The Drinks Business explores how empowering workers to drive sustainability initiatives is actually getting results across the wine sector. They chat with folks like Champagne Canard-Duchêne and Lanchester Group about how genuine, sincere environmental programmes resonate better with staff and how one UK bottling warehouse hit 92% recycling rates when their team felt they had real ownership of the goals.
Read full article
Tom Bruce-Gardyne's piece in The Drinks Business highlights something that's getting lost in all the sustainability talk: growers actually need to make money. It's a fair point - English wine producers and estates across Europe are investing heavily in organic certification and better farming practices, but the market hasn't caught up, so the premiums have basically disappeared. The piece features voices from Greyfriars in Surrey and the Sustainable Wine Roundtable, all pointing out that environmental and social sustainability mean zilch if producers can't stay afloat financially.
Read full article
A North Yorkshire vineyard has had an exceptional year and they're calling it 'jaw-dropping'. The York Press piece covers what's clearly a strong performance for the operation, which fits the wider story of UK viticulture gaining momentum in recent years.
Read full article
WineGB's launched their 2026 photography competition with some fresh tweaks to the categories and it's a solid opportunity for producers and photographers to get their best shots of British wine in front of industry eyes.
Read full article
Marzipan is subscription commerce software built for wineries — manage clubs, orders, and customers in one place.
Find out more
The EU Agriculture Commission has just given the thumbs up to the 'Wine Package' - a significant regulatory update that's been in the works. It's now heading to the European Parliament for final plenary approval, so we're nearly at the finish line on what could be a major shake-up for how EU wine producers operate.
Read full article
French organic winemakers are in a tough spot! The country's health agency has banned 19 copper-based fungicides they rely on to fight mildew, citing worker safety concerns. The catch? France is going stricter than the EU requires, and growers were already using less copper than allowed. With only two products still permitted under tight restrictions, producers in rainy regions like Champagne and Burgundy are worried about how they'll protect their vines.
Read full article
The European Commission's reckoning with a structural decline in wine consumption over the next decade (a 9% drop by 2035). Younger drinkers are moderating their intake, health concerns are shifting behaviour, and traditional wine countries like France and Germany are being hit hardest, which means vineyard areas across the EU are contracting too. It's a sobering outlook that'll likely reshape how producers think about volume versus premiumisation over the coming years.
Read full article
France's Vin & Société has come up with a clever response to Dry January that doesn't involve asking people to quit wine entirely. They're promoting a more balanced approach, which is pretty interesting given how seriously the French tend to take their wine culture. Could this signal a broader shift in how European producers engage with the growing wellness trend without sacrificing their core market?
Read full article
Good news for vintage vine fans! Vineyards planted in 1991 have now hit the 35-year mark, making them eligible for The Old Vine Registry. The registry has grown to nearly 9,400 vineyards across 42 countries with importers and a public "Heritage Vine Hunt" contest helping to document historic sites in regions like Burgundy, Bordeaux and the Rhône Valley.
Read full article
Tom Gilbey's Instagram phenomenon is reshaping how wine gets sold to everyday people in the UK, and Corkable's Tom Planer reckons the industry needs to lean into fun and emotion if it wants to actually connect with mainstream consumers. It's a timely look at how social media influence and personality-driven content are becoming serious business drivers in wine retail.
Read full article
Decanter's announced a new judge for their 2026 World Wine Awards: Rosana Lisa, a Spanish winemaker and technical director who's spent her career in R&D and production across Spain. She's got serious credentials, including leading winemaking strategy at Ramón Bilbao and managing innovation projects at Zamora Company, so she'll bring solid technical expertise to the judging panel. Worth noting if you're considering entering DWWA this year, as the calibre of judges matters.
Read full article
The WHO's just dropped a report saying alcohol's become too cheap and is pushing governments to hike taxes on booze and it's calling out Europe specifically, noting that wine still gets exemptions in at least 25 countries despite the health risks. It's a big policy shift that could reshape how UK and EU wine producers and retailers operate, especially if governments actually listen and start treating wine like spirits when it comes to excise duties.
Read full articleSubscribe to receive the latest UK and EU wine industry news directly in your inbox.
Subscribe Now