winefeed

Costco stocks boutique wines as producers struggle to sell

• Costco, the largest US wine retailer, recently stocked boutique producer wines alongside its Kirkland Signature label, capitalizing on widespread industry surplus.
• Costco maintains only 100-120 wines in rotating inventory at any time, relying on limited selection and frequent turnover to drive traffic and sales.
• Kirkland Signature wines, produced in small lots by contracted winemakers since 2003, mirror the British supermarket house-brand model rather than the American brand-driven system.

Grape growers idle vineyards to cut costs as market demand slackens

• A 2025 study of 19 northern Willamette Valley vineyards found idling cut management costs by an average of 38 percent per acre, with some halving expenses entirely.
• Vineyard idling, a temporary suspension of production lasting one to three years, lets producers preserve assets and avoid bulldozing when grape demand collapses, unlike permanent removal.
• Proper idling requires sustained irrigation, aggressive pruning, weed control, and selective spraying to prevent vine damage; inadequate care can take years to reverse.

Seven sommeliers reveal restaurant wine markups range from 60 to 76 percent

• Beverage directors from Denver, Alabama, Charleston, Boston, and Phoenix reported that markup as a percentage of final menu price ranges from 60 to 76 percent, with actual restaurant profit per bottle between 38 and 42 percent after operational costs.
• Kinga Mackowiak at Apple Blossom in Denver and Nayda Freire at Renzo in Charleston adjust markups by wine type: established regions and cheaper bottles support higher markups, while expensive bottles receive smaller percentage increases.

Early harvests shift wine tourism and strain supply chains across regions

• Domaine Lafage in Roussillon began harvest on July 23, weeks or months earlier than tradition; California's Central Coast started six to eight weeks early, the earliest in 27 years for some growers.
• Aaron Jackson, winemaker at Aaron Wines in Paso Robles, reports July visitation at his tasting room drops sharply as heat rises, while DTC wine-club shipments now face extended blackout periods due to temperature damage risks.
• Early August harvests now demand peak refrigeration during the hottest, most expensive electricity period instead of cool October, raising winery costs; glass-bottle production furnaces have occasionally shut during heat waves, straining packaging supply.

Devastating Spanish wildfires damage 200 hectares in Sierra de Gredos wine region

• Fires between July 22 and 26 destroyed 77,000 hectares across Ávila and Madrid provinces; approximately 200 hectares of vineyard in Cebreros DO, roughly 40 percent of registered area, were damaged by fire or smoke.
• Bodegas Bernabeleva lost vineyard land, office, facade, tanks, and equipment; Bodega El Reventón's San Gregorio parcel burned but owners estimate 80 to 90 percent vine recovery; Comando G's Las Iruelas slate parcel suffered heavy smoke exposure.
• Producers including Daniel Landi of Comando G and Juanan Martín of Rico Nuevo have submitted proposals to regional authorities requesting firebreak subsidies, vineyard replanting support, and restoration funding to prevent future disasters.

US rosé sales lag red and white despite diverse price and style options

• US rosé sales reached $1,099 million in the 52 weeks to July 2026, trailing red wine at $8,197 million and white wine at $7,302 million, according to NIQ data.
• Rosé bottles average $7.42 per equivalent unit versus $10.66 for red and $8.58 for white, reflecting both lower volume and lower price point.
• Consumer perception ties rosé color to quality and flavor, though color varies for reasons unrelated to taste, potentially limiting sales of deeper-hued or paler styles.

Southern Glazer's pays $12.5 million to settle DOJ bribery investigation

• Southern Glazer's, the largest spirits distributor in the US, reached a non-prosecution agreement with the DOJ and Alcohol and Tobacco Trade Bureau on Thursday, paying $12.5 million to resolve a bribery investigation.
• Between 2016 and 2024, former employees allegedly provided cash, gift cards, luxury goods, and travel to California retailers in exchange for better shelf placement of Southern Glazer's products, concealed through false invoices.
• The company agreed to strengthen compliance and internal controls over two years, including additional staff and proactive auditing, as conditions of the settlement.

US tariff lift and India trade deal reshape Scotch whisky market in 2026

• US lifted a 15-month tariff on Scotch in July 2026 after it had cut exports to the country by 15 percent, one of Scotland's largest markets.
• UK-India free trade agreement signed the same month could open the world's largest whisky market to more affordable Scotch for the first time.
• Post-pandemic oversupply and tourist decline at distilleries like Clynelish persist, though premiumization fatigue is shifting focus to sub-$100, age-stated releases over luxury bottles.

Trump announces ban on Canadian alcohol imports effective September 29

• President Donald Trump announced a ban on Canadian wine, spirits, and beer imports taking effect September 29, escalating a tariff dispute that began in April 2024.
• The ban follows Canada's retaliatory 50 percent tariffs on US goods that took effect August 22 after negotiations failed, and Canada's earlier retail ban on US alcohol.
• US wine, beer, and spirits exports to Canada suffered significant revenue losses in 2025 after Canada stripped American alcohol from retail and bar shelves nationwide.

American single malt ratification fails to boost sales amid whiskey downturn

• The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau approved American single malt as an official whiskey category in December 2024, but the ratification has not translated into higher sales or market growth for producers.
• Major distillers including Westland Distillery in Seattle, Balcones Distillery in Texas, and Westward Whiskey in Portland have laid off staff or ceased production as broader whiskey demand softens.
• Producers are adapting by diversifying into other spirits, launching lower-priced variants, and creating gateway products like bourbon-single malt blends to drive category awareness among consumers unfamiliar with the style.

Campania's volcanic whites gain ground as drinkers seek lighter, mineral wines

• Campania's white varieties, Fiano, Greco, Falanghina, and Coda di Volpe, are gaining attention as wine drinkers gravitate toward lighter, lower-alcohol styles, mostly unoaked and aged in stainless steel.
• Mount Vesuvius's volcanic soils and the region's hilly terrain create high-acidity, mineral-forward wines with fresh and floral character that pair with seafood, vegetables, and lighter foods.
• Campania's whites, grown in denominations including Fiano di Avellino, Greco di Tufo, and Sannio, offer complexity and value comparable to Etna Biancos from Sicily.

New York sommeliers share unexpected high-low wine pairings

• Seventeen New York City sommeliers were asked to name high-low pairings, matching inexpensive casual foods with premium wines to reveal hidden complexities or create surprising flavor combinations.
• Most elevated wines chosen were Champagne, Burgundy, and old Bordeaux paired with everyday items: French fries, dino nuggets, Spam musubi, rotisserie chicken, sardines, and halal lamb over rice.

AriZona Iced Tea launches artist residency at New York headquarters

• AriZona Iced Tea opened an artist residency program at its Woodbury, New York headquarters in July 2025, hosting groups of up to four artists for six-week sessions with stipends, housing, studio space, and materials.
• Three cohorts have completed the program as of August 2025, with participants including Eleanor Dexter and Lucas Carlo Monasterio, who developed paintings, silkscreen work, and mixed-media sculptures inspired by the company's Southwest aesthetic.
• Artists' work is exhibited and added to AriZona's permanent collection, with recent pieces including Anna Fleury's stained-glass window featuring a cactus and cow skull, continuing the founders' decades-long commitment to design-led branding.

Seven volcanic wine regions beyond Mount Etna showcase complex terroir

• Volcanic soils from past and active eruptions create layered, mineral-rich terroir that produces high-acidity, saline wines with savory rather than fruit-forward flavors.
• Regions including Soave in Italy, Santorini in Greece, the Canary Islands, Tokaji in Hungary, Willamette Valley in Oregon, Auvergne in France, and Lake County in California all benefit from volcanic geology that shapes their signature styles.
• Volcanic soils resist pests and disease, enabling organic farming and preservation of old indigenous grape varieties, though the rugged, hot terrain makes viticulture physically demanding.

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

• A 2025 high-resolution climate study found 41.2 percent of European vineyards now face climate risk from Pierce's disease, up from 21.8 percent in previous models, with river basins and valleys especially vulnerable.
• Xylella fastidiosa, the bacterium causing Pierce's disease, was detected in Portuguese grapevines in 2023 and now persists in regulated zones across Spain, Italy, Portugal, and France.
• California growers, who lost over $48 million annually to Pierce's disease decades ago, are sharing surveillance and early detection strategies with Europe, though management approaches must adapt to local conditions.

Vinography Unboxed: Week of 9/6/26

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

Of Substack & wine

• Substack created a Wine & Spirits subsection in its Rising and Top lists, separated from Food & Drink, improving wine writing discoverability on the platform.
• Miquel Hudin updated the Wine Substack List (WineStack), now requiring paid subscriptions and human-written text only, removing publications like Thirst Behavior by Bodhi Landa for AI-generated content.
• Matthew Jukes, a traditional wine media writer, died last month.

Remembering Branko Čotar

• Branko Čotar, pioneering natural winemaker from Slovenia's Karst region, died aged 78 on 27 August after a short illness.
• Čotar began with 500 vines for his restaurant in 1974, started commercial bottling in 1990, and built a winery producing around 30,000 bottles annually.
• He skin-fermented white grapes organically with no added sulphites since the 1980s, predating Radikon and Gravner's public embrace of the practice by two decades.

M is for Method

• Traditional method sparkling wines gain nutty and complex character from bottle conditioning and aging protocols, while tank-method sparkling wines tend toward clean and direct styles due to limited lees contact.
• Skin-contact white wines, where grapes macerate with skins and seeds during fermentation, originated in the Caucasus and have been reinvigorated over the last two decades.
• Ancestral method sparkling wines are fully dry and retain lees, predating traditional method and favored by natural winemakers, while traditional method wines receive dosage (wine and sugar) before release.

What I Learned at a Conference on Drinking

From the invention of moderation to the return of temperance