Winefeed

Seven US regions seek AVA status to define wine identity and terroir

• Seven winegrowing regions from California to New Jersey are pursuing American Viticultural Area designations from the US Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, a process that takes several years and creates branded recognition for wines and professionals.
• Annapolis-Sea Ranch in Sonoma County, spanning 26,637 acres with 651 planted acres, will feature cool-climate Chardonnay and Pinot Noir shaped by coastal fog filtering and redwood-forest character on sandy loam soils.
• Lake Hennessey in Napa Valley, Deschutes River in central Oregon, Hunterdon Hills in New Jersey, and Niagara Lake Plain in New York are also advancing, each defined by distinctive soil, elevation, and climate patterns that shape their signature grape varieties.

Cruise lines emerge as experiential sales channel for US wineries

• Cooper's Hawk Winery & Restaurant chartered Virgin Voyages' Valiant Lady for wine club members in 2024, integrating their wines across bars and restaurants; the cruise sold out and 30 percent of members booked a second sailing set for February 2027.
• Eleven Eleven Wines, a Napa boutique winery, achieved a 33 percent conversion rate converting non-wine club cruise passengers to buyers and gained two referrals from a seven-day Mediterranean sailing aboard Scenic Eclipse II in June with roughly 60 guests.

Grape growers idle vineyards to cut costs amid weak market demand

• A 2025 study of 19 northern Willamette Valley vineyards found idling cut management costs by an average of 38 percent per acre, with some sites halving expenses.
• Vineyard idling, a temporary pause in production lasting one to three years, allows producers to preserve assets and wait for market recovery without permanent removal.
• Proper idling requires sustained irrigation, aggressive pruning, and weed control; vines prepared carelessly risk years of damage when returning to production.

Southern Glazer's pays $12.5M to resolve DOJ bribery investigation

• Southern Glazer's, the US alcohol distributor, reached a non-prosecution agreement with the Department of Justice on Thursday, paying $12.5 million to resolve a bribery investigation.
• From 2016 to 2024, former employees allegedly gave cash, gift cards, luxury goods, and trips to California retailers to secure better shelf placement for Southern Glazer's products, concealed through false invoices.
• The distributor agreed to strengthen compliance oversight and fulfill additional obligations over two years; the TTB took no further action.

US tariff lifted; Scotch exports to rebound in 2026

• US lifted 15-month tariff on Scotch in July 2026, reversing a 15 percent export decline to one of Scotland's largest markets.
• UK-India free trade agreement signed same month could open the world's largest whisky market to more affordable Scotch imports.
• Post-pandemic oversupply persists; Diageo and Brown-Forman remain paused, while some distilleries like Clynelish closed visitor centers due to weak tourism.

Trump bans Canadian alcohol imports effective September 29

• President Donald Trump announced a ban on Canadian wine, spirits, and beer imports set to take effect September 29, escalating an ongoing tariff dispute.
• The ban follows Canada's retaliatory levies on $20 billion of U.S. goods that began Tuesday, itself a response to 50 percent U.S. tariffs imposed August 22.
• A Canadian province-wide alcohol ban announced in April 2024 already cost U.S. wine, beer, and spirits producers significant export revenue in 2025.

Nine sommeliers pick value Chardonnays under $35 retail

• Nine US restaurant sommeliers named Chardonnays they consider best value, ranging from $25 unoaked Sonoma Coast to $35 San Luis Obispo and White Burgundy picks.
• Oregon Willamette Valley and California coastal regions dominated selections, with winemakers including Raj Parr, John Lockwood, and Dominique Lafon cited for quality at moderate prices.
• Picks emphasized freshness, minerality, and food-pairing versatility over the oaky, butter-forward style that previously defined affordable Chardonnay.

Jameson launches single pot still whiskey from 1826 recipe archive

• Jameson released Distiller's Batch, a single pot still Irish whiskey at 46% ABV and $49.99, departing from the brand's grain-spirit blend formula.
• Kevin O'Gorman, Jameson's master distiller, based the recipe on a handwritten mash bill dated 1826 by John Jameson II, kept in the Midleton archive.
• The expression won gold at the 2025 International Spirits Challenge and double gold at the 2025 San Francisco World Spirits Competition.

AriZona Iced Tea launches artist residency at New York 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.
• Participants including Eleanor Dexter and Lucas Carlo Monasterio work on personal projects while collaborating with company creatives; AriZona exhibits finished work and invites pieces into its permanent collection.
• The residency extends AriZona's founder-led design philosophy, where co-founders Don and Ilene Vultaggio built the brand's Southwest aesthetic in-house since 1992 rather than via focus groups.

Viña González Bastías, Maule Valley, Chile: exciting naturally made wines from an amazing old vineyard

• Viña González Bastías in Maule Valley, Chile operates a six-hectare vineyard planted in the early 19th century with vines over 200 years old, run by fifth-generation owner José Luís Bastías and agronomist Daniela Lorenzo.
• The vineyard uses natural winemaking: traditional wooden Zaranda de Coligüe for destemming, concrete fermentation with no additions, and maturation in amphora or Raulí oak foudres, with minimal sulfites added before bottling.
• Primary varieties are País, Moscatel Negra, Semillon, and Torontel; periodic flooding from three converging rivers (occurring roughly every 20 years) replenishes vineyard nutrients and occurred in 2023.

The Road to Great Wine With Eben Sadie

When one of the world’s most talented and ambitious winemakers decides to lay out what sounds like a grand unified

Boycott Wines Grown With Herbicides

• Adam Huss launched a campaign in August to boycott all wines produced with herbicides, arguing they degrade soil health and decrease wine quality.
• Luís Patrão from Vadio winery in Bairrada, Portugal reported his parents' generation's herbicide use turned vineyards into barren wastelands and eliminated local ladybird, eel, and salamander populations.
• The author attended Austria's Single Vineyard Summit in Grafenegg and used producer certifications (Organic, Biodynamic, Sustainable Austria) to select only herbicide-free wines from 556 offerings.

The Pluralism Of Wine Writing

• A winning entry in the Pall Mall awards' short-form writing competition faced controversy over alleged AI use; organizers defended it by stating the work is "not 100% AI-generated.".
• Tim Atkin argues wine writing encompasses journalism, criticism, and travelogues, but most lack investigative rigor and formulaic wine criticism is rarely done well.
• Atkin contends wine writing's pluralism, welcoming diverse voices and styles, is both its defining characteristic and strength despite ongoing quality concerns.

Heading Out

• Editor Meg Maker travels to Roero, Piemonte next week with seven other American journalists on a press trip tasting wines and handmade foods.
• European press tours are subsidized by EU consortiums and P.R. agencies, making journalists the product acquired to generate favorable coverage.
• Sarah Marsh MW challenges the Old Vine Conference consensus, noting many old vines carry viruses and young vines can match or exceed their quality.

Of Substack & wine

• Substack created a separate Wine & Spirits subsection within its Rising and Top lists, breaking it out from the larger Food & Drink category to improve discovery.
• Miquel Hudin updated the Wine Substack List (WineStack) with stricter curation criteria: publications must use paid subscriptions and contain only human-written text, no AI-generated content.
• AI-generated content on Substack wine publications prompted Hudin to exclude "Thirst Behavior" by Bodhi Landa after Substack's built-in tools confirmed the majority of its text was not human-written.

What I Learned at a Conference on Drinking

From the invention of moderation to the return of temperance