Interesting article about the threat monoculture of agave plants poses to the Tequila industry. Blue agave was apparently chosen by the industry for its sugar content, not its flavor complexity. Maybe heritage agave blends would be better? www.wine-searcher.com/m/2026/02/ov...

France, World War I. This photograph illustrates the difficult logistics of supplying the front line in winter. French soldiers, known as Poilus (‘the hairy ones’), are transporting pinard (wine) to the front lines.

Clever Substack post from a Sonoma County winery on its strategic plan: "Do nothing." oded273.substack.com/p/small-wine...

Two big Japanese companies are walking away from the US Bourbon business ... and the world's largest winery, Gallo, is buying in. Why? An analysis. www.wine-searcher.com/m/2026/02/bo...

Wine Spectator tastes no-alcohol wines so you and I don't have to. I know the industry is excited about sales potential, but I have never yet tasted a no-alcohol wine that was worth drinking. My favorite no-alcohol beverage is water. www.winespectator.com/articles/bes...

Japan is getting out of the Bourbon business, and Gallo is getting into it. What does it all mean? An analysis. www.wine-searcher.com/m/2026/02/bo...

The only type of alcohol that's growing in sales is Ready To Drink cocktails (RTDs) -- and they're growing a lot. So much so that, for the first time, Americans spent more money last year on spirits than beer. www.wine-searcher.com/m/2026/02/rt...

If you canceled your Washington Post subscription in the past, please don't complain today about its layoffs. Newspapers are a business. I know. I worked for several that no longer exist. If you want a newspaper to continue publishing, pay for a subscription.

Only in America: People are paying $20 for a 3D-printed plastic tray so they can eat a cheap hot dog and Coke while standing up. www.sfgate.com/food/article...

This fast-growing group is focused on one issue only: reducing emissions. "We're having a hard enough time selling wine right now," Frog's Leap's Tori Williams said. "Our industry feels a little battered and bruised. This work makes you feel better." www.wine-searcher.com/m/2026/02/wi...

This is a beautiful song to begin with, and his version is the best. RIP Chuck Negron. One is the loneliest number after all. www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrD1...

A real estate agent just sent me a winery listing. I don't need to embarrass the sellers, but I can see why this business failed: they're selling mixed-vintage wines blending grapes from their home state, in the US Southeast, with California and Washington, for $55 a bottle!

Good coyote story here: A lone coyote swam from San Francisco to Alcatraz to feast on birds. Rangers want to trap it and <del>kill</del> "relocate" it. Turns out coyotes colonized nearby Angel Island when one coyote made the swim and howled for friends. www.sfgate.com/local/articl...

I see a lot of horror movies, but this is real: she had an apartment in Nigeria's capital city, and apparently a cobra entered and bit her while she slept. She went to a clinic, then a hospital, and neither had the needed two doses of antivenom. nypost.com/2026/02/02/e...

An M&A expert predicts the total value of US wineries and vineyards sold this year to be less than half of 2021. The problem is simple: thousands of properties are for sale, but there aren't many buyers ... ESPECIALLY from the wine industry itself. www.wine-searcher.com/m/2026/02/wi...

Dear Headline Writers: The average price of a bottle of wine sold in the United States is NOT the same as the average price of a bottle ordered direct from the winery. The actual average price is significantly lower because most wine is sold in supermarkets. Please get it right.

Sign of the times: California grapegrowers attended a seminar this week to learn how to get out of the grape growing business. www.wine-searcher.com/m/2026/01/ca...

Assumption of the Virgin, by Guido Reno, 1598-99, 📸 by Jose Manuel Alvarez Rey

Uncertainty is the theme of the wine industry this year, so much that two of the industry's leading analysts made a bet. Will California have a grape shortage this summer? The analysts put actual money on it. Which side are you on? www.wine-searcher.com/m/2026/01/ca...

Why don't more Americans drink wine? Research shows 30 percent of American adults simply don't like the taste. For the rest of us, many people have health concerns -- but not the health concerns you might expect. www.wine-searcher.com/m/2026/01/wi...

JOURNAL OF WINE ECONOMICS: “Sip or smoke: The link between wine consumption and cannabis use” by Sophie Ghvanidze, Milan Ščasný and Jon H. Hanf. Free access: www.cambridge.org/core/service...

California has had so much excess wine that half of its grapes may not have been harvested in 2025. This might be a bit of welcome news for farmers: an industry analyst says big wineries may be scrounging for grapes this summer. www.wine-searcher.com/m/2026/01/ca...

A useful guide for people who want to work a harvest. People sometimes ask me how to find such a gig. Good luck, and be warned: making wine is hard work. daily.sevenfifty.com/so-you-want-...

Another one bites the dust, this time Arista Winery in Healdsburg (sorry, paywall). www.sfchronicle.com/food/wine/ar...

I have spend the last year trying to be objective and apolitical. But after President Trump's latest threat to tariff French wines and spirits 200% for personal, not economic reasons, it's time for the Supreme Court to step in. A red line must be drawn. www.wine-searcher.com/m/2026/01/ti...

Interesting chart. I'd like to see how it compares to a generation ago.

Very interesting to read this chart while considering historical events.

A California natural wine producer that was up to 20K cases per year runs out of money and ceases production. (Sorry, paywall.) www.sfchronicle.com/food/wine/ar...

"Wine porn isn’t like food porn. Visually, it is one of four coloured liquids in a glass. It doesn’t give the viewer’s imagination much to go on. So to communicate anything meaningful about the liquid, we often over-intellectualise it." www.the-buyer.net/opinion/tom-...

This isn't good for anyone, including Chile's struggling wine industry. This area in the southern part of the country makes some really interesting cool-climate white wines. Climate change is real, folks, and it's here. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/18/w...

A lot of people online would benefit from reading this. "Another potential sign of rumination is if you’re overthinking issues that lack a solution ... People with depression who ruminate also tend to experience worse depression, and for longer." www.nytimes.com/2023/02/01/w...

I am preparing to cover the looming US Supreme Court decision on tariffs. Not going to write a whole story about this development, but if any SCOTUS justice hasn't finalized their opinion, I think this will sway them against the administration. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/17/u...

Neo-Prohibitionists never give up, even when discredited.

I gotta admit, I read some of the endless pretentious navel-gazing commentary that Cevola criticizes here, and felt the same way. I write about wine, so you'd think I might be interested in writers writing about wine writing. Instead I generally find it insular and boring.

Many wineries are expected to be sold this year for a fraction of what they were worth 5 years ago, as an influential report says wine sales aren't predicted to improve until 2028. "If you're not selling, we don't know what you're waiting for." www.wine-searcher.com/m/2026/01/ro...

As a fan of one of the non-Dodgers baseball teams, I support a salary cap.

The waiter came upstairs with a special request to open a rare bottle of Silver Oak — perhaps the first private indication that Harbaugh was ready to sign. “He said, ‘The coach wants a glass of wine to celebrate,’ ” Salouros said. nypost.com/2026/01/15/s...

Many wineries are for sale, and some owners of famous wine brands are going to give up this year and accept a lot less money than they hoped. This is my main takeaway from Rob McMillan's annual State of the wine Industry report. www.wine-searcher.com/m/2026/01/ro...

The new US Dietary Guidelines for Adults showed Canada what was wrong with its own process for attempting to create new drinking standards. www.winelaw.ca/2026/01/13/u...

I've had a week to digest the new US Dietary Guidelines for adults. As a consumer who intends to eat healthy, I like them. RFK Jr took a huge step with his attacks on ultra-processed foods. But on reflection, they are a loss for the alcohol industry. www.wine-searcher.com/m/2026/01/di...

When the 49ers' best player tore his Achilles during a playoff game Sunday, the team owner delivered him a bottle of Tequila -- which he drank in the locker room. Good for Jed York: compassionate Tequila service. www.sfgate.com/49ers/articl...

That good and rare feeling for a journalist when you write next week's story on Friday morning so you can have the whole weekend off!

A US Supreme Court ruling on most of Trump's tariffs is expected soon, but didn't happen today, despite media expectations (mine included). SCOTUS follows its own schedule. Justice Sotomayor said to journalists in open court, "Seeing who's here, it's not the case you thought."

A strange story out of Canada: Ontario's dictatorial premier orders every bottle of Canada's most popular whiskey off the shelves of every store in the province. Why? Diageo closed a bottling plant in Ontario. But the whiskey is still made & bottled in Canada. www.wine-searcher.com/m/2026/01/ca...

“No more than a liter of wine a day.” In the early 1950s, when French wine consumption exceeded 150 liters per capita, France launched the Santé Sobriété campaign to limit alcohol consumption. In 1954, Philippe Foré became its chief designer. #winehistory

Avg Retail Prices of AOP Wines in France (2024). Burgundy wines sell for €14.31 per liter, significantly more than any other French AOP wines.

The new US Dietary Guidelines for Adults are out, and despite years of in-fighting, there are only 3 sentences about alcohol, starting with "Consume less alcohol for better overall health." Not a win for wineries, but not a loss either. www.wine-searcher.com/m/2026/01/wi...

In 2019, the Supreme Court made what seemed like a definitive ruling on wine shipping -- for the second time. But in 2026, they have been asked to step in on the same issue, again. www.wine-searcher.com/m/2026/01/wi...

Five years ago today a gang of domestic terrorists broke into the Capitol, attempting to overthrow our government and hang our Vice President. They built a gallows to do it. We should not forget, or forgive, this attack.