winefeed

Seven restaurant beverage directors reveal wine markup breakdown

• Seven US beverage directors report wine markups range from 60 to 76 percent of menu price, with actual restaurant profit between 24 and 48 percent per bottle after operational costs.
• Markup strategy varies by wine: established regions and lower-cost bottles command higher markups, while exclusive or expensive bottles receive modest increases to maintain price-to-quality ratios.
• Restaurants cite tariffs, labor costs, glassware, insurance, and storage as major factors squeezing margins, forcing tighter pricing as alcohol profit share fell from 60 percent to 30 percent of total hospitality profits.

Early harvests shift wine-region economics and tourism patterns globally

• Domaine Lafage in Roussillon picked grapes July 23, Jean-Marc Lafage said he had never seen this before; California Central Coast growers like Kevin Merrill harvested six to eight weeks early, the earliest in his 27 years.
• Early harvests are narrowing the window when wineries can safely ship wine and collect payment. Aaron Jackson, winemaker at Aaron Wines in San Luis Obispo, says his blackout period for shipping keeps expanding each year due to heat.
• Wine-tourism bookings in fall are shifting later into November as weather improves. Mark Hallett, founder of Grape Escapes tour operator, reports bookings for Champagne in late fall are now significantly higher than in previous years.

Federal THC limit set to crush hemp-beverage retailers in November 2026

• US hemp-beverage retail sales rose 135 percent to $239 million in the year to April 2026, but federal law passed in November 2025 sets a 0.4mg THC limit per container, effective November 12, 2026, which effectively bans the category.
• Massachusetts retailer Art Nergaryan saw sales jump 25 to 35 percent after stocking THC drinks, but state regulators banned cannabis beverages from wine and liquor stores in May 2024, forcing distributors to remove inventory.
• The market operates in regulatory chaos: states set conflicting rules, the FDA deems interstate THC beverages unlawful, and a 2018 federal hemp law did not directly legalize food and beverage products, leaving manufacturers and retailers in legal gray area.

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

• Oregon Brewing, Rogue's parent company, valued the IP at $2 million when filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy nine months ago after citing $17 million in debts against $5 million in assets.
• Valley View Winery, Oregon-based, filed an objection claiming a perpetual license to Rogue's wine and wine-based beverage rights under a 1997 settlement agreement.

American single malt ratification fails to boost sales as distillers struggle

• The TTB approved a standard of identity for American single malt in December 2024, ending a decade-long push by distillers, but hoped-for sales increases have not materialized amid broader whiskey market weakness.
• Major producers have suffered: Westland Distillery laid off staff after losing $1 million to theft; Diageo wound down Distill Ventures, forcing Westward Whiskey into bankruptcy; Balcones stopped production in August 2025 and cut 17 jobs.
• Distillers are adapting by diversifying into other spirits, launching lower-priced variants, and creating gateway products like bourbon-single malt blends to build the category incrementally rather than relying on the ratification alone.

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

• Anheuser-Busch InBev spent $110 million on a global Michelob Ultra World Cup campaign but projected only 0.25% full-year volume lift, while US beer category fell 2.1% in dollars and 3.4% in volume in the tournament's final week.
• On-premise draft beer sales rose 7.1% in dollars and 6.5% in volume during the tournament across BeerBoard's bar network, but tapered by the final week and failed to offset broader off-premise declines.
• Spirits outpaced beer during the final tournament week, up 4.4% in dollars and 8.4% in volume, with Cutwater ready-to-drink cocktails surging around 60% in both metrics.

New York sommeliers share unexpected high-low wine pairings

• Seventeen New York City sommeliers were asked to suggest high-low pairings, matching inexpensive everyday foods with premium wines to reveal new flavors.
• Most chose expensive bottles: old Bordeaux, white Burgundy, and Champagne paired with casual items like french fries, Ritz crackers, dino nuggets, and canned sardines.

VinePair names thirty best Sauvignon Blancs across regions and price points

• VinePair's tasting staff scored Sauvignon Blancs on a 100-point scale across aromas, flavors, structure, and typicity, then compiled an editorial list weighing quality, price, and availability.
• Virginia emerged as a standout region this year, with producers including Dogwood & Thistle and Emily Hodson crafting expressive, balanced Sauvignon Blancs that punch above their price.
• The selection spans traditional homes like Loire Valley and Friuli, newer US terroirs including Oregon and Colorado, and emerging regions like Slovenia's Goriška Brda.

AriZona Iced Tea launches artist residency program at New York headquarters

• AriZona Iced Tea, founded in 1992, launched a six-week artist residency program at its Woodbury, New York headquarters, hosting up to four artists per session since July 2025.
• Residents receive stipends, living space, materials, and access to The Lookout studio and shop; work is exhibited and may join AriZona's permanent collection.
• The program extends AriZona's 33-year commitment to distinctive in-house design, following the 2024 opening of AriZonaLand visitor center in New Jersey.

Wildfires destroy 200 hectares in Sierra de Gredos vineyard region

• Fires between July 22 and 26 destroyed 77,000 hectares across Ávila and Madrid provinces; approximately 200 hectares of vineyards in Cebreros DO suffered fire, smoke, or both damage.
• Bodegas Bernabeleva lost winery buildings and equipment; Bodega El Reventón's San Gregorio parcel burned but owners expect to recover 80 to 90 percent of vines.
• Comando G's Las Iruelas slate parcel in Cebreros suffered heavy smoke exposure, likely destroying the vintage; producers including Daniel Landi and Juanan Martín drafted proposals to regional authorities for firebreaks and land clearance subsidies.

Seven volcanic wine regions beyond Mount Etna gain attention for distinctive terroir

• Volcanic soils create complex, layered terrain that produces high-acidity, mineral-driven wines with savory rather than fruity character.
• Seven regions, Soave in Italy, Santorini in Greece, the Canary Islands, Tokaji in Hungary, Willamette Valley in Oregon, Auvergne in France, and Lake County in California, share volcanic heritage shaping their signature styles.
• Volcanic soils suppress pests and disease, enabling organic farming and preservation of old indigenous grape varieties across these regions.

Pierce's Disease detected in Europe; 41% of vineyards now at climate risk

• Xylella fastidiosa bacterium, which causes Pierce's disease in grapevines, was detected in continental European vineyards for the first time in Portugal in 2023; cases now persist in Spain, Italy, Portugal, and France.
• A 2025 study using high-resolution climate data found 41.2 percent of European vineyards at climate risk of Pierce's disease, up from 21.8 percent in previous models, with river valleys and basins identified as hotspots.
• California winegrowers, who lost over $48 million annually to Pierce's disease in the 1990s-2000s, are sharing surveillance and vector management strategies with Europe, though European countries still lack unified communication and reporting protocols.

Disease-resistant hybrid grapes cut fungicide spraying by 80 percent in Europe

• PIWIs, fungus-resistant hybrids bred from non-Vitis vinifera and European vinifera genes, reduce fungicide applications from eight to 15 sprays per season to two to three at Famille Ducourt in Bordeaux.
• Rapid genetic testing technology rhAmpSeq, pioneered under the US VitisGen initiative in 2019, accelerated breeding by allowing scientists to identify and stack multiple resistance genes with precision instead of screening broad regions.

Canada’s Okanagan and Similkameen Valleys (14) Nostalgia

• Gina Fernandes Harfman owns and makes wine at Nostalgia Wines on Black Sage Bench in Canada's Okanagan Valley, focusing on design-led labels influenced by her airbrush work on hot rods.
• Nostalgia lost 35% of production in December 2022 and 30% in 2024 due to freezes; she bought 5,000 litres of Washington State juice to compensate for the 2024 shortfall.
• 85% of Nostalgia's sales are direct-to-consumer; the winery produces blends including a pin-up series and draws on classic car culture for marketing.

Vinography Unboxed: Week of 8/30/26

Hello and welcome to my (usually) weekly dig through the pile of wine samples that show up on my doorstep

Remembering Branko Čotar

• Branko Čotar, pioneering natural winemaker from Slovenia's Karst region, died aged 78 on 27 August following short illness.
• Čotar began with 500 vines for his restaurant in 1974, started bottling professionally in 1990, and built winery producing around 30,000 bottles yearly.
• He practiced skin-fermented white wines and organic, no-added-sulphur winemaking from the 1980s, predating Radikon and Gravner's public embrace of natural orange wines by two decades.

M is for Method

• Traditional method sparkling wines undergo second fermentation in bottle with sugar and yeast, then disgorgement and dosage, creating nutty complexity.
• Ancestral method sparkling wines ferment incompletely in bottle without disgorgement, remaining fully dry and cloudy with retained lees.
• Tank method (Charmat/Martinotti) uses pressurized tanks for second fermentation, producing clean, direct sparkling wines with minimal lees contact.

The taste of stone

• Jako Andabak purchased an ailing cooperative in Bol, Brač in 2009 and founded Stina (commercially known as Jako Vino), modernizing the winery and planting new vineyards.
• Andabak, a hotel owner on Brač, brought capital and an established sales channel through his hotels to support the wine project's growth.
• Stina emerged as part of a wave of 'Hrvatski Vrh' premium Croatian wineries established in the early 2010s, distinguished by international-minded owners with substantial financial backing.

Michelin And The Death Of The Wine Guide

• Michelin's Wine Selection Burgundy 2026 awarded nine producers three grapes, 20 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, differing from competitor Guide Hachette des Vins which rates individual cuvées.
• Consumer wine guides, beginning with Cyrus Redding's 1833 publication and expanding from the 1970s onward, have become obsolete due to internet availability and wine market expansion.

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, and innovates huangjiu (yellow wine) in Shaoxing.
• Coram's products are already stocked in over 100 restaurants and bistros across Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Chengdu since launching last June.
• Co-founder Alex Yuanzhu Wang emphasizes huangjiu's complexity and proper aging window (three to eight years optimal), countering misconceptions that it is merely cooking wine or always improves with age.

What I Learned at a Conference on Drinking

From the invention of moderation to the return of temperance