Winefeed

VINITECH-SIFEL trade show in Bordeaux, 1-3 December 2026, hosts global wine professionals

• VINITECH-SIFEL, a Bordeaux trade show for wine, fruit and vegetable sectors, runs 1-3 December 2026.
• The show expects 700 exhibitors and 40,000 professionals from 70 countries across 70,000 m² of space.
• The International Buyers Program may fund 4-star hotel stays and travel for eligible overseas buyers with investment projects.

Vinitaly.USA debuts in New York City at Pier 36 in October 2026

• Vinitaly.USA, organized by Veronafiere with the Italian Trade Agency, holds its first New York City edition at Pier 36 on October 26-27, 2026.
• The event moves from Chicago after two years and expects 300 exhibitors presenting 2,500 labels, its largest exhibitor count yet.
• Regional collectives from Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Lazio and Sardinia join Asti DOCG, Sicilia DOC and Prosecco DOC, plus 95 wineries from an Italian Trade Agency delegation.

Global wine shifts from red toward white and sparkling styles, IWSR data shows

• IWSR data shows red wine's share of global wine consumption fell from about 52% in 2012 to 43% in 2025.
• Over the same period, white wine rose from 31% to 34% and sparkling wine from 8% to 13% of consumption.
• Australia's Market Bulletin says the shift matters for its red-led reputation, with Shiraz central to its export position.

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

• France's 2026 harvest is estimated at about 35m hectolitres, down 2% on 2025 and 14% below the 2021-2025 average.
• The ministry of agriculture published these estimates, following 2025's lowest French production since 1957 per the OIV.
• Champagne production is down by half on last year and the five-year average after an unusually early harvest.

Australian wine exports to Malaysia, Indonesia and Philippines rise despite declines in West

• Wine Australia data show Australian wine exports to Malaysia 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 12 months.
• Australia exported 2.5 million litres worth A$11.5 million to the Philippines, slightly down year on year but above five years ago.

Bordeaux leads Liv-ex trade with 33% share as Burgundy follows at 28.5%

• Bordeaux took 33.0% of traded value on Liv-ex this week, ahead of Burgundy at 28.5%.
• Domaine de la Romanee-Conti was the top-traded producer, accounting for 10.6% of overall trade.
• Champagne fell to 13.9% of traded value from 21.4% the previous week, and US buyers took 47% of Champagne purchases.

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

• The Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) 2026 includes vines and horticultural permanent crops, with several of its 71 actions relevant to vineyards.
• Payments could add income for vineyard measures benefiting biodiversity and help meet LEAF Marque v17.0 habitat rules, which require 5% of site area.
• Overwinter cover crop (CSAM2) should be sown by late August or early September, but SFI allows up to 12 months to establish a mix.

Seven proposed US wine regions seek new AVA designations, each with distinct terroir

• Seven proposed new American Viticultural Areas are in early stages, with approval taking several years through the TTB.
• Proposed Annapolis-Sea Ranch AVA in Sonoma would cover 26,637 acres with 651 acres of grapes across a dozen vineyards.
• Proposed Deschutes River AVA in central Oregon would cover 723,760 acres, the state's first recognized central region.

VinePair's weekly roundup covers Southern Glazer's, product drops and industry updates

• California has launched an investigation into distributor Southern Glazer's over a bribery allegation.
• Maker's Mark has launched a new product collection ahead of the gifting season.
• OpenTable released its 2026 restaurant report, also part of this week's roundup.

Adam Wolf discusses Willamette Valley White Pinot Noir Fest on Wine 101

• Adam Wolf of Saffron Fields Vineyards joins host Keith Beavers on the VinePair podcast Wine 101.
• The two discuss how the United States celebrates wine in ways unlike any other place on earth.

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

• Giorgio Bargiani of The Connaught Bar in London says American guests are entertaining and show genuine interest in staff and other customers.
• Bartenders report American customers often order Martinis made with vodka, and ask for American spirit substitutions and drinks like the Cosmopolitan.
• Experienced American travelers increasingly let bartenders guide them, sometimes choosing gin Martinis or local drinks like Westmalle Dubbel.

NMR spectroscopy and chemometrics separate Brazilian tropical wines by vintage and grape cultivar

• Researchers at Federal University of Pernambuco used 1H NMR spectroscopy with PCA and PLS statistics to characterise tropical wines from Northeast Brazil.
• The analysis separated wines by vintage and grape cultivar, but failed to discriminate between vintages when white and red wines were combined.
• Metabolic compounds were identified as the chemical drivers behind the wine clusters.

Brazilian tropical wines show distinct aroma profiles by colour and harvest month

• Researchers from Brazilian institutions analysed white and red tropical wines from two 2009 vintages using gas chromatography and multivariate statistics.
• Northeast Brazil, at 8-9° South, allows two or three harvests a year thanks to heat, sunlight and irrigation.
• Higher alcohols separated wine samples more effectively than volatile esters, and white and red wines had different aromatic compound concentrations.

Brazilian tropical vineyard study measures sunlight reaching Syrah grape clusters

• Researchers at Embrapa Tropical Semiarid in Petrolina, Brazil, measured light reaching Syrah berries in a semiarid vineyard during the first half of 2010.
• Photosynthetically active radiation at the top of the vineyard was about 40% of incident solar global radiation.
• Clusters on east-facing canopy walls received more photosynthetically active light than those on west-facing walls, and leaf removal and shoot trimming changed berry light levels.

Tropical Brazilian red wines keep high polyphenols after a year in bottle

• Petit Verdot, Tempranillo and Syrah grown in Brazil's semi-arid São Francisco Valley were tracked for 12 months in bottle.
• Petit Verdot showed less colour change than wines from temperate climates, per spectrophotometry and HPLC measurements.
• Polyphenols fell during storage as expected but stayed above published levels, including anthocyanins in Petit Verdot and trans-resveratrol in Syrah.

Tropical Brazilian, Indian, Thai and Venezuelan wineries now produce quality wine at scale

• Commercial tropical wineries now operate in Brazil, India, Thailand and Venezuela, after the industry began about 30 years ago.
• Tropical wine output is a few million litres a year, from grapes that are mostly grown for other uses.
• Researchers at Embrapa in Brazil say high-quality tropical wine at meaningful volume is likely in the near future.

Undervine heating trials show grapevine fruit set rises or falls by cultivar

• In 2009/2010, researchers used undervine tents to raise daytime temperatures 3-5°C above ambient across four grape cultivars.
• Chardonnay under heat set less fruit, producing fewer berries and lower bunch weights, alongside reduced pollen tube growth.
• Semillon and Shiraz under heat set more fruit, with higher berry counts and bunch weights, while Cabernet Franc showed no significant difference.

Rootstock study finds 110 Richter grows most roots under low water

• Researchers grew Grenache vines on three rootstocks, 110 Richter, 41-B and 161-49, in rhizotrons with sandy soil under two water regimes.
• Root growth peaked in summer during berry growth and ripening, with more roots forming under the higher water dose.
• 110 Richter produced greater root length than the other two rootstocks, though this did not increase vegetative growth.

Researchers call for multidisciplinary breeding of climate-resilient grapevine rootstocks and scions

• French and Spanish researchers from INRA and several Spanish universities argue climate change threatens viticulture sustainability in several regions.
• They say breeding stable-yielding grapevine scions and rootstocks requires ecophysiologists, molecular physiologists and geneticists working together.
• The paper also reports tropical wines made from Petit Verdot, Tempranillo and Syrah in Northeast Brazil's semiarid São Francisco Valley.

Irrigation water chemistry can strip or supply vineyard soil nutrients

• Nearly pure water such as Sierra Nevada snowmelt strips minerals from soils, especially sandy ones, making them more acidic and less fertile.
• Alkaline well water can supply calcium and magnesium, but bicarbonate and carbonate reduce their availability as fertilizer.

Cover crops and mulching boost vineyard soil microbes and resilience, studies find

• Canavera et al. (2026, Environmental Microbiome) found cover crop mulching in a non-irrigated northern Italian vineyard raised microbial diversity and reduced pathogen pressure.
• A 2026 Field Crops Research study of Mediterranean rainfed vineyards found roller-crimped cover crops improved vine water status and mycorrhizal colonization.
• In that Mediterranean study, seasonal climate was the dominant driver of fungal diversity, and grape quality was unaffected.

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.
• The awards ceremony takes place in Southampton on 15 October.
• Its Meadowscape Pro system can establish high-quality meadow habitats in three to four months.

A Level Playing Field

• Tim Atkin says top Chardonnay is now a level playing field, with world-class examples from Argentina, Australia, Chile, New Zealand, South Africa and the United States.
• In a blind tasting organised by Steve Smith MW, 43 tasters scored 24 wines, ten from Pyramid Valley and Smith & Sheth, against 14 from Burgundy.
• The 2024 Smith & Sheth Onewa Chardonnay from Hawkes Bay narrowly lost to the 2023 Domaine Guffens-Heynen Saint Véran Clos de Poncetys.

Hazendal, a Stellenbosch wine estate transformed

• Hazendal, a Bottelary Hills estate in Stellenbosch, replanted its vineyards in 2016 after virus problems reduced production.
• Winemaker Kiara Scott Farmer, who arrived in 2024, leads the new era, with 2025 as the first vintage under her direction.
• Reviewer scored the 2025 range from 92 to 95 points, with the Chenin Blanc and White Blend rated highest at 95 and 94.

Telling a mountain to move

• DO Montsant, in Catalunya's Priorat area, has revised its bylaws to add a certification for vi brisat (orange-style) wines.
• 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 minimal-intervention classification may be the first of its kind in Spain, though the DO has not stated its maximum sulfur dioxide limit.

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

• Louis Latour, Louis Jadot, Maison Albert Bichot and Bouchard Père & Fils are named as leading négociant houses dominating Burgundy wine sales worldwide.
• It cites Capitain-Gagnerot Corton-Charlemagne and Domaine Jean Féry Puligny-Montrachet as lower-priced alternatives to Coche-Dury and Leflaive Clavoillon.

“Unquestionably Among the Greatest Wines in the World” (Tasting the 2024 Port Vintage)

• The author notes it has become harder to check whether a Vintage Port has already been reviewed on the blog.

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 are Nebbiolo and Arneis, both native to Piedmont and rarely grown beyond its borders.
• Roero Arneis was nearly extinct until Bruno Giacosa and Alfredo Curado of Vietti resurrected it in the 1970s.
• Today Roero has nearly 1,000 hectares of Arneis versus about 360 hectares of Nebbiolo, according to the report.

400 Montepulciano Bottles for Thomas Jefferson circa 1805

• A 1350 trade contract between the Del Pecora family and merchant Jacopo di Vanni is the oldest known document for Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, held in Florence's State Archives.
• A 2024 document unveiled by the Consorzio del Vino Nobile di Montepulciano shows the term 'Vino Nobile' was used by the Jesuits in 1766, predating the previously known 1787 record.
• Thomas Jefferson received 473 bottles of Montepulciano in November 1805 and requested 400 bottles annually, per a letter to Thomas Appleton.

The Encyclopedia of Wine - Fresh Take or Same Same?

• Dorling Kindersley's The Encyclopedia of Wine is out 8th October in the UK and 10th November in the US.
• Editor-in-chief David Williams aims for an authoritative but accessible reference, written by acknowledged experts, 28 contributors in total.
• The 400-page book is positioned against Oxford Companion to Wine and The World Atlas of Wine, both from Jancis Robinson's team.

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

• Domaine des Roches Neuves, a Saumur-Champigny estate active for 35 years, produces five cuvées parcellaires led by Thierry Germain and his son Louis.
• Thierry Germain says single-vineyard wines were rare in Saumur 35 years ago, apart from Clos Rougeard, and he was inspired by Burgundy in the early 1990s.
• Louis Germain describes La Marginale, from the Fosse de Chaintres clay soils, as having a velvety, rose-petal texture, while Franc de Pied comes from sandy soils with ungrafted vines.