Before I get to the news, I’d like to congratulate anyone in stage 1 or stage 2 of the Master of Wine programme who received positive news today regarding their June exams! And if you didn’t receive the news you wanted – rest assured that you’re not alone and that for many of us, this is a rather long journey. Luckily, the company is good! I deferred my exam this year, but I will see those of you who just passed stage 1 or are resitting stage 2 in June.
Tariffs head to Supreme Court
After last week’s announcement that the US Court of Appeals had ruled 7–4 that Donald Trump had overstepped his authority by imposing global tariffs, this week the US Supreme Court announced that they would hear the case. What’s more, the oral arguments have been fast-tracked and will be heard the first week of November. This means that there is a chance that the case will be ruled on by the end of this year – but if the case follows a normal timeline the ruling could take until June 2026. The tariffs will stay in effect throughout the appeals process.
Victor Owen Schwartz, the owner of wine importer VOS Selections, which was one of the five businesses who brought this case against the Trump administration, went on MSNBC this week to discuss the impacts of the tariffs on US importers. He said that in the second quarter of this year his business has seen a 60% reduction in profits and his offerings have contracted 3–4%. He also pointed out that for every dollar of wine he is unable to import, there are $4 of GDP lost across US shipping industries, retail operations and restaurants.
US alcohol consumption guideline report shelved
A controversial report by the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Prevention of Underage Drinking (ICCPUD), which I reported on back in January, looks like it has been shelved alongside the defunding of ICCPUD itself, announced 1 September.
Based on a published draft, the ICCPUD report was expected to promote a ‘no safe level’ of alcohol consumption message, in contrast to a much more rigorously prepared report commissioned by Congress from the National Academies of Science Engineering and Medicine (NASEM). Each report was intended to inform the updated Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA), which include guidelines on alcohol consumption.
Though I was not a fan of the ICCPUD report, and this development may ultimately make things easier for the alcohol industry, I’m not thrilled for two reasons. First, the primary objective of the ICCPUD wasn’t to provide this report; it was to support states in preventing, reducing and collecting data on underage drinking. Second, if the ICCPUD report had been released, it would have been compared and contrasted with the NASEM report. If the methodology of the ICCPUD report remained as flawed as it was in the draft, the NASEM report would have stood a greater chance of being respected in the court of public opinion. As it is, The New York Times, Vox, STAT News and US News and World Report have all come out with articles saying that the Trump administration has buried a report linking alcohol to cancer. Worse, many are claiming that it was buried because of the alcohol industry.
We seem no closer to the revised DGA being released.
Harvest forecast for France and Italy
France’s Ministry of Agriculture released a report on 1 September forecasting that 37.4 million hectolitres of wine will be produced in 2025. This is a 3% increase over 2024 but is still 13% lower than the five-year average. This represents a major reduction in forecasted yield from the beginning of August – due in large part to crop losses from drought and intense heat in the last month.
Italy’s Assoenologi, ISMEA and the Unione Italiana Vini (UIV) announced on 10 September that they expected Italy would produce 47.4 million hectolitres. This is an 8% increase over 2024 and is in line with the five-year average. This estimate would make Italy the largest wine producer in the world in 2025.
Heatwaves change yeast populations
On 29 August Excell laboratory in France released their findings on the microflora present on grapes and how it has been impacted by severe heatwaves in France in 2025. The study details how prior to veraison the microflora on grapes consists mostly of a variety of moulds. Once veraison begins the microflora transitions to mostly non-Saccharomyces yeasts – one of which is Hanseniaspora uvarum – a yeast that is highly tolerant to the heatwaves that are becoming more common with climate change. This yeast compromises the establishment of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which is usually the dominant yeast in wine production, and generates more volatile acidity, which can lead to aromas of nail-polish remover or vinegar. To combat this, Excell recommends inoculating with Saccharomyces cerevisiae and introducing oxygen to the grape must. I’m curious if viticultural practices that lower overall vineyard temperature, such as not tilling, would help with this. I’d love to hear from anyone with data on this.
Ketchup nets more for grapegrowers than wine
In Provence, the Co-opérative Agricole Provence Languedoc (CAPL) is paying grapegrowers more for grape concentrate for use in ketchup than they receive from wine producers. CAPL told wine publication Vitisphere that they value the grape concentrate because it means they use less sugar in total, source more locally, and score higher with the nutritional labelling system ‘Nutriscore’. The CAPL is paying around €100/hl of grape must versus an average of €35–60/hl for IGP grapes intended for wine or €75–85/hl for grapes intended for Côtes du Rhône.
Honestly, if we can keep grapegrowers in business, I’m for it. Perhaps the US’s oversupply could take the place of corn syrup in Heinz ketchup?
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 news@jancisrobinson.com.
Photo at top by Yeti Studio via Shutterstock.
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