ABC Rural reports that Australia’s federal government has released details of a mandatory wine grape code of conduct, due to take effect on 1 January 2027. The code will require wineries to publish payment terms, face monitoring of payment practices and allow anonymous complaints from growers, though some industry voices say it does not yet solve deeper oversupply and ageing-grower pressures.
Simon Judge
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Australia Considers Turning Surplus Wine Into Fuel
News.com.au reports that Australia’s Nationals are pushing a wine-to-fuel plan to help ease the country’s wine oversupply crisis, with around 262 million litres of surplus wine recorded by Wine Australia as of December 2025. The proposal would explore converting excess wine into ethanol for sustainable aviation fuel or renewable diesel, though industry figures warn wider support is still needed for struggling growers.
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Chapel Down Sells One Million Bottles Of English Sparkling Wine
The Times reports that Chapel Down sold more than one million bottles of English sparkling wine in 2025, a milestone for the UK’s largest winemaker as it targets 1% of the global Champagne market by 2035. Revenue rose 19% to £19.4 million, helped by supermarket growth, international sales and partnerships including Ascot and the England and Wales Cricket Board.
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Ocado Data Shows Mid-Strength Wine Demand Rising
Harpers reports that Ocado data shows mid-strength drinks demand is growing sharply, with category sales up 71% over two years and searches up more than 400%. Mid-strength wine was singled out as especially strong, with sales up 151% year on year, as consumers increasingly look to moderate rather than cut out alcohol.
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Grupo Peñaflor Owner Acquires Off-Piste Wines
The Drinks Business reports that Terold Invest, owner of Argentina’s Grupo Peñaflor, has acquired UK wholesaler Off-Piste Wines, owner of brands including Most Wanted and The Wanderer. The deal is positioned as a strategic push into the UK, with Off-Piste selling around 3 million nine-litre cases a year and the combined business expected to become a top-five supplier to the UK off-trade.
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France to Uproot 28,000 Hectares Of Vines
The Drinks Business reports that France is preparing to remove around 28,000 hectares of vineyard under a state backed programme designed to rebalance supply and demand. Around 5,800 growers have applied for support, with the pressure most visible in south western regions and red grape plantings, while some producers are expected to leave wine production entirely.
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The Hidden Cost of Buying Wine en Primeur
Wine Anorak dismantles the romantic idea that en primeur buying automatically pays off, arguing that collectors often forget inflation, annual storage charges, and the opportunity cost of tying money up for years. Jamie Goode runs a worked example of a £1,200 case bought 15 years ago, showing how inflation pushes that to £1,897, storage can lift it to about £2,107, and a modest ETF comparison makes the wine look poor financially, leading him to conclude that, for most buyers, the secondary market now makes more sense than buying futures.
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Andrew Lloyd Webber to Sell Rest of Wine Collection at Auction
The Drinks Business reports that Christie’s will sell the final tranche of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s wine collection, with proceeds going to the Music in Secondary Schools Trust. The bottles come from the cellars at Sydmonton Court, some having been held for more than 50 years, and the sale follows the disposal of most of his collection back in 2011. Beyond the celebrity angle, it shows how elite private cellars continue to supply the fine wine auction market, with provenance and philanthropy adding extra pull for bidders.
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UK National Jailed for 10 Years Over US$97m Fine Wine Fraud
The Drinks Business reports that James Wellesley, a UK citizen who also used the names Andrew Fuller and Andrew Templar, has been sentenced in New York to 10 years in prison over a US$97 million fine wine investment scam. Prosecutors said he and a co-conspirator falsely told investors that loans were secured against high-value wine collections held by Bordeaux Cellars, when in fact the collectors and collateral did not exist and new money was used to pay earlier investors. It is a stark reminder that fine wine still attracts fraud built on prestige, opacity and the promise of steady returns.
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Wine Tariff Refunds on the Way
Wine-Searcher reports that the US administration has opened applications for more than US$166 billion in tariff refunds, giving wine importers a long-awaited financial reprieve after months of absorbing trade costs. The article argues that shoppers are unlikely to see dramatic price cuts, but the refunds could help prevent further rises and ease pressure on businesses that kept prices steady by taking the hit themselves. In effect, this is one of the first concrete pieces of good news for wine importers caught in tariff disruption, even if the benefit reaches consumers only indirectly.
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Yellow Tail Owner Slips into Loss as Costs Rise
The Drinks Business reports that Yellow Tail owner Casella Wines swung to an AU$5.5 million loss in its latest financial year, reversing earlier profits as weaker US demand, tariffs and higher supply chain, energy and freight costs bit into performance. The article says the US, long central to Yellow Tail’s export success, has become markedly tougher, although growth in the UK, Europe, Asia, Canada and Australia has helped cushion the blow. It also points to higher debt and a covenant breach that was later waived, making this one of the clearest signs yet of how pressure on global wine brands is feeding back into Australia’s wider grape and grower economy.
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White Wine Extends Its Lead Over Red
Wine-Searcher reports that white wine is continuing to pull away from red, arguing that the shift is now visible not just in anecdotes but in production and sales data across multiple countries. The piece says white now accounts for 49% of all wine made globally, with OIV data showing red’s share down from about 48% in 2000 to roughly 43% today, while white production has risen and consumption has jumped by 57.5% in the US, 29.3% in Australia and 20.3% in the UK, making this one of the clearest signs that consumer preferences are moving towards fresher, lighter styles.
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Georgia Moves to Tighten Wine Rules and Raise Agency Revenue
Georgia Today reports that the Georgian government has submitted amendments to tighten wine regulation, including mandatory organoleptic testing for all wine categories sold both domestically and for export, plus a paid bottle-labelling system that officials expect could generate €14 million to €15 million a year for the National Wine Agency. The proposal is notable because it combines stricter quality oversight with a financial and structural shake-up, lowering the threshold for “small cellar” status from 40,000 litres to 25,000 litres, affecting around 50 producers directly while leaving about 550 small cellars exempt, and adding new definitions such as “natural wine” while dropping the term “home wine”.
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Robert Mondavi Winery Reopens Oakville Estate After Major Transformation
Wine Industry Advisor reports that Robert Mondavi Winery is reopening its Oakville estate on 20 April, timed to the brand’s 60th anniversary, after a three-year overhaul that adds a new hospitality wing, expanded tasting and culinary spaces, and a limited-edition commemorative Cabernet Sauvignon. The story is bigger than a simple reopening, because Constellation Brands has put more than US$200 million into the project, with new cellar technology, a stronger focus on site-driven winemaking, and a clearly more premium visitor offer aimed at restoring the estate’s status as one of Napa’s signature destinations.
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Tannins Fingerprinted by Researchers
Penn State University researchers report that they have developed a new way to “fingerprint” the tannins that come from oak barrels and grapes, helping identify which compounds shape wine’s flavour, mouthfeel, bitterness, astringency and colour stability during ageing. The study used mass spectrometry and machine learning to analyse these complex tannin mixtures without first breaking them down in ways that can damage them, and it focused especially on hydrolysable tannins transferred from oak into wine. By testing wines and oak chip products, the team found that French oak had the highest levels of key tannins, followed by Hungarian and then American oak, and they also showed that barrel toasting alters these compounds, softening harsher tannins and producing more complex flavour effects.