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A US ban on certain Canadian spirits and wine imports took effect September 29, and the Toasts Not Tariffs Coalition warned it will ripple through the US hospitality sector ahead of the holiday season and risks making both countries' on-premise channels "collateral damage." The measure follows a 50% additional tariff on specified Canadian alcoholic beverages that began August 22, and comes after Canadian provinces boycotted US-made alcohol starting in March last year, with only Alberta and Saskatchewan since lifting their bans; the coalition said the US accounted for 93% of Canada's total spirits exports last year.
Drinks Intel |
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The Senate passed the Common Cents Act (H.R. 10167) by unanimous consent on September 28, sending it to the President, and American Beverage Licensees welcomed the measure, which sets a federal framework for rounding cash transactions as the country stops producing the penny. ABL, which represents beer, wine and spirits retailers, credited Representatives Lisa McClain and Robert Garcia and Senators Cynthia Lummis and Kirsten Gillibrand for the bipartisan effort and urged the President to sign it.
American Beverage Licensees |
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William Grant & Sons, the Glenfiddich and Hendrick's owner, reported pre-tax profit of £337 million (US$446.5m) for the year to December 31, 2025, down 13% from £388m in 2024, with turnover off 4% to £1.758 billion (US$2.33bn). The company blamed difficult market conditions, trade and geopolitical pressures, and softer demand; its CEO seat remains unfilled after Søren Hagh's departure in November.
The Spirits Business |
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Custom crush facility Legend Napa Valley abruptly closed during harvest, leaving California winemakers who relied on it scrambling. One affected winemaker described it to Wine Business as "a very overwhelming, 'Oh my God,' moment."
winebusiness |
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Constellation Brands plans to close the Quarry Lake site in Sonoma, the former home of Ravenswood Winery, with layoffs to follow. The facility was built in the late 1990s as Ravenswood, then a Zinfandel-focused producer roughly two decades old, grew during a rapid expansion in California's premium wine sector.
winebusiness |
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Growth at the largest beer vendors again fell short of losses concentrated at the top through August and early September ahead of Labor Day, per Circana's latest monthly report. New Belgium, Sazerac and several others ran counter to the decline.
Brewbound |
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Jean-Charles Boisset, owner of France's Boisset Collection, bought Napa Valley's Artesa Estate from Spain's Raventós Codorníu, a 350-acre property with 155 acres of vines in Los Carneros and Mt Veeder. Terms were not disclosed, and Boisset said he plans a "renewed emphasis on sparkling wine" at the estate.
Drinks Intel |
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Bars around the country are lowering cocktail and wine prices in response to customer pushback against rising drink costs, and Food & Wine reports some are seeing the return of customers they hadn't served in a while.
Food & Wine |
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Beverage-alcohol off-premise sales lost their post-Labor Day momentum in Circana's latest weekly scan data, with beer taking the largest dive. The market research firm expects off-premise sales to keep sliding toward Thanksgiving, with the possible exception of Halloween.
Brewbound |
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The TTB updated its beer frequently-asked-questions page on Tuesday, September 29, with clarifications covering transfers between breweries and when a beer requires formula approval.
Vinetur |
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The Angoulême commercial court ordered Sazerac's French subsidiary, Sazerac de Segonzac, to execute multi-year supply contracts with 45 Cognac grape growers that the company terminated in January 2026, according to growers' union UGVC. Sazerac is expected to appeal and did not respond to a request for comment.
The Spirits Business |
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Molson Coors will close Sharp's Brewery near Wadebridge, Cornwall, by the end of the year, cutting up to 40 jobs, after a consultation that began early in the year found the site was no longer financially viable and citing changing consumer tastes and pressures on the cask ale market. Camerons Brewery is set to be a strategic partner for brewing some Sharp's brands going forward.
Beer Today |
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In its first report of its kind, Southern Glazer's, which handles roughly a third of US wine and spirits sales across 47 US and Canadian markets, named five growth levers for wine: winning younger drinkers with flavor innovation, expanding small and portable formats, targeting new occasions, playing to a polarized "K-shaped" economy, and embracing moderation. Among the data cited, the 200ml format alone drives 55% of still and sparkling wine volume growth, non-alcoholic wine is up 18% in value, and Gen Z and Millennial households now make up 35.6% of US homes (up from 29% in 2021) and are projected to become the top alcohol buyers by 2035.
Vitisphere |
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Signorello Estate and Gundlach Bundschu, two well-known California wineries, recently ran into serious financial trouble, which the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette frames as the start of a new era for the wine industry.
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette |
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Diageo has moved into "mid-strength" spirits, a step Just Drinks says could add momentum to the emerging product area and pose another challenge to winemakers already under pressure.
Just Drinks |
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IWSR's latest global Bevtrac data show Gen Z drinking participation up eight percentage points to 74%, close to the 76% figure for the general population, which MD Marten Lodewijks said "conclusively debunked" the idea of Gen Z as a generation of moderation. In a Drinks Intel column, Wilde Toast's Charlie Mitchell disagreed, arguing Gen Z are intentional or "flexitarian" drinkers who concentrate spending on fewer, bigger occasions, favoring the on-premise and cocktails, with the cohort the first to have higher rates of cocktail drinkers than beer drinkers in bars globally.
Drinks Intel |
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A federal judge in Syracuse on Sept. 23 declined to throw out the Cayuga Nation's Commerce Clause claim against the New York State Liquor Authority, which denied the Nation a liquor license in part because it would not agree to stock a set portion of New York-made products, a condition the Nation says other nearby non-native stores do not face. The case heads to discovery, while a separate Nation challenge seeking to annul the December 2025 denial awaits a ruling in State Supreme Court of Erie County; the Nation's beer license is unaffected.
Finger Lakes Times |
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Edinburgh's Holyrood Distillery has paused whisky production until further notice, with co-founder Rob Carpenter telling The Guardian he does not know when it will resume and estimating that the Scotch industry may be producing around a third of its normal level. The pause does not affect the distillery's tours, which account for about half its revenue, with bookings still open; it comes two and a half years after Holyrood secured more than £2 million (US$2.5m) for global expansion.
The Spirits Business |
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Tilray Brands, which bought BrewDog out of administration for £33m in March and says it has since put nearly £50m into the business, has named John Beasley (ex-Red Bull, Monster) as chief marketing officer, Gemma Hampton-Stone as managing director of bars and hospitality, Ridesh Sharma as category director and Faisal Khan as commercial director outside Europe, alongside an "under new ownership" marketing campaign. Tilray CEO Irwin Simon told The Guardian he is considering buying additional British craft beer brands and reviving BrewDog's closed Ellon distillery, and wants to lift annual sales from around £225m to £350m.
TheBusinessDesk.com |
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Ste. Michelle Wine Estates has become the national sales partner for Trothe and Sagebreaker, two Washington wine brands from Andrews Family Vineyards. The partnership widens distribution reach for the brands.
Wine Industry Advisor |
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Admiral Maltings, the Alameda floor-malting operation that supplied malt to brewers and distillers along Spirits Alley, is shutting down, with its final batch coming out of the kiln Oct. 2 and its taproom The Rake closing Oct. 18. In a Sept. 29 Instagram post, the owners said that despite reaching out to potential partners over the past couple of years, they "couldn't make and sell malt economically."
East Bay Times |
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Three Orange County, California craft breweries, Bottle Logic, The Bruery and Offshoot Beer Co., have come together under a single banner called The Bruery Group.
Brewbound |
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Bacardi is adding an Aberfeldy 18 Year Old Sangiovese Red Wine Cask Finish to its Wine Cask Series this fall, a Highland single malt matured in first-fill Sangiovese casks from Valdarno di Sopra in Tuscany, bottled at 46% abv, non-chill-filtered and natural color. Global vice president of Scotch whisky Brian Cox told Shanken News Daily the House of John Dewar & Sons is also running a new Scotch Portfolio Gifting Program that pairs Aberfeldy and Dewar's for the first time.
Shanken News Daily |
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Diageo's India division has increased the scotch whisky content of McDowell's No1, an IMFL brand with annual sales of over 30 million cases that blends scotch, Indian malts and grain spirits, though it did not specify by how much. The reformulation comes with a packaging refresh, including a new bottle shape and label for the Original and Luxury versions.
Drinks Intel |
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Retail buyers and distributors told The Spirits Business that a bottle's silhouette, contrast and clear brand cues matter more than decorative detail, with Southern Glazer's Zach Poelma saying a pack should be recognizable from three to six feet away. Sources flagged "restrained premiumisation" and lightweighting as dominant trends, while warning that too many brands chasing the same clean, minimalist look risks making categories feel generic; Woven Whisky's Duncan McRae argued labels rarely convey flavour clearly enough before purchase.
The Spirits Business |
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Diageo and Pernod Ricard have started cutting retail prices on Scotch whisky in Indian states including Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Goa after the India-UK trade agreement halved import tariffs from 150% to 75%, dropping prices on brands like Johnnie Walker Black Label and J&B by 10-15%. The deal sets a path to cut those tariffs toward 40% over the next decade, narrowing the gap with domestic premium producers such as Rampur, Amrut, and Paul John.
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Japan is unifying the tax rates applied to beer and beer-like beverages, which had been taxed differently despite being similar products. The Yomiuri notes the split rates had driven product development aimed at tax savings.
The Japan News |
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Three people have been found guilty of fraud following an investigation into a multi-million-pound fine wine investment scam in the UK. The scheme, reported at £37m, targeted pensioners and other would-be investors.
winebusiness |
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Retailers and importers tell The Spirits Business that whisky from India, South Korea, China, the Nordics and Tasmania is winning repeat purchases, with Indri and Paul John cited as India's standouts and The Whisky Exchange reporting strong return buying on Korean and Chinese bottlings. Buyers say age statements and pricing remain barriers for emerging producers, and that awareness, rather than quality, is the biggest hurdle, particularly for English, French and Australian whiskies that still trail the top four whisky nations.
The Spirits Business |
