Vintner Reporthttps://vintnerreport.com/Wine Business, Markets, IndustryenWed, 14 Oct 2026 06:00:00 -0700California's Wine Slump Is Pushing Growers Into Agave. The Payoff Is Years Awayhttps://vintnerreport.com/business/california-agave-bet-2026/Facing groundwater limits and a grape glut, growers from Huron to Lake County are planting a crop that takes the better part of a decade to mature, in a state with just seven agave spirits producers and a federal rulebook that forbids calling the result tequila.Wed, 14 Oct 2026 00:00:00 -0700https://vintnerreport.com/business/california-agave-bet-2026/California's Premium Wine Surplus Is Filling Private Labels. Napa Valley Is in the Middle of Ithttps://vintnerreport.com/business/california-wine-surplus-private-labels-2026/Retailers from Costco to Grocery Outlet are bottling declassified premium wine under their own labels. Turrentine Brokerage estimates only 15 to 17 million of the roughly 28 million gallons offered statewide can find a home.Wed, 14 Oct 2026 00:00:00 -0700https://vintnerreport.com/business/california-wine-surplus-private-labels-2026/Malek Amrani and The Vice: Napa Beyond Cabernethttps://vintnerreport.com/people/malek-amrani-the-vice/The Vice Winery's founder and winemaker talks to Vintner Report about bottling a 2026 rose 24 days after harvest, taking an orange wine to Premiere Napa Valley, and why natural wine, for him, means restraint rather than ideology.Tue, 13 Oct 2026 00:00:00 -0700https://vintnerreport.com/people/malek-amrani-the-vice/Napa's Hangover, by the Numbers: What the Downturn Data Actually Sayshttps://vintnerreport.com/business/napa-hangover-by-the-numbers/FT Magazine gave the downturn a vivid name. The data underneath it, half of California wineries unprofitable, 28 million gallons of bulk wine with nowhere to go, direct-to-consumer in record decline, tells producers exactly where the pain is, and where it isn't.Sun, 11 Oct 2026 00:00:00 -0700https://vintnerreport.com/business/napa-hangover-by-the-numbers/Antinori Heist Exposes Winery Security Gap as €5M Theft Hits Export Warehousehttps://vintnerreport.com/news/antinori-cortona-warehouse-heist/Thieves took 30,000 bottles of 2023 Solaia, Tignanello and Guado al Tasso from a Cortona logistics hub after alarms were deactivated from inside. With insurance falling short and a third Italian winery hit in months, the trade faces an operational risk reckoning.Sat, 10 Oct 2026 00:00:00 -0700https://vintnerreport.com/news/antinori-cortona-warehouse-heist/New Vintage Labs Hires Carol Reber as Winery AI Vendors Race to Own the Data Layerhttps://vintnerreport.com/technology/new-vintage-labs-carol-reber-data-layer/The October 7 hire of veteran wine industry operator Carol Reber signals where the winery AI market is heading: away from point tools and toward the integration layer that connects Commerce7, email and text data to AI assistants. What buyers should ask before signing.Thu, 08 Oct 2026 00:00:00 -0700https://vintnerreport.com/technology/new-vintage-labs-carol-reber-data-layer/Champagne Counts a Smaller 2026 Harvest, Leans on Reserves and Qualityhttps://vintnerreport.com/global/champagne-2026-smaller-harvest/Champagne's 2026 harvest is expected to fall roughly 50 percent below 2025, with houses leaning on reserve wines while producers describe quality as exceptional.Mon, 05 Oct 2026 00:00:00 -0700https://vintnerreport.com/global/champagne-2026-smaller-harvest/New Zealand Wine Eyes India as 150% Tariff Wall Starts to Fall on October 20https://vintnerreport.com/global/india-nz-fta-wine-tariffs/The New Zealand-India free trade agreement takes effect October 20, cutting India's 150 percent wine tariff to as low as 25 percent over a decade.Mon, 05 Oct 2026 00:00:00 -0700https://vintnerreport.com/global/india-nz-fta-wine-tariffs/Cognac's Collapse: Shipments Down 39% as Tariffs Bite in China and the UShttps://vintnerreport.com/markets/cognac-sales-collapse-tariffs/Cognac shipments have fallen 39 percent since 2023 to 140 million bottles as US and Chinese tariffs hammer the category's two biggest markets.Mon, 05 Oct 2026 00:00:00 -0700https://vintnerreport.com/markets/cognac-sales-collapse-tariffs/Northern Hemisphere Closes a Hot, Dry 2026 Harvest With Supply Discipline in Focushttps://vintnerreport.com/markets/northern-hemisphere-2026-harvest/France heads for its smallest harvest since 1957 as heat slashes Northern Hemisphere yields, while producers pair climate losses with deliberate supply discipline.Mon, 05 Oct 2026 00:00:00 -0700https://vintnerreport.com/markets/northern-hemisphere-2026-harvest/British Columbia Wraps a Record-Early 2026 Harvest as Smoke Complicates the Vintagehttps://vintnerreport.com/news/bc-2026-record-early-harvest/British Columbia wraps a record-early 2026 harvest, with Tantalus finishing October 1 and wildfire smoke complicating an otherwise promising vintage.Mon, 05 Oct 2026 00:00:00 -0700https://vintnerreport.com/news/bc-2026-record-early-harvest/California's 2026 Harvest Runs Weeks Early as Light Crops Concentrate Flavorhttps://vintnerreport.com/news/california-2026-harvest-early/California's 2026 harvest is running weeks early on light crops, with vintners reporting concentrated flavors, bright acidity and promising quality statewide.Mon, 05 Oct 2026 00:00:00 -0700https://vintnerreport.com/news/california-2026-harvest-early/Hershey Taps Vinarchy's Amanda Almond to Lead International Businesshttps://vintnerreport.com/people/amanda-almond-hershey-vinarchy/The Hershey Company names Vinarchy's Amanda Almond president of its international business, effective October 12, succeeding Rohit Grover.Mon, 05 Oct 2026 00:00:00 -0700https://vintnerreport.com/people/amanda-almond-hershey-vinarchy/Chris Avery Takes the Helm of The Wonderful Company's Wine Businesshttps://vintnerreport.com/people/chris-avery-wonderful-company-wine-president/The Wonderful Company names Shafer Vineyards CEO Chris Avery president of its wine business, effective October 5, to lead JUSTIN, Landmark and Lewis Cellars.Mon, 05 Oct 2026 00:00:00 -0700https://vintnerreport.com/people/chris-avery-wonderful-company-wine-president/Delta One Puts Napa at the Center of Its Relaunched Wine Programhttps://vintnerreport.com/business/delta-one-napa-wine-program-2026/Thirteen wines from eleven producers, narrowed from roughly 1,600 candidates, with Napa Valley icons anchoring the pour list. What the airline's biggest wine commitment signals for suppliers.Thu, 01 Oct 2026 00:00:00 -0700https://vintnerreport.com/business/delta-one-napa-wine-program-2026/Direct-to-Consumer Wine Shipping Posts Worst Year Since 2010, New Report Findshttps://vintnerreport.com/business/dtc-shipping-report-2026/The 2026 Direct-to-Consumer Wine Shipping Report finds 2025 was the worst year since tracking began in 2010, with volume down 15 percent and value off more than $230 million.Thu, 01 Oct 2026 00:00:00 -0700https://vintnerreport.com/business/dtc-shipping-report-2026/Napa Groundwater Fees Land on Growers in the Middle of a Downturnhttps://vintnerreport.com/business/napa-groundwater-fees-2026/Napa County's groundwater fee of $98.74 per irrigated acre lands on December tax bills, with the county absorbing half the first-year cost after a grower revolt.Thu, 01 Oct 2026 00:00:00 -0700https://vintnerreport.com/business/napa-groundwater-fees-2026/Napa's $79 Question: Tasting Rooms Discount as Visitors Thinhttps://vintnerreport.com/business/napa-tasting-room-economics-2026/The average Napa tasting fee held near $79 in 2025 even as nearly a third of wineries trimmed prices, a sign of how tightly the region's tourism economy is squeezed.Thu, 01 Oct 2026 00:00:00 -0700https://vintnerreport.com/business/napa-tasting-room-economics-2026/Fine Wine Market Returns to Growth in First Half of 2026, Led by Italyhttps://vintnerreport.com/business/fine-wine-market-recovery-h1-2026/Liv-ex's benchmark indices turned positive in the first half of 2026, with Italy's blue-chip wines leading and American buyers re-engaging as Asian demand stepped back.Thu, 01 Oct 2026 00:00:00 -0700https://vintnerreport.com/business/fine-wine-market-recovery-h1-2026/Silicon Valley Bank Sees Wine's Rock Bottom in 2027-2028, Urges Wineries Not to Waithttps://vintnerreport.com/business/svb-state-of-wine-industry-2026/SVB's 25th annual report estimates 2025 sales at 329 million cases and $74.3 billion, sees the market bottoming in 2027 to 2028, and adds a first-ever "Success guide" for wineries.Thu, 01 Oct 2026 00:00:00 -0700https://vintnerreport.com/business/svb-state-of-wine-industry-2026/