Winefeed

Costco stocks boutique wines amid global industry surplus

• Costco, the largest US wine retailer, now stocks boutique producer wines alongside its Kirkland Signature house brand as winemakers worldwide struggle with oversupply.
• Kirkland Signature wines, launched in 2003 in lots of around 2000 cases each, are made by contracted winemakers and distributed across warehouses in rotating releases to drive repeat visits.
• Costco's model mirrors the British supermarket approach (Tesco, Sainsbury's) of using store-branded wines to build consumer confidence in unfamiliar global producers rather than the US brand-driven system.

Vineyard idling gains traction as producers weather weak grape demand

• 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 cutting costs in half.
• Vineyard idling, a temporary pause in production lasting one to three years, allows producers to preserve assets and capital while avoiding permanent removal decisions during uncertain market conditions.
• Viticulturists managing idled vineyards must maintain strict irrigation, aggressive pruning, weed control, and minimal fungicide protocols to prevent long-term vine damage and enable quick return to production.

Spanish wildfires destroy 200 hectares in Gredos wine region

• Fires between July 22 and 26 destroyed 77,000 hectares across Ávila and Madrid provinces; approximately 200 hectares of vineyards in Cebreros DO, representing 40 percent of registered area, were damaged by fire or smoke.
• Bodegas Bernabeleva lost vineyard land, office space, and infrastructure; Bodega El Reventón lost the San Gregorio vineyard parcel but expects to recover 80 to 90 percent of vines.
• Comando G's Las Iruelas single-vineyard wine was written off due to heavy smoke exposure; the fires have intensified calls from local producers for regional firebreak subsidies and land management support.

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, paying $12.5 million to resolve a bribery investigation spanning 2016 to 2024.
• Former employees allegedly offered cash, gift cards, luxury goods, golf trips, and resort stays to retailers in California for better shelf placement and used false invoices to conceal payments.
• Southern Glazer's agreed to strengthen internal compliance, expand TTB auditing staff, and meet unspecified obligations over two years to prevent future misconduct.

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

• US lifted a 15-month tariff on Scotch in July 2026 after it had cut exports to America by 15 percent, a major market for Scotland.
• UK-India free trade agreement signed in July 2026 could open the world's largest whisky market to more affordable Scotch imports.
• Distilleries including Diageo and Brown-Forman remain paused due to post-pandemic oversupply, while premiumization fatigue pushes focus toward sub-$100 age-stated bottles.

Trump announces ban on Canadian alcohol imports effective September 29

• US President Donald Trump announced a ban on Canadian imports of wine, spirits, and beer, effective September 29, escalating tariff disputes between the countries.
• Canada implemented retaliatory tariffs on $20 billion of US goods on Tuesday, prompting Trump's announcement after failed trade negotiations in August.
• A Canadian province-wide ban on US alcohol in April 2024 reduced US wine, beer, and spirits export revenue in 2025.

E&J Gallo's Apothic partners with Heidi Klum on Halloween blood-bag wine drop

• Apothic, owned by E&J Gallo, released limited-edition red wine in reusable blood-bag packaging designed with television personality Heidi Klum ahead of Halloween.
• The drop sold two empty resealable bags in a red cooler for $10.31 and included a contest entry for Klum's annual Halloween party.
• Marshall Dawson, Gallo VP of power and ascending brands, said the collaboration targets millennials and younger Gen X drinkers during Halloween, a season worth billions in consumer spending.

Four candidates earn Master Sommelier credential in Houston exam

• Four of 30 candidates passed the final portions of the Court of Master Sommeliers, Americas' Master Sommelier Diploma examination in Houston on September 8-10, bringing the total worldwide count to 309 Master Sommeliers.
• Alex Mares, wine director at Bourbon Steak New York at JW Marriott Essex House, scored highest in the cohort after multiple attempts, crediting mental preparation and tasting-focused study for his success.
• Kaysie Rogers, now at SingleThread Farms in Healdsburg, California, and Steven Washuta, co-owner of Denver Wine Merchant, also passed after previous attempts, citing reduced preparation pressure and personal confidence as key factors.

AriZona Iced Tea launches artist residency at New York headquarters

• AriZona opened a six-week artist residency program at its Woodbury, N.Y. headquarters, hosting up to four artists per session with stipends, studio space, and materials; three cohorts have completed the program since July 2025.
• Participants including Eleanor Dexter and Lucas Carlo Monasterio worked on paintings, silkscreen, textiles, wood, and metal projects in The Lookout workshop, collaborating with each other and company creatives on new work.
• AriZona showcases residency art in exhibitions and adds selected pieces to its permanent collection, continuing the founder-driven design ethos that has defined the brand's distinctive Southwest aesthetic since 1992.

Seven volcanic wine regions rival Etna for mineral complexity and terroir

• Santorini, Soave, the Canary Islands, Hungary's Tokaji region, Oregon's Willamette Valley, France's Auvergne, and California's Lake County all produce distinctive wines from ancient or dormant volcanic soils.
• Volcanic terroir yields high acidity, salinity, and savory flavors; soils hostile to pests enable organic farming and preserve old grape varieties including Assyrtiko, Garganega, Listán Blanco, Furmint, and Gamay d'Auvergne.
• Challenging growing conditions, Santorini's basket-trained vines, Lanzarote's hand-dug hoyos, Willamette's Jory soil, shape viticulture methods and the red or mineral fruit profiles of the resulting wines.

Highlights: Stesso Stesso Beulah Violetta Rosso 2024 Umbria, Italy

• Stesso Stesso, an Australian couple's winemaking project in Umbria, produces Beulah Violetta Rosso 2024: a Merlot, Sangiovese, and Sagrantino blend from their 150-year-old certified-biodynamic estate near Todi.
• James Hird, co-founder of Sydney's Rootstock natural wine festival, and Annie Conley relocated to manage ten hectares with regenerative farming practices.
• Low-intervention wine fermented in stainless steel with minimal sulfites scores 92/100; typically £20.50 in UK independents via Les Caves de Pyrene.

Vinography Images: Fog of Riesling

A wall of vines appears out of the morning fog across the Mosel River in Germany. The famously steep slate

Myths of The Douro

• The Douro now produces as much table wine as port, but global port sales have declined 25% over the last two decades.
• Before the 1990s commercial explosion, Douro growers made unfortified wines for personal consumption, a light red-white blend called consumo, rarely bottled due to monopolistic regulations.
• Douro's vineyard grading system historically rewarded super-ripe grapes suited to port production, not table wine, creating a regional reputation for heavy, oaky wines that newer winemakers like Rita Marques and Luis Seabra are now challenging.

Drinking Quite Well

• Tim Atkin's father, a wine merchant, purchased 1950s Château Lafite for under £2 per bottle in the 1960s; equivalent to roughly £50 today, these prestigious wines are now accessible only to the wealthy.
• Atkin personally buys wines in the £12, £30 range from Spain, Argentina, Portugal, Loire, Southern Rhône, cru bourgeois Bordeaux, and Sherry, arguing quality affordable wines remain available outside mainstream fashion.
• A prestigious Champagne house head told Atkin "we do not cater to the general public," a statement Atkin found discouraging and affecting his willingness to recommend their wines.

Do the Right Work

• The 67 Pall Mall Global Wine Communicator Awards faced criticism for selecting a winning piece suspected of being AI-generated, prompting debate over disclosure policies and evaluation transparency.
• Dan Petroski explored wine pairings for summer Sicilian, Tuscan, and Campanian pastas, finding that regional wines paired best based on behavior, brightening tomatoes, absorbing chile, or providing tannin for meat, rather than geographic origin alone.
• Spanish dining times have shifted one hour earlier since the pandemic according to restaurant booking data, with some diners prioritizing sleep and digestion over the traditional 10 PM dinner.

Of Substack & wine

• Substack created a separate Wine & Spirits subsection within its Rising and Top lists, splitting it from the Food & Drink category to improve discovery for wine writers.
• Miquel Hudin updated his Wine Substack List (WineStack) with stricter curation criteria: publications must use paid subscriptions and contain only human-written text, not AI-generated content.
• Bodhi Landa's "Thirst Behavior" was removed from the updated 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