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France's agriculture ministry has warned that 2026 wine production could fall to a 70-year low, the third straight year of reduced output, with the temperate Loire Valley and Champagne hit hardest while Bordeaux and Languedoc-Roussillon reported higher harvests than last year. The government has committed over 1 billion euros ($1.15 billion) in emergency aid, and roughly 4% of France's vines will be pulled in 2026 under a program paying growers 4,000 euros ($4,590) per hectare to permanently remove vines.
cnbc.com |
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Canadian beer producers are paying more for cans as tariffs on aluminum moving in both directions hit 50 percent, following a U.S. escalation in late August, per the Windsor Star.
Windsor Star |
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Manitoba has pulled the remaining U.S. alcohol from its liquor store shelves, with Premier Wab Kinew citing Prime Minister Carney's statement that Canada "was attacked."
winebusiness |
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A Wine Business piece looks at how the US distribution tier has reshaped since RNDC's exit, arguing the key question for brands has shifted from which distributor to use to whether they rank as a priority brand for distributors that now hold significantly more market power.
winebusiness |
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The British government has designated English single malt as a distinct whisky category, drawing anger from Scottish distillers.
VinePair |
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Treasury Wine Estates, the owner of Penfolds, has sold its 160-year-old Seppelt winery in western Victoria, per The Australian. It is the first asset sold under new chief executive Sam Fischer.
The Australian |
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Republic National Distributing Company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July, and small northern Nevada breweries now say the shutdown has closed off their ability to expand outside the state.
2 News KTVN |
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Non-alcoholic wine dollar sales rose 15.6% and volume rose 11.6% in the four weeks ending June 6, 2026, per NIQ's BevAl market report, which tied the gains to moderation trends.
winebusiness |
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Ste. Michelle is closing the tasting rooms and wine clubs for its 14 Hands and Columbia Crest brands in Eastern Washington, saying it is focusing on winemaking and growing its top brands. Both brands will keep producing wine.
winebusiness |
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Signorello Estate, a 49-year-old family-owned Napa winery, has filed for bankruptcy carrying $36 million in debt. Canadian investors Amar Doman and Ashley Cooper have put in a $16 million stalking-horse bid that could climb as high as $20 million to acquire the property.
winebusiness |
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Craft beer's declines kept accelerating through August and into early September, including Labor Day weekend, per Circana's latest monthly scans report. The Chicago-based research firm found 11 top craft brands improved their trends versus August.
Brewbound |
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Three Tequilas ranked among the fastest-growing spirits brands by dollar value in NielsenIQ channels for the four weeks through September 5: Bacardi's Cazadores, Heaven Hill's Lunazul, and Fifth Generation's Lalo, the last posting 48% four-week dollar growth. Spirits RTDs also held up, with volumes up 16% over the past month, and non-alc dollar sales rose 21% in spirits, 18% in wine, and 8% in beer.
Shanken News Daily |
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The TTB told brewers on Friday, September 18, to expressly list "malted barley" and "hops" in their formula filings.
Vinetur |
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More than 100 Unite members at Diageo's Cameronbridge grain whisky distillery in Fife will strike from September 28 to 5.59am BST on October 15 over proposed job cuts, with the union saying production will be brought to a standstill. Diageo says the proposal would remove up to 10 roles, including two vacant ones, and that it is holding alternative jobs for affected workers; the cuts follow a US$1 billion restructuring under CEO Sir Dave Lewis that has reduced the workforce by at least 2,000.
The Spirits Business |
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DISCUS testified before the Texas Senate Committee on State Affairs this week, urging lawmakers to require clear disclosure when retailers hold an ownership or financial interest in a spirits brand and to guard against look-alike products and sales practices that steer consumers toward retailer-affiliated labels. Vice President of State Government Relations Corey Staniscia said "Texas consumers deserve to know when a retailer has a financial stake" in what is sold to them.
Fred Minnick |
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Molson Coors shares fell 3.97% to $37.53 on Friday, with volume of 49.90 million shares (15.2 times Thursday's total) as index funds rebalanced ahead of the company's move out of the S&P 500 and into the S&P SmallCap 600 before trading opens September 21. S&P Dow Jones Indices flagged the transfer on September 4; the switch follows second-quarter net sales that fell 3.3% to $3.097 billion on a 5.4% drop in financial volume.
ts2 |
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Heineken's pubs division is close to a £300 million deal to expand its property portfolio, according to City sources cited by Daily Business.
Daily Business |
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Constellation Brands entered a new term loan credit agreement on September 18 with Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company and other lenders, creating a delayed-draw facility of up to $300 million for general corporate purposes, including possible debt repayment. The two-year loans carry interest tied to Term SOFR or a base rate with rating-based margins, unused commitments accrue a ticking fee starting 30 days after closing, and the covenants mirror those in the company's existing revolving credit facility.
The Globe and Mail |
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Vintage Wine Estates, once a thriving California wine company, is in shambles, with many of the factors behind its demise unique to the company even as the industry's broader struggles made things worse, per Wine Business. The report points to the SPAC process, which does not require the same level of scrutiny, among the contributing factors.
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Weak sales are pushing California wineries to tear out vineyards, per Wine Business, which frames pinot noir's decline as a marker of the wider industry slump as younger drinkers move to other beverages. Facing debt and possible bankruptcy, grower Jason Smith sold a trophy property.
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MGP, the Lawrenceburg, Indiana distillery that has long supplied whiskey to countless brands while appearing on labels only as "Distilled in Indiana," has launched its own branded line, starting with MGP Chapter One: Out of the Shadows, a 10 year old Bourbon at 55.5% abv made from its high-rye mashbill of 60% corn, 36% rye, and 4% malted barley. Aged in Rickhouse G, a brick warehouse built in 1936, it is available now in limited quantities nationwide for $70, with more releases planned.
Shanken News Daily |
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Three wineries have sued Napa County in federal court over its winery regulations, and two more parties are seeking to join the case as plaintiffs.
Napa Valley Register |
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Sapporo Breweries is evaluating options for producing its Sapporo 0.0% non-alcoholic beer, currently brewed in Canada, for the US market, with chief strategy officer Rieko Shofu telling Bloomberg the company planned to shift production to the US by the first half of 2027, citing 50% US tariffs on Canadian beer imports. Sapporo, which said it is considering buying, building, or contracting a West Coast brewery, told Just Drinks the review is "not a new initiative driven solely by tariffs" and that no production transfer has been finalized; a US ban on Canadian-made alcohol imports is due to take effect September 29.
Just Drinks |
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St. Paul, Minnesota craft brewery Summit Brewing is looking for a path forward after lender BMO Bank started a foreclosure action last week, days before its 40th anniversary. CEO Brandon Bland told Brewbound the brewery is pursuing solutions to secure a new lender and "fully activate our growth plan for the years to come."
Brewbound |
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Brown-Forman is preparing a notes offering in minimum denominations of $2,000 plus $1,000 increments, with semiannual interest payments starting in 2027 and proceeds earmarked for general corporate purposes including dividends, buybacks, debt repayment, working capital, capital spending, acquisitions and pension obligations. As of July 31, 2026 the company's $900 million revolving credit facility had no outstanding borrowings, long-term debt stood at $2,083 million and stockholders' equity was $3,969 million; the new notes will not be listed on any exchange.
Kalkine Media |
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The South Australian government pledged a A$109m (£55m) package to help wine growers diversify, transition and pull out vines as the industry struggles with oversupply, centered on a A$100m loan scheme offering up to A$500,000 for large growers and A$250,000 for smaller ones, with no principal or interest payments for the first two years. The remaining funds cover A$5m to extend the Global Wine Growth Program, A$675,000 for a food and wine ad campaign, A$1m for diversification advice, A$500,000 for surplus stock solutions, and a new wine industry coordinator.
The Drinks Business |
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Kroger has dropped Red Bull amid an ongoing price dispute between the two, per Fingers.
Fingers |
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The third Vinitaly.USA runs October 26 and 27 at Pier 36 in New York, with more than 600 buyers (importers, distributors and HoReCa operators) already registered a month out and its roughly 118,400 square feet of exhibition space sold out. Organizer Veronafiere, working with the Italian Trade Agency to recruit buyers in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, will host 300 Italian exhibitors showing about 2,500 wines.
PR Newswire (Wine & Spirits) |
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Michelin has extended its ratings beyond restaurants and hotels to wineries, using a one-to-three grape scale for very good, excellent, and exceptional producers, and covered Bordeaux on September 7 by recognizing 84 châteaus (21 with no grape, 38 with one, 16 with two, and nine with three) out of more than 7,000 in the region. Critics including winemaker Adam Lee and The Wine Cellar Insider's Jeff Leve have questioned the guide's transparency, its inspectors' expertise across vast vineyards, and its choice to rate estates rather than individual vintages, while some estates such as Château Troplong Mondot celebrated their designations.
Yahoo |
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Jancis Robinson points to the steady rise of rosé as the wine trend of her career, dating it to 2006, when Sacha Lichine sold his father's Bordeaux château to launch the Provençal rosé Whispering Angel.
JancisRobinson.com |
