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01Vineyard Magazine·

Pembrokeshire's Velfrey wins first Welsh trophy at Glass of Bubbly Awards

  • Velfrey Vineyard's Cuvée Reserve 2022 won gold and the Winter Warmer Trophy at the 2026 Glass of Bubbly Awards.
  • It is the first Welsh wine ever to win a trophy at the London-based competition, which judges only Champagne and sparkling wine.
  • Velfrey's Rhosyn 2023 and NV sparkling each took silver, giving the Pembrokeshire family vineyard medals for all three entries.
Reported byVineyard Magazine: Pembrokeshire's Velfrey wins first Welsh trophy at Glass of Bubbly Awards
02Liv-ex·

Bordeaux leads fine wine trade as Lynch-Bages 2005 tops sales

  • Bordeaux held the lead in fine wine trade with a 37.4% share of purchases, with Lynch-Bages the top-traded wine overall.
  • Burgundy's share fell to 15.4% from 18.4% last week, below a September average of 24.6%.
  • US buyers rose to a 9.6% share of trade from 7.0% last week, and claimed over half of Bordeaux's purchased value.
Reported byLiv-ex: Bordeaux leads fine wine trade as Lynch-Bages 2005 tops sales
03Vineyard Magazine·

Surrey funds 17 rural projects, including a vineyard bird-repelling laser

  • Surrey County Council's Farming Innovation Accelerator is funding 17 rural and farming projects from a £500,000 pot.
  • Each recipient receives a grant of up to £35,000 plus bespoke expert support, from over 50 proposals.
  • Albury Vineyard will install an automated bird-repellent laser protecting 18 acres of grapevines, adding over 1,700 bottles yearly.
Reported byVineyard Magazine: Surrey funds 17 rural projects, including a vineyard bird-repelling laser
04Wine Australia·

Australian wine exports fall 7% to $2.25bn as Canada and Southeast Asia offset US slump

  • Australian wine export value fell 7 per cent to $2.25 billion, and volume fell 5 per cent to 590 million litres in the year to September 2026.
  • Exports to the US fell 28 per cent in value to $219 million, driven by a broader US wine market decline and import tariffs.
  • Southeast Asia grew 16 per cent in value to $291 million, with Thailand up 57 per cent, while Canada rose 12 per cent to $185 million.
Reported byWine Australia: Australian wine exports fall 7% to $2.25bn as Canada and Southeast Asia offset US slump
05VinePair·

VinePair weekly roundup covers Supreme Court case, Uncle Nearest sale, and product releases

  • The Supreme Court will review a home distilling case, according to the weekly roundup.
  • Uncle Nearest's potential buyers and a Fawn Weaver motion to block the sale are covered.
  • Diageo's toxic chemical spill and Southern Glazer's bribery snafu are also reported in the roundup.
Reported byVinePair: VinePair weekly roundup covers Supreme Court case, Uncle Nearest sale, and product releases
01Vineyard Magazine·

Navarra turns costly rosado methods into a premium identity; English wine could follow

  • Navarra rosado producers use the Saignée method, requiring up to three times more grapes than standard red production, to signal premium intent.
  • Navarra's new Rosado Tradition designation requires Saignée and exclusive Garnacha, reinforcing the region's premium positioning.
Reported byVineyard Magazine: Navarra turns costly rosado methods into a premium identity; English wine could follow
02PUNCH·

Real Housewives' wine choices favor sweet, mass-market bottles over collectibles

  • Essayist Cake Zine contributor watched Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, noting Whitney Rose recommending Justin Cabernet, a $22 Walgreens bottle.
  • Housewives across franchises mostly drink mass-market, high-alcohol, high-sugar California cabernet sauvignon, often sweet.
  • Essay links this sweetness to critic Robert Parker's influence and the 100-point scoring system that shaped American wine taste.
Reported byPUNCH: Real Housewives' wine choices favor sweet, mass-market bottles over collectibles
01Vineyard Magazine·

English vines hit by 2026 heatwaves, harvest 10-14 days early

  • Heatwaves in 2026 pushed 54 Met Office stations past all-time daily maximum temperature records this summer.
  • Harvest in English vineyards came around 10-14 days earlier than normal, with many crops reaching phenolic ripeness.
  • Bacchus struggled with intense heat and UV, while Sauvignon Blanc reached high alcohol and ripeness.
Reported byVineyard Magazine: English vines hit by 2026 heatwaves, harvest 10-14 days early
02Vineyard Magazine·

UK vineyards face early harvest and drought after 2026 frost and heat

  • The 2026 English and Welsh growing season began with severe frost, then turned warm, dry and rapidly ripening.
  • Harvest arrived several weeks early at some vineyards, with dry weather keeping disease pressure low.
  • Vineyard Magazine argues UK growers must build resilience yearly through soil health, water management and site-specific choices.
Reported byVineyard Magazine: UK vineyards face early harvest and drought after 2026 frost and heat
03Sustainable Wine Roundtable·

Domaine Bousquet details organic, water-saving and lightweight-bottle practices in Mendoza

  • SWR Membership Manager Ilva Fridenberga visited Domaine Bousquet's Mendoza winery at the foot of the Andes in February.
  • The estate is trialling biodiversity and garden vineyard corridors, with harvest done from outside the vine rows in the former.
  • Domaine Bousquet switched to high-pressure hoses for cleaning harvest boxes, cutting water use, and is a Bottle Weight Accord signatory targeting still bottles under 420g.
Reported bySustainable Wine Roundtable: Domaine Bousquet details organic, water-saving and lightweight-bottle practices in Mendoza
04IVES Open Science·

MODIS satellite data validated for mapping vineyard evapotranspiration across regions

  • University of Padova researchers Gianni Fila, Franco Meggio and Andrea Pitacco developed a remote-sensing method for mapping vineyard water consumption.
  • They used MODIS satellite data and ground meteorological observations on a 25-hectare vineyard in north-eastern Italy, with an eddy-covariance tower installed.
  • Estimates matched four years of eddy-covariance measurements, suggesting MODIS can monitor vineyard evapotranspiration at regional scale.
Reported byIVES Open Science: MODIS satellite data validated for mapping vineyard evapotranspiration across regions
05IVES Open Science·

Grenache rootstocks and irrigation shape water use in NE Spain vineyard

  • A three-year study in NE Spain tested Grenache grafted onto three rootstocks, irrigated and non-irrigated.
  • Non-irrigated vines had higher water use efficiency, and rootstocks 110-R and 41-B beat 161-49C.
  • Stomatal conductance differences from irrigation persisted through the season, peaking at veraison.
Reported byIVES Open Science: Grenache rootstocks and irrigation shape water use in NE Spain vineyard
06IVES Open Science·

Italian researchers outline viticulture strategies for climate change and biodiversity

  • Pisa University researchers say climate change may extend viticulture to higher latitudes and altitudes, requiring more resilient grapevine genotypes.
  • Italian regions have launched projects to recover local grapevine varieties at risk of abandonment in the global market.
  • Trials on Latium varieties Malvasia del Lazio and Cesanese d'Affile, plus Cabernet Sauvignon, tested Cordon Spur of Conegliano training.
Reported byIVES Open Science: Italian researchers outline viticulture strategies for climate change and biodiversity
07IVES Open Science·

Conegliano pruning trials on Lazio grape varieties test yield and quality

  • Researchers at Italy's CRA viticulture centre and several Lazio and Padua institutions trialled Conegliano growing systems on Malvasia, Cesanese d'Affile and Cabernet Sauvignon.
  • The trials compared Vertical Tridimensional Minimal Pruning of Conegliano with and without DMRC, a double reasoned maturation method.
  • The stated aim is raising gross saleable product while improving quality, typicality and originality, with the work noting limited water and climate-driven overcropping.
Reported byIVES Open Science: Conegliano pruning trials on Lazio grape varieties test yield and quality
08Vineyard Magazine·

Winter vineyard jobs and the tools growers use to ease them

  • Winter vineyard work includes pruning, soil care and frost protection, which growers can ease with specialised tools.
  • Cordless battery secateurs and a tractor-mounted pre-pruner cut hand-pruning time and reduce pulling out of canes.
  • Mechanical sweepers gather canes into a row so a flail mower can mulch the prunings at the same time.
Reported byVineyard Magazine: Winter vineyard jobs and the tools growers use to ease them
09IVES Open Science·

Portuguese trial cuts Loureiro and Borraçal yields with Ethephon and thinning

  • A 2007 trial in Vinhos Verdes tested Ethephon, Prohexadione-calcium and manual bunch thinning on Loureiro and Borraçal vines.
  • Manual bunch thinning cut Borraçal yield about 41% against control, versus about 26% for white Loureiro.
  • Ethephon at berry buck-shot stage lifted Loureiro sugar and lowered acidity, while Borraçal gained no quality benefit.
Reported byIVES Open Science: Portuguese trial cuts Loureiro and Borraçal yields with Ethephon and thinning
10IVES Open Science·

Vine balance explained: how growth and crop load shift through the season

  • Vine balance describes the equilibrium between a vine's vegetative growth and its reproductive growth, the fruit it bears.
  • A balanced vine ripens its crop, sets fruitful buds for the next year, and builds reserves, without excessive canopy management.
  • Standard indirect measures such as yield to pruning weight ratio do not capture how growth balances shift during the season.
Reported byIVES Open Science: Vine balance explained: how growth and crop load shift through the season
01Be Wine Curious·Miquel Hudin·

A deeper look at underwater wine aging

  • Attis, a winery owned by the Fariña family in O Grove, Galicia, ages its Albariño 'Mar' underwater in the Galician estuary.
  • The 2025 Attis Albariño 'Mar' is aged five months underwater at 13-16C, while the 'Standard' version of the same wine is not.
  • Attis produces about 120,000 bottles of its Standard Albariño annually, and the bottles aged underwater are magnums sealed with glass caps rather than cork.
Read the full story: A deeper look at underwater wine aging
03wineanorak·Jamie Goode·

With these twelve wines, Juampi Michellini, Matias Riccitelli, Rafael Urreloja and Derek Mossman Knapp illustrate Argentina and Chile’s precocious ability to express the best in any variety

  • Riccitelli's Patagonia Bastardo (Trousseau) is 100% from a vineyard planted in the 1970s, whole-bunch fermented and pressed to foudres, scoring 94/100.
  • Zorzal's Chardonnay Parcelario 2024 from Uco Valley, grown on a limestone-influenced block, received 95/100 from reviewer JG.
  • Urrejola's Undurraga Terroir Hunter Pinot Noir Trama 2022 comes from limestone in San Antonio Valley, five kilometres from the ocean, scoring 94/100.
Read the full story: With these twelve wines, Juampi Michellini, Matias Riccitelli, Rafael Urreloja and Derek Mossman Knapp illustrate Argentina and Chile’s precocious ability to express the best in any variety
05Maker's Table·Meg Maker·

Owendee

  • Wine-related search queries slump in July but rise sharply through October, peaking on December 31 before falling after New Year.
  • The October-to-December wine surge coincides with the Northern Hemisphere harvest, marking the wheel of the year.
Read the full story: Owendee
06The Morning Claret·Simon J. Woolf·

Visiting the Vineyard in the Sky

  • Domaine de Beudon, at 890 metres in Valais, Switzerland, is run by the Granges-Faiss family, who have farmed there for over 50 years.
  • Jacky Granges-Faiss bought the estate in 1971 and became Valais's first Demeter certified estate in 1992, with his wife Marion, after his death in 2016.
  • Beudon's wines are fermented on the mountain but aged and bottled at Pierre-Antoine Crettenand's winery in Saillon, and use only sulphites as an additive since 2003.
Read the full story: Visiting the Vineyard in the Sky
07Tim Atkin·Tim Atkin MW·

Nasty Not Nice

  • Tim Atkin argues wine is declining because the trade is too nice, and that wine should be made more complicated and insecurity-inducing.
  • He cites the Victorian cutlery and Riedel glass examples as models for making wine feel exclusive and intimidating to ordinary drinkers.
  • Atkin proposes ideas like separate barrel bottling and a Smithfield-style Primeur sale, arguing that excitement and risk should return to buying wine.
Read the full story: Nasty Not Nice
08Cab Franc Chronicles·Cab Franc Chronicles·

Inside Chinon’s Lieux-Dits Project

  • Chinon's lieux-dits project, begun by the Chinon Syndicat in 2014, aims to promote vineyard sites collectively without a formal classification.
  • Seven lieux-dits have been officially recognized so far, starting with La Croix Boissée in Cravant-les-Côteaux in 2018.
  • Each recognized site gets an in-depth monograph and an engraved stone marking the vineyard, with Matthieu Baudry of Domaine Bernard Baudry on the working group.
Read the full story: Inside Chinon’s Lieux-Dits Project
10shades of grape·Eveline Chartier·

400 Montepulciano Bottles for Thomas Jefferson circa 1805

  • A trade contract dated October 17, 1350 between the Del Pecora family and merchant Jacopo di Vanni of Santa Fiora is the oldest known document for Vino Nobile di Montepulciano.
  • A 2024 document from the Jesuit archives in Montepulciano showed the term Vino Nobile was first used in 1766, replacing the previously assumed 1787 date.
  • In November 1805 Thomas Jefferson received 473 bottles of Montepulciano and later requested 400 bottles annually, specifying they come from ancient Jesuit vineyards.
Read the full story: 400 Montepulciano Bottles for Thomas Jefferson circa 1805