May 18, 2026 – Restaurant Wine Prices Are Killing Wine Sales

In this Wine-Searcher article, W. Blake Gray argues that restaurant wine pricing is actively turning diners away from the category, not just because of cost, but because the by-the-glass experience often fails to justify the price. Citing new Wine Market Council research discussed at a Napa press event, Gray reports that more than 75% of wine drinkers told NIQ they are unwilling to pay more than $16 for a glass of wine in a restaurant, while only 15% would go above $18 and just 7% would pay more than $20. From the article:

In this Drinks International article, Eleanor Yates reports that Argentina’s Catena Zapata has been named The World’s Most Admired Wine Brand 2026 for the second consecutive year. The Mendoza producer also took Most Admired Wine Brand in South America, while Antinori was ranked second and named the top brand in Europe, with Familia Torres rounding out the top three. The ranking is based on votes from an academy that includes sommeliers, buyers, wholesalers, Masters of Wine, and wine writers, making the result a useful signal of global trade and brand prestige, even if it is ultimately still an industry popularity ranking rather than a consumer sales measure.

The list is VERY tilted toward the old world.

In this SevenFifty Daily article, Jim Clarke explains Germany’s updated wine law, a reform that has been phasing in since 2021 and becomes mandatory from the 2026 vintage, shifting the country further toward a geography-based labeling model aligned with broader EU wine rules. The system introduces PGIs and PDOs, with Qualitätswein sitting inside the PDO framework, and it gives Germany’s regional producer groups, the Schutzgemeinschaften, more authority to define grape varieties, production rules, and tasting-board standards within their areas. The article’s key takeaway is that German wine labels may become more internationally legible in theory, but not necessarily simpler in practice, because the new hierarchy adds another layer of regional control and classification on top of an already complex system. From the article:

In this Wine-Searcher article, Vicki Denig reports on a modern recreation of the 1976 Judgment of Paris tasting, with the U.S. again coming out on top, but with a noticeably updated frame around what wine competition is supposed to measure. The piece centers on Patrick Cappiello and his push to spotlight American wine at a moment when many domestic producers feel both consumers and trade buyers have cooled on the category. The bigger point is that this was not just nostalgia for one of wine’s most famous tasting events, it was an attempt to re-stage the conversation around American wine quality, relevance, and identity in today’s market. From the article:

(Patrick) Cappiello took to social media and encouraged his followers to join him in drinking only American wines for a two-month period, both to create momentum for struggling producers and expand his own horizons; what he discovered blew him away. “The quality of the wines that I was tasting – not just from California, but from New York, Virginia, and Pennsylvania – was unbelievable,” he said, revealing that he was constantly impressed by what I was opening. One night during his tasting journey, Cappiello’s partner suggested watching Bottle Shock, a 2008 film based on the 1976 Judgment of Paris tasting. The rest was history. “I thought, oh my god, I should really recreate this tasting,” he said. And so began the two-year journey of The 1976 Redo.