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California and Pacific Northwest grape growers idle vineyards to survive market slowdown

• A 2025 study of 19 northern Willamette Valley vineyards found idling reduced management costs by an average of 38 percent per acre, with some sites halving expenses.
• Viticulturists in California, Washington, and Texas are idling plantings for one to three years rather than removing vines, preserving assets while grape sales remain weak.
• Idled vines require careful maintenance including severe pruning, minimal irrigation, selective spraying, and nitrogen management to survive dormancy and resume production.

Federal cap on THC beverages takes effect November 2026, upending state markets

• THC-infused beverage sales rose 135 percent to $239 million in the 52 weeks prior to April 2026, but a November 2026 federal limit of 0.4 milligrams per container will effectively ban hemp drinks nationwide.
• Massachusetts retailers like Art Nergaryan saw sales jump 25 to 35 percent after introducing THC drinks, then collapse overnight when state regulators banned their sale in wine and liquor stores in May 2024.
• States have adopted conflicting rules since the 2018 Farm Bill legalized hemp, with Minnesota, Georgia, and Tennessee permitting sales while California, Washington, and Vermont restrict or ban them, creating a patchwork retailers cannot navigate.

Trump bans Canadian alcohol imports effective September 29

• President Trump announced a ban on Canadian imports of wine, spirits, and beer effective September 29, escalating a tariff dispute that began in April 2024.
• The ban follows Canada's retaliatory tariffs on $20 billion of US goods, which took effect Tuesday after failed trade negotiations in August.
• Canada's previous alcohol import restrictions in 2024 cost US wine, beer, and spirits producers significant export revenue in 2025.

American Single Malt Standard Fails to Boost Sales as Market Struggles

• The TTB ratified American single malt as an official whiskey category in December 2024, but hoped-for sales surges have not materialized as the broader whiskey market weakens.
• Major producers including Westland Distillery, Westward Whiskey, and Balcones Distillery have laid off staff or ceased production entirely despite the category's new official status.
• Distillers are adapting by launching lower-priced variants, blended products, and non-whiskey spirits to drive revenue, while retailers have created dedicated shelf sections that help visibility but have not yet driven major demand shifts.

VinePair names 30 best Sauvignon Blancs for 2026 across global regions

• VinePair's tasting panel evaluated thousands of Sauvignon Blancs submitted free by producers, scoring each on a 100-point scale for aromas, flavors, texture, balance, and regional typicity.
• Virginia emerged as a standout region in 2026, with Dogwood & Thistle and other producers delivering quality that exceeds price point, marking a shift in US Sauvignon Blanc geography.
• Loire Valley bottles now show more texture and depth than historically flinty styles, while Friuli's early adoption of stainless steel continues to define its Sauvignon character.

AriZona Iced Tea launches artist residency at Woodbury headquarters

• AriZona Iced Tea opened a six-week artist residency program at its Woodbury, N.Y. headquarters in July 2025, hosting up to four artists per session with stipends, housing, materials, and studio access.
• Three cohorts have completed the program as of August 2025, with participants creating work inspired by the brand's Southwest aesthetic and collaborative on-site with company creatives.
• Artists including Anna Fleury and Eleanor Dexter have produced stained glass, paintings, and silkscreen pieces that AriZona exhibits and adds to its permanent collection, extending the founder's vision of art-driven brand identity.

Early harvests reshape winemaking challenges beyond the cellar

• Domaine Lafage in Roussillon began harvest on July 23, and California Central Coast growers picked 6-8 weeks early, the earliest Kevin Merrill has seen in 27 years.
• Early harvests force wineries to refrigerate during peak electricity prices and compress supply chains; label adhesion and glass-bottle production also suffer in sustained heat.
• Wine tourism and direct-to-consumer shipping windows shrink in summer heat, forcing payment delays; some European regions see fall bookings extend into November as cooler weather returns later.

Devastating Spanish wildfires damage 200 hectares in emerging Gredos wine region

• Between July 22 and 26, wildfires destroyed 77,000 hectares across Ávila and Madrid provinces, affecting approximately 40 percent of Cebreros DO's 500 registered hectares of vineyard.
• Producers including Juanan Martín of Rico Nuevo and Comando G's Daniel Landi and Fernando García have proposed firebreak subsidies and forest clearance to regional authorities, arguing vineyard-based land management prevents future fires.

Seven volcanic regions worldwide rival Mount Etna for complex terroir

• Volcanic soils from ancient eruptions shape wine in Soave, Italy; Santorini, Greece; the Canary Islands; Hungary's Tokaji region; Oregon's Willamette Valley; Auvergne, France; and California's Lake County.
• Volcanic terrain creates high-acidity, mineral-driven wines with savory flavors; soils resist pests and disease, enabling organic farming and preservation of old vine varieties.
• Challenging growing conditions, rugged terrain, intense heat, winds, require adapted viticulture: Santorini trains vines low in basket shapes; Lanzarote hand-digs individual holes called hoyos protected by rock walls.

Pierce's disease found 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 2023 when one infected vine was found in Portugal; cases persist in Spain, Italy, Portugal, and France.
• California growers and researchers are sharing management strategies with Europe, including early detection, vector control, and genomic surveillance; once established, the focus shifts from eradication to slowing spread rather than complete vine removal.

A big tasting of Tenerife wines, with some nice surprises

• Tenerife's volcanic terroir characteristics, mineral, saline, and stony profiles, appear consistently across top-scoring wines across multiple regions and producers.
• Many Tenerife producers use ungrafted vines, a common practice on the island, as noted in Vinatiago's entry.

Raising Standards

• Montpeyroux became France's 369th AOC last week with stricter red grape controls and 45 hectolitres per hectare maximum yields.
• Muscadet rebuilt its reputation through site-specific crus (created from 2011), better winemaking, and vineyard attrition that reduced producers from 700 to under 300.
• Soave created 33 crus (UGAs) in 2020 but many producers remain confused about designations; declassified only 1,300 of 7,000 hectares of over-cropped land.

Wine News: What I’m Reading the Week of 9/6/26

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

Of Substack & wine

• Substack created a dedicated Wine & Spirits subsection within its Rising and Top lists, separating wine from the broader Food & Drink category to improve discovery.
• Miquel Hudin's updated Wine Substack List now requires paid subscriptions, human-written text only, and regular publishing; he removed 'Thirst Behavior' by Bodhi Landa after detecting AI-generated content.
• Seven of the top 10 earning wine Substacks have direct specialties; natural wine and wine marketing publications dominate top earners, while generalist wine coverage performs poorly.

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 his winery to produce around 30,000 bottles annually.
• He skin-fermented whites organically with no added sulphites decades before Radikon and Gravner popularized orange wines in the late 1990s.

M is for Method

• Traditional method sparkling wines undergo bottle conditioning with sugar and yeast for second fermentation, then disgorging and dosage, creating nutty and complex profiles.
• Ancestral method sparkling wines ferment in bottle without disgorging, remaining fully dry and cloudy with retained lees, predating traditional method techniques.
• Skin-contact white wines macerate with skins during fermentation, developing color and tannin; the tradition originated in the Caucasus and has resurged in recent decades.

What I Learned at a Conference on Drinking

From the invention of moderation to the return of temperance