Before I get to global news, a last-minute holiday gift idea for Londoners. Our Italy editor, Walter Speller, is organising a Barolo and Barbaresco dinner with 10 fantastic producers at Michelin-starred Cornus on 2 March. Producers will be pouring their own wine from the 2006 and 2016 vintages out of magnum. Tickets are £225 apiece. A ticket to this sounds like it would make an incredible gift! If you agree, you can email Walter. If you want to know more about the dinner, visit our forum at JancisRobinson.com. And please remember that we’re offering 25% off gift subscriptions to the site!
Mumm’s California brands sold
On 16 December Trinchero Family Wine and Spirits – based in Napa Valley, California – announced their acquisition of Mumm Napa, Mumm Sparking California and DVX from Pernod Ricard. The sale includes the brands as well as the production facilities and tasting room in Rutherford, Napa Valley. It does not include Mumm Champagne nor Mumm’s assets in Argentina or Australia. The deal will close in spring 2026. Collectively, Mumm’s California brands were the third-largest producer of Californian sparkling wine last year after Korbel and Chandon.
Mendoza approves copper mining
As discussed in this newscast in May of this year, Mendoza sits on sizeable copper deposits. In 2023, when Javier Milei took office, he began lifting regulations on industry – including mining. Earlier this year there were six copper-mining proposals in the pipeline. The first of these, PSJ Cobre Mendocino, co-owned by Switzerland’s Zonda Metals and Argentina’s Alberdi Group, saw its environmental impact declaration (DIA) approved by Mendoza’s legislature on 9 December. It is the first large-scale metal mining project approved in Mendoza in 20 years. The decision to approve this mine follows 13 years of studies and a 10-day hearing. According to the company, public support for the mine is over 60%.
Canada sells off US booze
Back on 4 March Canada pulled US alcohol from retail shelves in response to Trump’s at-the-time 25% tariff on Canadian imports. While negotiations have gone back and forth, with tariffs now between 0% and 35% depending on the import, Canada’s provinces – with the exception of Alberta and Saskatchewan – have not reordered US-made alcoholic products and have not allowed alcoholic products that were pulled from shelves to be restocked.
In the last two weeks, many provinces announced their plans for US alcohol that has been sitting in warehouses since March. Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland & Labrador will sell their remaining inventory and donate proceeds to local charities. Quebec will donate alcohol to charities who have permits to sell it at fundraisers. British Columbia has been selling its US inventory to restaurants and bars since August. Ontario has said that it will keep alcohol in warehouses until Canada secures a tariff-free deal. None of these provinces plans to restock US alcoholic products unless a trade deal is reached.
Sud de France moniker retired
Back in 2006 many producers in France’s Languedoc-Roussillon region (now combined with the Midi-Pyrénées under the Occitanie administrative region) decided to start printing ‘Sud de France’ on their labels. The reason for this was that export markets weren’t, and still aren’t, familiar with where the Languedoc-Roussillon – or Occitanie – is located. The ‘Sud de France’ moniker was devised to be easily understood by consumers and was quickly adopted and printed on around 100 million bottles of wine a year. But ‘Sud de France’ does not refer to a recognised region under European labelling law – there is no ‘Sud de France’ IGP or AOC.
In 2023 France’s Ministry of Agriculture ordered producers to stop printing ‘Sud de France’ on labels. Producers fought against the order and it was taken to the French Council of State, which ruled on 3 December that ‘Sud de France’ is not to be printed on wine bottles from the 2025 vintage forward.
Chablis changes vineyard rules
On 9 December, The Drinks Business reported that the Chablis AOC has revised its viticulture regulations in response to climate change. The AOC has raised allowable yields from 70 to 75 hl/ha for standard Chablis and from 68 to 73 hl/ha for premier cru vineyards. It is expected that this will help to balance losses from hail and heatwaves. In addition, required minimum planting density has been reduced from 8,000 to 5,500 vines/ha to more easily allow for mechanisation in vineyards.
That’s all for this episode of the wine news. Next week I will be celebrating the holidays with family. The news will be back on 2 January. 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 of Chablis vineyards at top from chablis-wines.com.
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.
