Winefeed

VINITECH-SIFEL 2026 trade show set for Bordeaux, 1-3 December

• VINITECH-SIFEL, a wine, fruit and vegetable trade show, runs in Bordeaux from 1-3 December 2026.
• The event expects 700 exhibitors and 40,000 professionals from 70 countries across 70,000 m² of space.
• The International Buyers Program offers selected international buyers 4-star hotel stays and travel cost support, subject to approval.

Vinitaly.USA moves to New York's Pier 36 for October 2026 debut

• Vinitaly.USA, organized by Veronafiere with the Italian Trade Agency, makes its New York debut at Pier 36 on October 26-27, 2026.
• The event moves from Chicago, where it ran for two years, and will host 300 exhibitors presenting 2,500 labels.
• Italian regional groups from Asti, Sicily, Prosecco, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Lazio and Sardinia will exhibit, alongside 95 Italian Trade Agency wineries.

Global wine demand shifts from red toward white and sparkling styles

• IWSR data show red wine's share of global wine consumption fell from about 52 per cent in 2012 to 43 per cent in 2025.
• Over the same period, white wine rose from 31 to 34 per cent and sparkling wine from 8 to 13 per cent.
• Sparkling wine has gained share as it moved from celebrations into everyday and spritz occasions, while red wine has struggled to attract younger drinkers.

Australian wine exports to Malaysia, Indonesia and Philippines show strong growth

• Malaysia's Australian wine exports rose 13% in volume and 30% in value to A$55 million in the year to June 2026.
• Indonesia's Australian wine exports jumped 88% in volume and 300% in value to A$21 million over the same period.
• Philippines Australian wine exports fell slightly to 2.5 million litres worth A$11.5 million, though still above five years ago.

Bordeaux leads fine wine trade as Burgundy and Champagne follow, DRC dominates

• Bordeaux led this week's fine wine trade with 33.0% of traded value, while Burgundy took second with 28.5%.
• Domaine de la Romanee-Conti was the top-traded producer, accounting for 10.6% of overall trade and over a third of Burgundy's.
• Champagne fell to 13.9% of traded value from 21.4% last week, with US buyers making up 47% of its purchasing.

Emeritus Vineyards pivots to grape sales and dry farming amid market contraction

• Sebastopol's Emeritus Vineyards, led by Mari Jones and vineyard manager Riggs Lokka, sells a meaningful share of its fruit to partner wineries.
• Amid a California market downturn, the estate is experimenting with new ways to monetize grapes it previously did not sell.
• Emeritus began a four-year transition from irrigation to dry farming in 2007, which Jones says has profoundly changed its wines.

Fine wine market shows early recovery, led by top-end demand and back vintages

• Liv-ex indices rose slightly over the past year, and Q3 trade value rose steeply versus Q2 2026 and Q3 2025.
• Recovery is narrow and uneven: demand is returning first at the top end and for back vintages, with prices varying by region, producer and vintage.
• The Fine Wine 1000 in real terms is back to its 2015 level, and the bid:offer ratio suggests prices are unlikely to fall.

SFI 2026 offers UK vineyards extra payments for cover crops and habitat

• The 2026 Sustainable Farming Incentive includes vines and horticultural permanent crops, with several of its 71 actions relevant to vineyards.
• Cover crops sown by late August or early September best establish before winter, though SFI allows up to 12 months to establish a mix.
• The RPA is increasingly using satellite imagery to monitor SFI action delivery, and small-seed mixes need a well-prepared seedbed.

Seven proposed US AVAs spanning California, Oregon, New Jersey and New York await federal approval

• Seven potential new American Viticultural Areas are in early stages, each needing several years of Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau review.
• The proposed Deschutes River AVA would cover 723,760 acres and be the first recognized winegrowing region in central Oregon.
• The proposed Hunterdon Hills AVA in New Jersey covers about 200,000 acres and was ranked second-highest for premier grape-growing land by a Rutgers study.

VinePair's weekly roundup covers Southern Glazer's probe, Maker's Mark release, and more

• California has launched an investigation into distributor Southern Glazer's over a bribery snafu.
• The weekly roundup also reports on OpenTable's 2026 restaurant report and new beverage alcohol product releases.
• Other roundups in the series cover Pop-Tarts' exit from a BuzzBallz collaboration and Trump's ban on Canadian alcohol.

Seven oaky, buttery Chardonnays that balance richness with bright acidity

• Winefeed-style roundup picks seven Chardonnays that keep oak and butter in check with bright acidity.
• The list avoids heavily buttered wines that gave Chardonnay its reputation, favouring a balance of heft and elegance.

Tom Surgey and Henry Jeffreys to co-host Matthew Jukes tribute masterclass in Kent

• Wine writers Tom Surgey and Henry Jeffreys will co-host the Vineyard & Winery Show masterclass at Kent County Showground as a tribute to Matthew Jukes.
• Jukes, a wine writer and former masterclass host, died on 6 August; ticket proceeds go to the Drinks Trust charity.
• Surgey and Jeffreys are also joining Vineyard magazine as wine columnists, and a new Matthew Jukes Trophy for Wine of the Year will be judged by them.

Economist Mike Veseth to keynote 2027 Unified Wine & Grape Symposium in Sacramento

• Economist and author Mike Veseth will give the keynote at the 2027 Unified Wine & Grape Symposium on January 26 in Sacramento.
• Veseth, a former moderator of the symposium's State of the Industry session, will discuss global wine economic forces and their implications for growers and wineries.
• The keynote luncheon is January 26 at the Sheraton Grand Hotel, with limited seats requiring separate registration; registration opens October 20.

Bartenders say American visitors in Europe are curious, chatty, and still love vodka

• European bartenders say U.S. travelers in 2026 are largely curious and open, though they still favor vodka.
• Giorgio Bargiani of The Connaught Bar in London says American guests come in with precise Martini preferences, often vodka over gin.
• Americans visited Europe a record 24 million times in 2025, with another 5 percent rise expected by year's end.

Part Two of vineyard lab series examines how irrigation water shapes mineral nutrients

• Part Two of a three-part vineyard mineral nutrient series by viticulturist Stan Grant covers irrigation water analysis.
• Nearly pure, low-mineral water strips nutrients from soils, making them less fertile, more acidic and less permeable.
• Well water can carry macronutrients or micronutrients, but high alkalinity and carbonates can lock up calcium, magnesium and micronutrients.

Regenerative vineyard newsletter highlights cover crop and climate resilience research

• A 2026 Environmental Microbiome study by Canavera et al. tested under-vine cover crop mulching in a non-irrigated vineyard in northern Italy.
• The mulching significantly increased rhizosphere and phyllosphere microbial diversity, improved soil conditions and reduced pathogen pressure.
• A 2026 Field Crops Research study of Mediterranean rainfed vineyards found roller-crimped cover crops improved soil cover and vine water status.

France's 2026 wine harvest set to fall 14% below recent average

• France's agriculture ministry estimates the 2026 harvest at about 35 million hectolitres, 2% below 2025.
• That is 14% below the 2021-2025 average, after 2025 recorded France's lowest production since 1957.
• Champagne harvested early in September for the first time, with output halved, while Burgundy and Beaujolais face 30% declines.

Hampshire firm Wildflower Co. shortlisted for South Coast tech award

• Hampshire biodiversity specialist Wildflower Co. is a finalist in the South Coast Tech and Innovation Awards' Tech for Good category.
• Its Meadowscape Pro system can establish high-quality meadow habitats in three to four months.
• The company's Wildflower Turf is a soil-less system, and its BioNet reinforcement is plant-based and biodegradable.

Telling a mountain to move

• DO Montsant, in Catalunya's Priorat area, has revised its bylaws to add certification for 'vi brisat' (orange-style) wines, as DO Terra Alta did in 2022.
• Montsant's revised bylaws also create a classification for 'minimal intervention' wines, requiring hand-harvesting, organic certification, spontaneous fermentation and no additives except gentle filtration.
• The author says the DO has not responded to queries about the maximum sulfur dioxide limit, which is not stated in the final bylaws.

Most Burgundy Wine Buyers Are Still Shopping Backwards in 2026. Here’s the Strategy Négociants Hope You Never Learn

• Four merchant houses, Louis Latour, Louis Jadot, Maison Albert Bichot and Bouchard Père & Fils, dominate much of the Burgundy wine trade sold worldwide.
• Capitain-Gagnerot's Corton-Charlemagne is priced at a fraction of Coche-Dury's, though the same village-level grapes come from neighbouring rows.

Galiza: a seminar focusing on the wines of Galicia, Spain

• Simplesmente Vinho 2026 made Galiza (Galicia) its guest region, with nine visiting producers and a seminar hosted by Miguel Anxo Besada and Antonio Portela.
• The seminar covered five Galician appellations: Ribeiro, Rías Baixas, Ribeira Sacra, Valdeorras and Monterrei.
• Standouts included Luis Anzio Rodríguez Viña de Martin 2015 Ribeiro at 96/100 and Zarate El Palomar 2021 Rías Baixas at 95/100.

Wine News: What I’m Reading the Week of 10/11/26

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

Tasting Report: Red and White Wines of Roero

• Roero's principal grapes, Nebbiolo and Arneis, are native to the region and rarely grown beyond Piedmont's borders.
• Today Roero has nearly 1,000 hectares of Arneis versus about 360 hectares of Nebbiolo planted.
• Bruno Giacosa and Alfredo Curado of Vietti resurrected Arneis in the 1970s after it was nearly extinct.

400 Montepulciano Bottles for Thomas Jefferson circa 1805

• Thomas Jefferson received 473 bottles of Montepulciano in November 1805 and called them the best he had ever received.
• In an April 1806 letter to Thomas Appleton, Jefferson requested 400 bottles annually, confined to the crop from ancient Jesuit vineyards.
• A 2024 document unveiled by the Consorzio del Vino Nobile di Montepulciano shows the term Vino Nobile was first used in 1766 by the Jesuits.

The Encyclopedia of Wine - Fresh Take or Same Same?

• Dorling Kindersley's The Encyclopedia of Wine publishes 8 October in the UK and 10 November in the US.
• Editor-in-chief David Williams aims for an authoritative but accessible reference, written by acknowledged experts rather than academics.
• 28 writers contributed, including Jane Anson on Bordeaux, Wink Lorch on the Jura, and Jim Clarke and Kelli White on the US.

Five Minutes with... Thierry and Louis Germain of Domaine des Roches Neuves

• Domaine des Roches Neuves, the Saumur-Champigny estate, has produced single-vineyard cuvées parcellaires for 35 years, following the Foucault brothers of Clos Rougeard.
• Thierry Germain, who trained in Bordeaux, was inspired by Burgundy single-vineyard wines in the early 1990s and began mapping Saumur-Champigny terroirs with geological maps.
• Thierry's son Louis Germain now works in the vineyards and cellar; the estate's five cuvées include Terres Chaudes, La Marginale, Clos de l'Échelier, Les Mémoires and Franc de Pied.

(Another) Exciting New Chapter

• Jonathan Cristaldi is moving into the role of Chief Wine Critic for The Tasting Panel and its sister publication The SOMM Journal.
• The announcement comes from 1WineDude, with the news framed as part of recent behind-the-scenes changes at 1WD HQ.

Meet Your Robo-Somm

• Tim Atkin tested CellarTracker and food-pairing AI programs and found they often recommended Champagne for everything and confused rosé with red.
• A Burgenland St. Laurent was recommended via an app to pair with Mushroom-Jamón Arancini, and the pairing worked well.
• Atkin praises SommPal, which ranks up to five wine pairings per menu item from menu and wine list photos, with notes on each pairing's logic.