SF Chronicle
Jess Lander of the San Francisco Chronicle warns that California’s 2025 wine-grape harvest is unraveling, with more than 100,000 tons of fruit likely to be abandoned. The Chronicle reports this second straight year of oversupply is forcing drastic vineyard removals as demand plunges. From the Article:
Driving on Napa Valley’s Highway 29 looks a little different this harvest. Dirt fields have supplanted many of the region’s prized vineyards. Menacing piles of dead vines sit atop the fallow ground, stripped of the chance to produce wine ever again.
The scene paints a somber picture of the wine industry’s foremost struggles: Alcohol consumption has hit a 90-year low and there’s a major oversupply of wine and grapes. Tens of thousands of acres of vineyards have been ripped out across the state, and despite mostly ideal weather conditions this growing season, more than 100,000 tons of California wine grapes will likely be left on the vines to rot — for the second consecutive year.
Cork and Journey Related Links:
BBC
In the BBC News, business reporter Will Smale explores how climate change is pushing wineries in Napa and Italy to embrace non-vintage blends once dismissed as downmarket. Smale highlights pioneers like Chris Howell at Cain Vineyard and Riccardo Pasqua in Veneto, who argue that multi-year wines offer consistency and resilience in the face of heatwaves, wildfires, and extreme weather. From the Article:
In the world of wine vintage is king. If you are buying a bottle of red, white or rosé then the specific year of the grape harvest is almost always written on the label. By contrast, non-vintage still wine – that’s made by blending two or more years – is seen as very downmarket, something cheap and not cheerful. And it is significantly rarer.
Yet with climate change hitting vineyards around the world with more extreme weather, a small but growing number of quality-conscious wineries are releasing non-vintage bottles so they can make a more consistent wine.
Cork and Journey Related Links
The Drinks Business
In The Drinks Business, Sarah Neish explores why media companies are entering the wine world, spotlighting ventures like the Fox News Wine Shop, a lifestyle e‑commerce arm offering American-made wines and clubs. As media expands beyond content into commerce, these moves reflect a broader trend of digital and broadcast brands extending into curated beverage experiences. From the Article:
Fox News, the news division of one of the globe’s biggest media companies, announced on Tuesday, 26 August, that it is joining the world of wine. The brand revealed it has partnered with Direct Wines Inc. to launch an online wine marketplace, Fox News Wine Shop.
According to Fox News, consumers can browse wines “by country, region, grape variety, season, occasion and more”, and bottles are produced by “independent and family-run wineries across the United States”.
There will also be the opportunity to join the Fox News American Wine Club, a subscription service that delivers nine bottles every eight weeks.
Cork and Journey Related Links:
Texas Monthly
In Texas Monthly, Paula Forbes charts the rapid evolution of Fredericksburg and the Hill Country into Texas’s premier wine destination, where serious producers now stand shoulder to shoulder with party buses and pink limos. Her journey through more than a dozen tasting rooms captures an industry that has grown in confidence, quality, and recognition. From the article:
“During the past couple of decades, the number of wineries along the thirty-mile stretch of U.S. 290 between Johnson City and Fredericksburg has grown from a handful to around fifty—some of them good, some bad, some remarkably cheesy.”
Cork And Journey Related Texas Winery Review Links:
