As far as site news this week, our team is uploading burgundy reviews to our database as fast as their fingers will allow. Do check in if you’re in need of recommendations for the currently offered 2024 vintage.
We’ve also updated our forum, making it cleaner and more inviting-looking and vastly easier to find all the excellent information in it. If you haven’t checked out the forum, please do – this is where you can ask us and your fellow members for wine advice, pairing suggestions, wine travel tips or anything else having to do with wine.
Wildfires burn in South Africa
Over 100,000 ha (250,000 acres) in South Africa’s Western Cape have burned since December 2025. The Eastern Cape has also been affected – primarily in the Kouga Municipality. There have been no fatalities, but thousands have been evacuated.
Anton Bredell, Western Cape minister for local government, environmental affairs and development planning, has announced that the province has overshot its aerial firefighting budget for the season and is having to make internal adjustments to keep helicopters in the air. Bredell has requested disaster classification from the provincial cabinet to strengthen his ability to respond to the situation.
In terms of wine regions affected, the list is long. Stellenbosch, Paarl, Franschhoek, Overberg, Walker Bay and Cape Agulhas have been affected. In Franschhoek, Chamonix Wine Estate was destroyed; in Paarl, Avondale Wine Estate’s vineyards burned. Strandveld Vineyards, between Cape Agulhas and Elim, fought fires on their property.
Victoria’s wildfires
Wildfires in Victoria, Australia, have consumed 400,000 ha (990,000 acres) and killed one person in the last week. Fires began in the midst of an extreme heatwave on Wednesday 7 January.
On 8 January, Matt Fowles, of Fowles Wine in the Strathbogie Ranges north-east of Melbourne, lost 1,400 acres (567 ha) – 121 ha (300 acres) of vines, three houses, five sheds and hundreds of sheep – in 45 minutes. His neighbour, Grant Taresch of Elgo Estates Wines, lost nearly 750 ha (1,850 acres). A bit over 100 km away, a cool store in Harcourt which held stock and equipment for 20 wineries went up in flames, destroying 250,000 bottles of wine. Maison Lapalus and Maidenii vermouth lost all stock and equipment. GilGraves Vineyard lost 97% of their stock.
Fires in Patagonia
On 5 January fires began in Patagonia’s Chubut province. The fires have since consumed 12,000 ha (29,650 acres) and spread to Neuquén. One of the largest fires is believed to have been set by arsonists. I have not heard reports of affected wineries.
Facebook restricts alcohol-related accounts
The Spirits Business reports that last week thousands of wine, beer and spirits producers, alcohol retailers, wine media and events pages, wine education platforms, restaurants and bars received emails and/or Facebook notifications saying that their pages would no longer be recommended to users. It seems that AI content-auditing software flagged the pages for going against community guidelines. There have been no recent changes regarding alcohol under Facebook’s Restricted Goods and Services page or under its advertising standards that would explain this restriction. Meta has not issued a statement or made any attempt to rectify the problem.
New biofungicide approved in France
Copper, which is toxic to the soil microbiome, is nonetheless the most widely used, effective and least costly treatment for downy mildew – and is one of the only treatments approved for organic viticulture.
As discussed in this newscast in September of last year, the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety declined to renew marketing authorisation for 20 out of 22 copper-containing fungicides that applied in 2025. As of the beginning of this year, wine producers are no longer able to purchase those 20 products.
With diminishing options available for organic treatment of downy mildew, it was welcome news that Mevalone, a biofungicide containing the active compounds thymol (from thyme), geraniol (from Damask rose), and eugenol (from clove oil) which was previously approved for treatment of botrytis bunch rot, was approved on 8 January as a treatment for downy mildew. It is the only biofungicide I have heard of for treatment of downy. If you know of others please drop them in the comments!
SVB State of the US Wine Industry Report
On 15 January SVB released its State of the US Wine Industry report. There is always a ton of information in this report – I encourage you to read it in full. A few things that stood out to me:
- The report highlighted a drop in sales of 6.9 million cases year-on-year (from 335.9 million cases in 2024 to 329 million cases in 2025) and a drop in revenue of $1.2 billion (from $75.5 billion in 2024 to $74.3 billion in 2025). This is a 2% contraction in volume and 1.6% contraction in value.
- Direct to consumer sales – DTC sales – continue to drive revenue for US wineries and account for an average of 68% of revenue for most major wine regions.
- Wines priced under $20 continue to see weak sales. Price brackets $20–$29 and over $100 show modest growth.
Finally, this report mentions RNDC – previously one of the US’s largest wine distributors – and the impact of its exit from California on wineries who relied on the company for distribution in the state. On Tuesday 13 January information leaked to Vinepair detailed negotiations regarding the sale of RNDC’s Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, South Carolina, Virginia and Washington DC operations to Reyes Beverage Group. This is likely to cause further market upset.
That’s all for this episode of the wine news. If you enjoy this newscast and would like to see it continue, please become a member of JancisRobinson.com. And if you have breaking news in your area, please email [email protected].
Photo at top courtesy Overstrand Municipality.
This is a transcript of our weekly five-minute news broadcast. You can also listen to it on The Wine News in 5 Podcast. If you enjoy this content and would like to see more like it, please become a member of our site and subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
