Winefeed

Costco stocks boutique wines as global surplus pressures producers

• Costco, the largest US wine retailer, now carries boutique producer bottles alongside its Kirkland Signature label, exploiting a market surplus to stock unexpected selections.
• Kirkland Signature wines, launched in 2003, are small lots (around 2000 cases each) created by contracted winemakers and rotated through stores to drive repeat visits.
• Costco's model mirrors British supermarket strategy: a curated house brand lends retailer reputation to unfamiliar global wines, contrasting the US brand-driven and German discount-driven systems.

California and Pacific Northwest vineyards idle acres to cut costs during market slowdown

• Vineyard idling, a temporary production pause, saved northern Willamette Valley producers an average of 38 percent per acre on management costs in a 2025 study of 19 sites, with some cutting costs by half.
• Viticulturists across California, Washington, and Texas are choosing idling over removal because vines can resume high-quality production within one to three years if properly managed with irrigation, pruning, and minimal pest control.
• Mercer Ranches in Prosser, Washington has about 1,000 of its 3,350 acres idle at various levels since 2025; producers use the pause to assess vineyard health, top graft to new varieties, or replant to different crops.

Spanish wildfires destroy 200 hectares in Sierra de Gredos wine region

• Fires in late July destroyed 77,000 hectares across Ávila and Madrid provinces; approximately 200 hectares of vineyard in Cebreros DO, around 40 percent of registered area, were damaged by fire or smoke.
• Bodegas Bernabeleva lost office facilities, winery sections, and equipment; Bodega El Reventón lost one single-vineyard parcel with 80 to 90 percent vine recovery expected; Comando G's Las Iruelas bottling faced heavy smoke exposure.
• Local producers including Comando G have proposed regional subsidies for forest clearance, firebreaks, and vineyard restoration, arguing fire prevention must integrate rural development and agriculture policy.

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

• Southern Glazer's reached a non-prosecution agreement with the DOJ and TTB on Thursday, paying $12.5 million to resolve a bribery investigation spanning 2016 to 2024.
• Former employees allegedly gave cash, gift cards, luxury goods, golf trips, and resort bookings to California retailers for better shelf placement, using false invoices to hide payments.
• The distributor agreed to strengthen compliance oversight and fulfill undisclosed obligations over two years to prevent future misconduct.

U.S. tariff lift and affordability trend reshape Scotch whisky market in 2026

• U.S. lifted its 15-month tariff on Scotch in July 2026, reversing a 15 percent export decline to one of Scotland's largest markets.
• U.K.-India free trade agreement signed July 2026 aims to open the world's largest whisky market to more affordable Scotch imports.
• Distilleries facing post-pandemic oversupply and tourist decline are shifting away from ultra-premium releases toward sub-$100, age-stated expressions.

Trump bans Canadian alcohol imports effective September 29

• President Donald Trump announced a ban on Canadian wine, spirits, and malt beer imports, effective September 29, escalating tariff disputes.
• The ban follows Canada's retaliatory levies on $20 billion of U.S. goods that began Tuesday, in response to U.S. tariffs imposed August 22.
• A Canadian province-wide alcohol ban announced in April 2024 already reduced U.S. wine, beer, and spirits export revenue in 2025.

AriZona Iced Tea launches artist residency at Woodbury headquarters

• AriZona Iced Tea, founded in 1992, opened an artist residency program at its Woodbury, N.Y. headquarters in July 2025, hosting cohorts of four artists in six-week sessions with stipends, housing, materials, and studio access.
• Participants including Eleanor Dexter and Lucas Carlo Monasterio created work ranging from paintings and silkscreen to stained glass and wood sculpture, often drawing inspiration from the brand's Southwest aesthetic and cherry-blossom motifs.
• The residency reflects founder Don Vultaggio's original in-house design philosophy and son Spencer Vultaggio's strategy to build brand identity through immersive experiences, following the 2024 opening of AriZonaLand visitor center in New Jersey.

Seven volcanic wine regions beyond Mount Etna gain recognition for complex terroir

• Volcanic soils from past and active eruptions create layered terroir with high acidity, salinity, and savory flavors; pest resistance enables organic farming and preserves old vine varieties.
• Santorini's Assyrtiko, Tokaji's botrytis-affected sweet wines, and Canary Islands' phylloxera-free old vines demonstrate how volcanic geology shapes regional wine identity and aging potential.
• Willamette Valley's Jory volcanic soil produces red-fruit Pinot Noir, Auvergne's Gamay d'Auvergne yields darker spiced character, and Lake County's elevation and volcanic terrain develop grippy tannins in reds.

Hip-Hop Doesn’t Need Wine, But Wine Just Might Need Hip-Hop

Despite the fading evening light on Lankershim Boulevard, I had to squint a bit in the dim light of the

Myths of The Douro

• Douro Valley global port sales declined 25% over the last two decades; today the region produces as much table wine as port.
• The Douro's vineyard grading system historically rewarded sites suited to port production with maximum sugar, colour and tannin, not necessarily table wine quality.
• New-generation winemakers like Rita Marques, Luis Seabra, and Pedro Coelho produce lighter, high-acidity Douro wines using high-altitude plots and earlier harvesting, departing from the region's port-influenced style.

Drinking Quite Well

• Tim Atkin's father, a wine merchant, purchased iconic Bordeaux and Burgundy wines in the 1960s-70s for under £2-3 per bottle; adjusted for inflation, these same wines now cost vastly more and remain accessible only to the wealthy.
• Atkin personally buys wines in the £12-30 range, excluding most cru classé Bordeaux and Burgundy, finding quality alternatives in Spain, Argentina, Portugal, Loire, and Southern Rhône instead.

Going to the football? Like good wine? A tasting trip through Islington’s wine bars pairs well with tickets for a north London matchday

• The Draper's Arms in Islington features one of London's best wine lists with diversity and fair pricing, offering wines by the bottle in a warm, spacious setting.
• Yield is a small natural wine bar in Islington with attractively priced, low-intervention wines and a relaxed atmosphere.
• Trullo, an acclaimed Italian restaurant near Yield, has an excellent wine list and requires reservations due to high demand.

Do the Right Work

• The 67 Pall Mall Global Wine Communicator Awards faced criticism for selecting a winning piece apparently written by artificial intelligence, sparking debate about A.I. use in wine writing.
• Meg Maker argues wine writing requires human sensory experience and lived memory to authentically convey aesthetic phenomena; A.I.-generated text mimics writing conventions but lacks the sensory foundation essential to wine commentary.
• Dan Petroski's regional pasta-wine pairing study found that wines paired successfully with Sicilian, Tuscan, and Campanian dishes by their behavior, brightening tomato, absorbing heat, accepting texture, rather than by geographic origin alone.

Of Substack & wine

• Substack created a separate Wine & Spirits subsection within its Rising and Top lists, breaking it out from the broader Food & Drink category to improve discovery.
• Miquel Hudin updated the Wine Substack List (WineStack) to curate only publications using paid subscriptions actively and containing human-written text, excluding AI-generated content.
• Bodhi Landa's 'Thirst Behavior' was removed from the list after Substack's built-in tools revealed the majority of its text was AI-generated.

What I Learned at a Conference on Drinking

From the invention of moderation to the return of temperance