The Buyer dives into regenerative viticulture and why winemakers should be talking more about soil health as part of their story. It's a solid piece on how soil management practices are becoming a key differentiator for producers across the UK and EU who want to appeal to increasingly conscious consumers.
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UK in-market bottlers are seeing a real surge in demand for bulk wine shipments, with sustainability benefits that're hard to ignore. Kingsland Drinks reckons they're moving nearly 72% more wine per container when it comes in bulk rather than bottled, plus they're keeping the glass manufacturing local to Manchesterâwhich cuts down massively on transport emissions. It's becoming the default approach for long-haul exports now, and retailers are actively pushing for it.
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The Drinks Business is reporting that Chancellor Rachel Reeves's Budget claims about a "golden era" for hospitality are being called out as smoke and mirrors. Pubs and restaurants are facing massive hidden tax hits through business rates revaluation, the end of Covid relief, and spiralling wage and alcohol duty costs - the industry's warning it could trigger another wave of closures across the on-trade.
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London City Bond's handling of Christmas logistics reveals something interesting about how UK wine and spirits buying patterns have shifted â the festive peak used to be spread across months, but now it's compressed into just a few weeks in December as customers tighten their belts and maximise credit terms. They're dealing with up to 23,000 orders in a single week, which means relying on experienced warehouse staff rather than quick training temp workers, especially when you're dealing with sophisticated picking equipment and holding 11 million cases in stock.
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Gusbourne's diverse sparkling wine portfolio is basically a snapshot of where English sparkling wine is heading right now, according to The Buyer. It's worth a read if you're curious about how producers are experimenting beyond the traditional Champagne-style approach and what that tells us about the market's maturity.
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Marzipan is subscription commerce software built for wineries â manage clubs, orders, and customers in one place.
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A devastating landslide has destroyed Borgo del Tiglio, a respected family winery in Friuli, Italy, killing two people and burying much of the estate under mud and debris. The disasterâtriggered by over 300mm of rain in just a few hoursâhas sparked conversations about climate resilience in the wine industry, with the winery's owner using the tragedy to highlight how extreme weather will increasingly affect small traditional producers across Europe.
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German vineyards are installing solar panels as a climate adaptation strategy, which is a pretty clever solution to killing two birds with one stone. DW's reporting on how the wine industry is tackling environmental challenges through renewable energy is definitely worth coveringâit shows how European producers are getting innovative with sustainability rather than just talking about it.
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Italian wine's facing a perfect storm at the moment, but it's not all doom and gloomâsome producers and regions are weathering it better than others. WineNews digs into which business models and territories are managing to hold their ground whilst others struggle. Worth a read if you're tracking what's happening across EU wine markets right now.
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Three German wine industry associations are planning to merge, which is a pretty significant structural shift for the sector. This kind of consolidation typically happens when associations want to streamline operations and boost their collective bargaining power, so it'll be interesting to see how it affects representation and policy influence across the German wine industry.
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France is handing out âŹ130m to winemakers to rip up their vines, and it's worth paying attention to. This is a big policy move that'll reshape vineyard capacity across the EU, and it signals how serious the bloc is about dealing with wine oversupply and climate challenges. Euronews has the details on what's driving this scheme and what it means for the industry.
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WSET's new CEO Michelle Brampton is positioning the wine education charity as more than just a training providerâshe wants it to be a connector bringing the drinks trade together around sustainability and inclusivity. Coming from her 19 years at Treasury Wine Estates, she's backing new initiatives like short courses, digital tools, and diversity groups to help the industry innovate and tackle the pressures it's facing.
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Dan Barwick, a winemaker who's spent two decades in Sonoma, has come back to Kent and reported on what looks like a seriously impressive 2025 harvest. The Buyer's exclusive breakdown goes month-by-month through the growing season and reckons it could be a landmark vintage for English wine.
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Raquel PĂ©rez Cuevas has just become the first female president of DOCa Rioja's regulatory council, winning a landslide 99% of the vote at a pivotal moment for the region. The Drinks Business interview covers her take on Rioja's centenary celebrations and the challenges ahead â from geopolitical uncertainty to market pressures â though she's banking on the region's stellar reputation with consumers to weather the storm. It's a solid leadership profile piece on one of Spain's most prestigious wine designations during a tricky period.
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Michelin's launching a proper wine rating system for the first timeâthink stars but for vineyards instead of restaurants. They're kicking off with Burgundy and Bordeaux in 2026, assessing estates on everything from agronomy to consistency across vintages. It's a pretty big deal for the industry, giving wine lovers a trusted benchmark similar to what Michelin's done for food.
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Joe Fattorini's got a brilliant take on how English sparkling wine brand Folc deliberately baited Bollinger into sending a cease-and-desist letter over their 'pink champers' ad â and how The Times then ran it as news. It's a cheeky dissection of modern wine PR tactics and how sometimes the most obvious manufactured stories get treated as genuine news by major publications.
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