Wine may be misunderstanding moderation
No-alcohol wine is gaining momentum, suggesting that moderation may be more about choosing when to drink than simply drinking less alcohol.
Read moreThey don’t need your wine
Why the first bottle is easy, the second bottle is everything, and most wine marketing never gets that far. ‘… ils n’ont pas besoin de votre vin.’ This blunt and painful line comes from an article by Sharon Nagel on Vitisphere about Vinexpo Asia in Hong Kong. In it, Andrea Guillot of Domaine Guillot-Gonin says of China: buyers there are not waiting for wine producers. Worse still: they do not need your wine. That line lands harder than the language usually heard in the wine trade. In that language, the consumer ‘shifts’. They drink less alcohol, choose white wine or
Read moreWhy ‘The Wine Shift’ exists
On wine, power and why analysis is uncomfortable There’s no shortage of writing about wine. What’s rarer is analysis that goes beyond product, provenance and promotion. The wine world has become comfortable. Marketing too easily passes for substance, origin for quality and framing for truth. Critical questions are politely avoided. Doubt is smoothed over. Complexity is traded for marketability. That changes here. Wine as a lens The Wine Shift exists because wine is too often presented simply as a lifestyle product, while in reality it is also an economic, cultural and political system. A system with interests, institutions, and power.
Read moreWhy Ozempic users leave their wine glass half full
What Ozempic and related drugs do to alcohol, cravings, and reward It’s happening more and more often, though it’s rarely spoken about out loud. People using Ozempic, or a related drug, find that their glass of wine stays half full. Not out of principle. Not out of guilt. But simply because they have less of an appetite. Because it affects them less. Because the glass of wine is less appealing. That raises an intriguing question: does a diet shot also make you more sober? And if so, what does that say about alcohol, our brains, and how relative “craving” actually is? Initial
Read moreGerman wine legislation 2026: ‘Origin is everything’, but what does that mean for the consumer?
Germany promises clarity on the wine label. Starting with the 2026 vintage, everything should become logical. However, the most important information is missing. The moment has arrived, finally Five years after the official promulgation of the revised Weinverordnung, 2026 is the year in which the new German wine quality system becomes legally binding. The transitional period ends definitively with the 2026 vintage; from that moment on, producers are obliged to apply the new labelling rules. Anyone buying a bottle from the 2026 vintage or later will, in principle, read a new story on the label. But ‘in principle’ is not
Read moreSmoke taint in wine: the journey from wildfire to grape
A reader’s question about smoke, leaves, and grapes uncovers a surprising twist in smoke taint research. A recurring annual threat Every year, wildfires tear through wine regions such as Bordeaux, Provence, Napa Valley and Australia. The fire destroys everything in its path, but the smoke travels far beyond those burning hectares. Vineyards, many kilometres away, get caught up in it too. That smoke settles on the skin and works its way into the juice. Wine made from tainted grapes takes on a smoky, ashy, sometimes medicinal flavour. For producers, that’s a direct hit: an entire harvest can become unsellable, even
Read moreThe wine consumer as alibi
What the sector already knew There he is again: the changing wine consumer as alibi. The moment the wine market stumbles, he shows up as the suspect. The explanation sits outside the sector, so the sector never has to look at itself first. The list is familiar by now. Gen Z drinks less wine. Millennials choose differently. Health weighs heavier. Alcohol is less of a given. Meals grew more casual, households smaller, and the range of alternatives kept expanding. The sector reads that list as a request for different qualities: crisper, lighter, lower in alcohol, more often white or rosé,
Read moreFrance’s wine miracle was an accounting illusion
A quarter-century of falling sales hidden behind rising prices, and 25 years of French customs data, reveal a colour shift in which the Netherlands now reaches the tipping point.
Read moreFrance’s wine miracle was an accounting illusion
Twenty-five years of French customs data show how rising prices masked falling export volumes — and how the market is now shifting towards white.
Read moreThe clay story Casadei isn’t telling
Famiglia Casadei has a ten-point plan, three Demeter certifications, and an impressive biodynamic philosophy. The real story sits in a detail few mentions: the terracotta vessels in the cellar.
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