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The Financial Times reports on the pressures facing Napa Valley as people drink less, with vines being ripped up and some winemakers going out of business.
Financial Times |
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California has launched an investigation into Southern Glazer's over bribery allegations, per VinePair's weekly roundup.
VinePair |
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California's wine grape harvest fell to its smallest level since 1999, with acreage in production dropping to 510,000 acres in 2025, per Vinetur. Weak sales and rising costs pushed growers to pull vines.
Vinetur |
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Non-alcoholic wine dollar sales rose 15.6% and volume climbed 11.6% in the four weeks ending June 6, 2026, per NIQ's BevAl market report, which tied the gains to continuing moderation trends.
winebusiness |
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American Craft Spirits Association CEO Emily Pennington told Global Drinks Intel the group is pushing the FTC to study the three-tier system's distribution and market-access challenges for small producers, saying it wants a more level playing field rather than the system dismantled. Pennington said an ACSA survey found more than 50% of members are owed late payments by distributors, averaging $27,000, with at least one owed over $100,000; the group is also backing the Spirit Act, which would give a 90% tax break to craft distillers using 90% American-grown inputs, and the expansion of direct-to-consumer shipping, now allowed in around ten states.
Drinks Intel |
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Stoli Group owner Yuri Shefler told The Telegraph that former Latvian Prime Minister Andris Šķēle, whom he links to Putin's "inner circle," demanded control of the business last month, a claim Šķēle denies, saying he approached Shefler on behalf of creditors trying to save Amber Latvijas Balzams from bankruptcy. The sister-company unit, placed in legal protection early this year, applied on 6 October to terminate that protection after failing to win creditor approval for a repayment plan, alleging an unnamed third party bought a majority of claims against it to gain control; separately, Amber's UK unit has been put up for sale.
Drinks Intel |
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Tilray Brands said its BrewDog acquisition lifted its beverage business to growth in the first quarter of its 2027 fiscal year. The company's CEO also pointed to additional craft cuts and another extension of a hemp ban.
Brewbound |
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The US had 2,131 active craft distilleries as of August, down 6.6% year on year, while craft spirits sales fell for a third consecutive year, dropping 8% in volume to 11.7 million nine-litre cases and 3.7% in value to $7.3bn in 2025, per a report from the American Craft Spirits Association and Park Street. Craft's share of total US spirits slipped to 4.2% by volume and 7.3% by value, full-time domestic employment fell 25.6% to 21,285 positions, and exports dropped 13.4% to 123,000 nine-litre cases.
Just Drinks |
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Constellation Brands paid $75 million for full ownership of SpikedAde, a vodka-based line of noncarbonated hard sports drinks, with contingent payments of up to $278 million over five years tied to performance. The brand moves into Constellation's beer division, which will handle production, marketing and distribution and plans a nationwide expansion.
USA TODAY |
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Treasury Wine Estates has made about 170 roles redundant, mostly across corporate functions, as part of its transformation program. The cuts follow the sale of its Seppelt assets to Stonier Wines and a $558.4 million hit on the winding back of its US operations, with total write-downs surpassing $1.2 billion; TWE says it will return to growth by FY28 and is recruiting for commercial roles in Australia, New Zealand, China and emerging markets around priority brands including Penfolds, Daou and Matua.
Inside FMCG |
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Pernod Ricard has finalized a leaguewide NFL deal naming it the official spirits sponsor, worth around $20M a year and including RTD cocktail rights, with Jameson Irish Whiskey as the lead brand. Pernod replaces Diageo, which did not renew its five-year sponsorship earlier this year; the new rights are global except for Brazil and Mexico, and Jameson will sponsor NFL international games in European cities including Paris.
Sports Business Journal |
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Leaders at Japanese beer makers may have been aware of a price cartel, according to the Japan Times.
japantimes.co.jp |
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Italian prosecutors have asked that Campari chairman Luca Garavoglia stand trial over alleged tax evasion, and have also requested a trial for Giovanni Berto, legal representative of controlling shareholder Lagfin, on an alleged fraudulent tax declaration charge, Reuters reported citing sources. Campari said it had no comment as the matter does not relate to the company or its subsidiaries, while Lagfin, which settled a separate tax dispute with Italy's Revenue Agency in December for €405m, said it is not involved in the latest proceedings.
Just Drinks |
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A surplus of premium California wine, which accounts for roughly 80% of U.S. production, is pushing wineries to offload inventory in bulk to retailers like Costco, Aldi, Kroger and Grocery Outlet, which are repackaging bottles that normally sell for as much as $150 under private labels priced below $30, per a Los Angeles Times report. Grocery Outlet is selling wines that typically retail for $45 to $85 for $9.99 under its Second Cheapest Wine brand, Kroger added 20 wines scoring 90-plus for the first time in its history, and industry experts expect the discounts to last up to two years as vineyards reduce acreage.
Yahoo |
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Foley Family Wines & Spirits has added DrinkAde, a pre-alcohol wellness shot selling at $5 per 3.4 ounces in Cherry Ice, Lemon Lime, and Blue Razz Ice, and is housing it alongside RTD labels Sabé and Tequio in a new Total Beverage unit focused on accelerating RTD growth. DrinkAde is distributed in many states by SGWS and merchandised next to alcohol; Sabé, a wine-based canned cocktail, grew 27% to 61,000 cases last year, per Impact Databank.
Shanken News Daily |
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Brand Finance put Hennessy's brand value at $3.8 billion, down 29% and the steepest fall among major cognac brands. The consultancy tied the drop to weaker premium demand, trade disruption and inventory normalization in the United States and China.
Vinetur |
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A Russian strike has destroyed a Ukrainian wine retailer's warehouse for the second time, adding to the disruption Ukraine's drinks industry has faced since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.
winebusiness |
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BevZero is taking back management of its Santa Rosa, California facility from Bronco Wine Co., which had been running the site after seizing the assets of Wine Hooligans. Bronco is stepping back to focus on winemaking.
winebusiness |
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Carlsberg Britvic plans to close the Marston's Brewery, affecting its brewing operations and employees.
asiantrader |
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Old Mission Peninsula owes its wineries $50 million after clamping down on them, according to Wine Industry Advisor.
Wine Industry Advisor |
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Ampelands has started a wine sales collective pitched as a way for wineries to scale without consolidating. At launch its portfolio holds ten wineries, including Field Recordings and So Far Out from Andrew Jones and Union Sacré.
winebusiness |
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Poland's lower house, the Sejm, voted 400 to 29 with four abstentions to extend the country's alcohol advertising ban to beer and bar off-premise sales between 10pm and 6am, with local authorities able to widen the window from 9pm to 9am. The Lewica-drafted bill, which also curbs promotions and raises licensing fees and exempts on-trade service, now goes to the Senate and then to President Karol Nawrocki; brewing trade group Browary Polskie opposed the advertising ban.
Just Drinks |
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Great Jones Distilling Co., billed as Manhattan's first whiskey distillery since Prohibition, is shutting down its flagship visitor center after five years. The closure comes as U.S. whiskey sales continue to decline.
Inc.com |
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The Scotch Whisky Association has appealed to the UK government over the English whisky GI that Defra approved on 11 September, saying the rules "water down" single malt by allowing English whisky to be mashed and fermented away from the distillery. The Irish Whiskey and Welsh Whisky Associations joined a statement backing the concerns, and English producers Spirit of Birmingham and Circumstance Distillery have separately filed their own appeals, all to be heard by HM Courts & Tribunals Service.
The Spirits Business |
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Napa Valley winegrowers and wineries have pledged $2.5 million to fund Phase One of the GRBV Initiative, a three-year public-private program targeting Grapevine Red Blotch Virus, with the American Vineyard Foundation set to serve as fiscal agent and administrator. The initiative plans to issue its first competitive calls for proposals in January 2027 and make initial funding decisions in spring 2027.
iGrow News |
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At least seven thieves disabled the alarm and cameras at Marchesi Antinori's facility near Cortona and used the winery's own forklifts to load two trucks with roughly 30,000 bottles of 2023-vintage Solaia, Tignanello and Guado al Tasso, worth an estimated $5.8 million, in what CEO Renzo Cotarella called Italy's largest wine theft on record. The haul included about 10,000 bottles of Solaia, which retails between 150 and 500 euros; the company is alerting clients worldwide to watch for offers outside official channels.
nypost.com |
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A bottle of Macallan 1926 sold for £2.1m ($2.8m) at a Sotheby's auction held at the Macallan Estate in Speyside, becoming the second most valuable bottle of whisky ever sold in pounds and setting a record for a Fine & Rare bottling. Distilled in 1926 and bottled in 1986 after 60 years in a single sherry seasoned oak cask, it is one of 40 bottles drawn from cask 263; the invite-only event drew 50 of the world's leading collectors and was the first auction ever staged at the distillery.
bbc.com |
