Before I get to global news, a bit of team news. On Tuesday 8 July the finalists for 67 Pall Mall’s Global Wine Communicator Awards were announced. Yours truly is a finalist for the Berkmann Award for Best All-Round Wine Communicator – in large part because of this newscast! And our editor Julia Harding MW is a finalist for the Gusbourne Award for Best Global Wine Communicator in Long-Form Writing for her piece on the resurgence of Pico’s magnificent wines. In addition, one of our long-time contributors, Arnica Rowan, is a finalist in the same category for her story on the use of horses in vineyards. I’m going to link the full list of finalists in the transcript of this newscast – I highly recommend you go read, watch, and listen to their work. The winners will be announced on 5 September in London. A huge thank you to 67 Pall Mall for putting on these awards and to everyone who served as a judge. Congratulations to all the finalists!
Vietnam’s tax hike
Thank you to news listener Long P Vo, who works as a consultant in Vietnam’s food processing and manufacturing industry, for writing in with additional information on Vietnam’s tax hike. On 27 June I reported a rise in the country’s consumption tax, from 65% to 90% by 2031. That rise, Vo clarified, applies to beer and beverages over 20% abv. With the exception of beer, beverages under 20% abv, will go from a consumption tax of 35% to 60%. This will be accomplished with a 5% hike per year starting in January.
Since the Europe–Vietnam free-trade agreement went into effect in 2020, customs duties on EU products have gone from nearly 44% to 12.5% and they’ll drop to 0% by 2027. It’s possible that Vietnam’s consumption tax increase is meant to offset the lost revenue from tariffs. Because tariffs were incorporated into wine prices, their elimination will somewhat offset the new consumption tax. While wine prices are expected to be less than they were pre-free-trade agreement, they will be higher than they are at present.
Hail and fires in France
On 25 June, hailstorms hit the Loir-et-Cher department of France, which is home to a significant number of Touraine’s vineyards in the central Loire Valley. In Cour-Cheverny, winegrower Laurent Pasquier reported to Vitisphere that 80% of his 15 ha (37 acres) were damaged. In Valençay, 90% of vineyards were affected. Then on 7 July, hail damaged vineyards in the communes of Pouillé and Mareuil.
Meanwhile fires are raging across southern France, from Narbonne to Marseilles. On Saturday 5 July a fire broke out in the Corbières region near Narbonne – burning approximately 500 ha (over 1,200 acres). On Monday 7 July another fire broke out in the region and spread across 2,000 ha (nearly 5,000 acres) overnight. Five firefighters and five civilians were injured. On Tuesday 8 July a fire started north of Marseilles and spread rapidly to cover 700 ha (1,700 acres), injuring 110 people. Fires are burning all along the coast between the cities and while the extent of the damage to vineyards is unclear, it is clear that winegrowers are affected. Château La Baronne’s Instagram says that they have lost 30–35 ha to the fire. La Croix Gratiot, between Montagnac and Pinet, have lost 5 ha. Thank you to news listener Julio G Patiño for bringing this to my attention. If anyone has any other information, please email [email protected].
Organic certification body NASAA shutters
On 26 June, the National Association for Sustainable Agriculture Australia (NASAA), ceased certifying organic and biodynamic farms. On 2 July, The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry declared that goods from any farms who had been certified under NASAA were no longer certified to the National Organic Standard. As a result, anyone who was about to export organic agricultural goods was no longer eligible to do so. Farms wishing to retain their organic status must apply for a limited extension of their National Organic Standard certification through a different organic certifying body, and must make the transition to a new certifying body by the time their current certification expires or by 26 September. If they don’t, they will have to restart the three-year process required for organic certification.
None of the announcements related to the closure of the NASAA explains what happened, but let’s think about what this means. NASAA was responsible for certifying approximately 400 businesses who were growing or manufacturing organic products. Australia had a total of 3,035 certified organic businesses in 2024 … so 13% of the country’s total organic businesses are now without a certifier. There are only four organic certifiers remaining in Australia. Somehow each of these is expected to ballon operations enough in the next 11 weeks to get through a raft of paperwork for anxious business owners trying not to lose their certification. Phil Tabor, owner of Blewitt Springs Wine Co in McLaren Vale, told The Advertiser, ‘Having to go through another audit, soil test and then wait another three years to get that certified—that’s a worst-case scenario.’
A Burgundy–UK winery partnership
Thank you to the team at Danbury Ridge, based in Essex’s Crouch Valley, for sending news of their partnership with Burgundy’s Domaine Duroché, based in Gevrey-Chambertin. These two estates will partner to create a limited-release Pinot Noir made from the Danbury Ridge estate vineyards. This is the first time a Burgundy estate has invested in producing English wine. The first wines will be available in 2028.
Dr Richard Smart 1945–2025
The renowned viticulturist, Dr Richard Smart, co-author of the seminal text Sunlight into Wine: A handbook for winegrape canopy arrangement as well as being a long-standing contributor and advisor for viticultural entries in The Oxford Companion to Wine, passed away on 2 July. Julia and Jancis have written a moving tribute to him that emphasises his outsized role in transforming vineyards around the world; you can also read more about him in remembrances from readers posted on our forum.
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].
This is a transcript of our weekly five-minute news broadcast, which you can watch below. 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.
