US men's team exited.
• US beer category declined 3.5 million barrels in first half of 2026 versus 2025, outpacing prior-year declines of nearly five percent.
• Spirits products outperformed beer during tournament, with category up 4.4 and 8.4 percent in dollars and volume in final week, led by ready-to-drink brands like Cutwater.

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 Dead Guy IPA trademark, proprietary yeast strains, recipes, manufacturing specs, website domain, and social media accounts; Oregon Brewing valued the package at $2 million.
• U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Oregon is accepting competing bids through Aug. 21, with a minimum raise of $40,000 required to top Silver Scope's offer.
• Valley View Winery, an Oregon producer, 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 Aug. 26 will determine whether the IP sale proceeds, nine months after Oregon Brewing liquidated physical brewery assets including tanks and equipment.

Nine US sommeliers name overlooked American wine regions worth exploring

• Nine sommeliers across the country identified underappreciated American wine regions they are actively recommending, including Hudson Valley, Northern Michigan, Ballard Canyon, and Seneca Lake.
• Hudson Valley, New York produces food-friendly wines with freshness and restraint, distinguished by experimentation with Cabernet Franc, Chardonnay, and French-American hybrids rather than mimicking other regions.
• Northern Michigan's Riesling and Alsatian varieties, plus Pinot Noir and Gamay from producers like Left Foot Charley, are gaining attention alongside the region's growing restaurant scene.
• Ballard Canyon in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Coast produce Rhône-style Syrah and Pinot Noir with site-driven character and value pricing, drawing sommelier interest across multiple cities.
• Seneca Lake in New York and Applegate Valley in Southern Oregon offer distinctive Riesling and Rhône varieties respectively, driven by winemakers exploring terroir-specific potential in each region.

Seven volcanic wine regions beyond Etna merit exploration for distinctive terroir

• Volcanic soils worldwide create distinctive high-acidity, mineral-driven wines with savory rather than fruity profiles, drawing wine interest beyond Mount Etna.
• Santorini in Greece, located in the Hellenic Volcanic Arc, produces Assyrtiko whites with depth and concentration unmatched elsewhere, grown on vines over 200 years old.
• Canary Islands winemakers revived native grapes Listán Blanco and Listán Negro from the 1980s onward, preserving old varieties phylloxera never reached.
• Willamette Valley's volcanic Jory soils in Dundee Hills and Eola-Amity Hills yield red-fruit Pinot Noirs distinct from the darker expressions of marine-sediment vineyards.
• Auvergne in central France and Lake County in California round out volcanic regions where Gamay d'Auvergne and Cabernet Sauvignon express distinctive mineral and tannin character.

VinePair names 30 best Sauvignon Blancs; Virginia and Colorado emerge

• VinePair's tasting panel sampled thousands of bottles to compile a curated list of top Sauvignon Blancs for 2026, evaluating aromas, flavors, structure, balance, and regional typicity.
• Virginia Sauvignon Blancs showed exceptional quality in 2026, with Dogwood & Thistle's bottling from owners Sandy and Erin Robertson earning particular praise for value and texture.
• Unexpected regions gained recognition: CHO Wines in Oregon's Willamette Valley produced a complex two-harvest expression; Colorado winemakers Steve Steese and Jayme Henderson proved the state viable for quality production.
• Loire Valley producers including Vignobles Berthier in Coteaux du Giennois continue evolving the style toward more texture and depth, moving beyond traditional flinty, angular profiles.
• Friuli and Alto Adige remain benchmark regions; Erste + Neue co-op and other Italian producers showcase how early adoption of stainless steel fermentation suits the variety's aromatic potential.

Sommelier pairs Austrian Furmint with casual dining to challenge wine formality

• Daria Volokitina, sommelier at Hotel Plaza Athénée in Paris, chose Austrian Furmint for a barbecue to test whether wine could pair with casual grilled meat instead of fine dining.
• She abandoned traditional pairing doctrine and selected the 2022 Liszt Minimaliszt based on sensations: a chilled, fresh wine to balance rich kebabs and bright tomato pasta.
• The Furmint, from Burgenland organic and biodynamic producer Weingut Liszt, is a natural wine style increasingly associated with younger drinkers seeking accessibility over formality.
• Wine consumption is shifting away from exclusivity toward everyday occasions, though Volokitina notes many peers still do not understand natural wine or feel welcomed into wine culture.
• The 28-year-old switched from civil engineering to hospitality by pursuing her passion, reflecting broader generational interest in wine beyond traditional gatekeeping.

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

• Pierce's disease, caused by the bacterium Xylella fastidiosa, has infected grapevines in Portugal, Spain, Italy, and France; it killed large vineyard blocks in California starting in the 1990s, costing growers over $48 million annually.
• A 2025 high-resolution climate study found 41.2 percent of European vineyards now face climate risk of Pierce's disease, up from 21.8 percent in earlier models, driven by warming winters and vulnerable vineyard microclimates near river basins.
• The bacterium thrives in warm temperatures; historically cold European winters suppressed it, but warming is erasing that natural barrier in topographically complex areas that may become disease hotspots.
• European growers and agronomists fear vine destruction mandates; unlike California's voluntary reporting system, EU regulations lack coordination between regions, risking concealment of infections and delayed detection.

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

• PIWIs, fungus-resistant hybrid grapes bred from American and European vines, require two to three fungicide sprays per season versus eight to 15 for traditional varieties like Cabernet Franc.
• Genetic testing technology rhAmpSeq, deployed globally since 2019, identifies disease-resistance genes with precision, allowing breeders to stack multiple layers of protection into single varieties.
• Germany leads adoption with 4,000 hectares of PIWI vines in 2025, up ten percent year-on-year, while France develops ResDur varieties designed to retain regional signatures in Bordeaux and elsewhere.
• A 2026 Luxembourg study showed PIWIs delivered twofold economic savings and up to threefold environmental benefit versus traditional varieties, mainly through reduced spraying costs and lower soil and water toxicity.
• Direct-to-consumer sales dominate PIWI markets at 71 percent in Germany; retail expansion depends on major supermarkets stocking them and growers translating vineyard savings into competitive pricing.

Remembering Branko Čotar

• Branko Čotar, pioneering natural winemaker from Slovenia's Karst region, died aged 78 on 27 August following a short illness.
• Čotar began with 500 vines for his restaurant in 1974, started bottling professionally in 1990, and built the winery to produce around 30,000 bottles annually.
• He skin-fermented white grapes organically with no added sulphites or additives decades before Radikon and Gravner went public with the concept in the late 1990s.
• Čotar joined Luca Gargano's Triple A portfolio in 2003 and signed with US importer Louis Dressner that same year.

Highlights: Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from Oregon winery Ponzi

• Ponzi, Oregon's third winery founded in 1970, has been owned by Champagne house Bollinger since 2021.
• Ponzi Vineyards Laurelwood District Chardonnay 2021 scores 94/100: rich, complex wine with white pepper, pear, peach, and herbal notes at 13.1% alcohol.
• Ponzi Vineyards Laurelwood District Pinot Noir 2022 scores 93/100: elegant, juicy wine with sweet cherry, raspberry, and subtle spicy oak at 13.8% alcohol.

M is for Method

• Traditional method sparkling wines undergo second fermentation in bottle with sugar and yeast, then are disgorged and dosed; they develop nutty, complex flavors from bottle conditioning.
• Ancestral method sparkling wines ferment in bottle without disgorgement, remain fully dry and lightly cloudy with retained lees, predating traditional method winemaking.
• Tank method (Charmat/Martinotti) uses pressurized tanks for second fermentation, producing clean, direct sparkling wines with minimal lees contact.
• Skin-contact wines macerate white grapes with skins during fermentation, producing gold to deep orange color and increased tannin; the tradition originated in the Caucasus.
• Botrytis cinerea fungus concentrates grape sugars by shriveling berries, creating honeyed and lightly savory white wines called noble rot or pourriture noble.

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

The taste of stone

• Jako Andabak purchased an ailing cooperative in Bol, Brač island in 2009, founding Stina winery and modernizing operations with new vineyards.
• Stina's inaugural wines, presented at Zagreb Wine Gourmet Weekend in April 2012, were characterized as big and bold.
• Andabak, a hotel owner on Brač, brought capital and an existing market through his hotels to support the winery project.
• Croatia's 2013 EU ascension prompted wealthy entrepreneurs to establish high-end wineries along the Dalmatian coast before Brussels agricultural regulations took effect.

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, not individual wines, unlike competitor Guide Hachette des Vins which rates cuvées one to five.
• Michelin owns Wine Advocate entirely since 2019 after purchasing 40% in 2017, raising suspicion it influenced Burgundy selections through Parker's publication.
• Consumer wine guides emerged in the 1970s with Decanter, Wine Spectator, Hugh Johnson's Pocket Wine Book, and Parker's Wine Advocate; print guides largely obsolete since internet expansion.

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 inspiration after a long brewing day in Shaoxing.
• Chardomi (80% Chardonnay, 20% glutinous rice) and Merlot-rice rosé require rice saccharification before co-fermenting with pressed grape juice.
• Since launching last June, Coram Collective products are already in over 100 restaurants and bistros across Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, and Chengdu.
• Huangjiu typically shows its best between three and eight years of aging; modern styles are fresher and cleaner than older, sweeter oxidized versions.

What I Learned at a Conference on Drinking

From the invention of moderation to the return of temperance