Athena Strategic Thinking is a consultancy that works with English vine growers and winemakers to help them scale and adapt their businesses. They've recently concluded their research into what the next decade will demand of English wine and the results make for very interesting reading. Head over to their website to request a copy of the report.
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Naked Wines is turning things around on profitability despite revenues dropping - they've more than doubled their EBITDA whilst cutting customer acquisition spend and shifting their business model. They're pulling back on chasing new customers and focusing on making their existing book work harder, which is a pretty big strategic shift for a company that's built on the subscription model. Worth watching to see if this leaner approach pays off or if revenue decline becomes a real problem.
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Surrey's winemakers are banding together to put their region on the map as a serious wine destination, and they're getting some decent results too â 2025's apparently been their best vintage ever despite the bonkers weather swings they've been dealing with. The Vineyards of the Surrey Hills association reckons they've been overshadowed by Sussex and Kent, but they're betting their proximity to London and quality fruit could be a real draw for wine tourism. Interesting to see English wine growing 3% last year when most categories are struggling â shows there's genuine momentum in the home market.
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The UK Government's just announced a ÂŁ725m apprenticeship reform that'll affect hospitality pretty heavily, including wine venues and restaurants. They're covering full training costs for under-25s at small businesses and rolling out foundation apprenticeships from 2026, but industry leaders are worried the scheme won't work unless struggling hospitality businesses actually have jobs to offer. Worth watching since it could reshape how hospitality, including on-trade wine venue, recruits and trains staff.
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Welsh wine producers are getting some serious recognition on the international stage with major award wins alongside their cheese counterparts. It's a great story for the UK wine industry. Welsh wine' has been gaining credibility for a while now, but seeing it celebrated alongside traditional food products shows how far the sector's come in terms of quality and reputation.
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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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VIN 2026 is shaping up to be a major matchmaking event for UK wine buyers looking to source French wines, according to an interview with the Business France organisers behind it. They're positioning it as THE place to discover everything from family-run estates to cutting-edge newcomers across lesser-known French appellations. Worth flagging for any UK merchants or on-trade buyers thinking about their sourcing strategy for next year.
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The EU's just rolled out a new wine support package with eight key measures - this is proper significant for European producers dealing with market pressures and vineyard challenges. BeverageDaily's broken down what's actually in there, so worth a read to see which measures might affect your operation or suppliers across the continent.
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Chablis has relaxed its vineyard regulations to help growers cope with increasingly brutal weather - they've bumped yield limits up by 5 hectolitres per hectare and dropped minimum vine density requirements to make farming easier on slopes. It's a smart move after a horrific 2024 when a hailstorm wiped out 30-90% of crops across a sixth of the appellation, though the region's clearly trying to balance resilience with protecting that legendary crisp Chardonnay style that made Chablis famous in the first place.
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The 'Sud de France' protected designation label won't be allowed on wines from the 2025 vintage onwards, according to wein.plus. This is a significant regulatory shift for one of France's major wine regions and could reshape how Southern French producers market their wines. Worth keeping an eye on for how this impacts labelling compliance and regional branding across the EU.
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Galicia's wine region got absolutely hammered by wildfires last August â the worst in years â with producers like Trasdovento losing entire vineyard blocks and others having to abandon harvests. The real issue is that climate change is making a traditionally wet region dangerously hot and dry in summer, and rural depopulation means less managed land to act as firebreaks, so it's looking like a growing headache for Spanish winemakers going forward.
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WSET's outgoing chair Simon McMurtrie has given an interview to The Drinks Business reflecting on his tenure leading the charity and its expansion of wine education globally. It's a nice peek behind the curtain at how one of the wine industry's most influential educational bodies is run, and McMurtrie comes across as genuinely passionate about making wine study accessible rather than elitist. Worth a read if you're interested in how the industry's training infrastructure is evolving.
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Gen Z drinkers across the UK and EU are ditching abstinence campaigns like Dry January in favour of actually having a drink. The Drinks Business reports that participation in monthlong sobriety challenges dropped from 33% to 24% in the UK over the past year, with similar declines across France and Italy, suggesting a significant shift in how younger consumers are approaching alcohol consumption.
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Forbes has put together a guide to England's wine country, which could be useful for anyone wanting to understand the UK wine landscape better. It's the kind of piece that'll give you the lay of the land on English vineyard regions and what's happening here and some great international coverage for English Wine.
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