Episode description

Today in Wine News

A report published by Wine Business on February 1 indicated that the number of wineries in California, Oregon, and Washington all took considerable dips in the past year. With 5% fewer wineries in Oregon and 4% fewer wineries in California - the two largest states for wine production - consumers can expect to see less options for American-made wine available on retail shelves and on restaurant wine lists.

What does the decreasing number of wineries say about the state of the American wine industry that hasn’t been published yet? And in an age when imported beverages see hefty taxes, what can wineries based in the Pacific Northwest provide to an American consumer base that scoffs at the price of the handcrafted, small production wines that make up a large share of Oregon and Washington’s wine landscape?

Keep listening to learn more.

Further Reading

* “Lightest Crush in 20 Years: California Crushed 2.84 Million Tons of Wine Grapes in 2024” (Wine Business)

* “California Sees Smallest Harvest in 20 Years” (W. Blake Gray/WineSearcher)

* “Still too many vineyards in PNW, wine rep says” (Tim Hearden/Western Farm Press)

* “Washington grape volume and acreage continue to rightsize” (Ross Courtney/Good Fruit Grower)

* “U.S. Winery Count Declines Slightly” (Andrew Adams/Wine Business)

In Other News

Here are some additional highlights from the week in wine news:

A new Cru Bourgeois classification has been released, with eight new estates joining the Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel list for the first time. The full list of Cru Bourgeois estates now sits at 170 châteaux - down from 249 châteaux in 2020, a decrease of almost 38%.

* “Eight new estates upgraded to top of Cru Bourgeois classification as 2025 results revealed” (Georgie Hindle/Decanter)

The Church of England has banned non-alcoholic wine and gluten free bread as forms of Holy Communion. The Church of England has declared that “Non-alcoholic wine is not permissible because fermentation is an essential process in creating wine, and removing alcohol nullifies this transformation”.

* “Church bans non-alcoholic wine and gluten-free bread from holy communion” (George Lithgow/Independent UK)

And finally, Martine Saunier, the legendary Burgundy advocate who founded Martine’s Wines import company, has passed away.

Martine Saunier died on Sunday, February 9 from lung cancer at the age of 91. She is survived by her two stepsons, Jeffrey Cregg and “The Power of Love” singer Huey Lewis.

* “In Memoriam: Martine Saunier, Founder of Martine's Wines” (Press Release/Wine Business)

That’s all the news this week. Thank you for listening to The Wine Press!

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We’ll be back next week with a new crop of wine news. Until then, cheers, and happy drinking!