Clik here to view.
Wine & Value: Push, Pull, Squeeze
A cynic, according to Oscar Wilde, knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. For some reason, this characterization is often associated with “dismal science” economists like me. Today’s...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Strength in Numbers: VITÆVINO and Wine’s Global Battle for Hearts & Minds
There is a lot of work to do to restore wine to the place (in the market, in society) that many of us believe it deserves. Here in America, for example, we have recently concluded the successful launch...
View ArticleClik here to view.
NA Wine & the Second Glass Test: Bolle Bubbles, LVMH’s Bet, South African Spritz
“LVMH Bets on Booze-Free Bubbles at $100-Plus a Bottle” was the Wall Street Journal headline. The story, which you may have read when it came out last month, is that luxury goods conglomerate LVMH was...
View ArticleClik here to view.
From Sharecroppers to Superstars: Family Wineries in Italy
The arc of the Italian wine industry bends towards quality in the 21st century, something that has become increasingly clear to Sue and me as we have visited many of Italy’s important wine regions in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Understudy to Center Stage: The Unexpected Rise of Cabernet Franc
Wine made from Cabernet Franc is generally paler, lighter, crisper, softer, and more obviously aromatic than that of its progeny, Cabernet Sauvignon. This is how the authors of Wine Grapes, my...
View ArticleClik here to view.
2025: Wine & the Age of Uncertainty
The Unified Wine & Grape Symposium, North America’s largest wine industry meeting and trade show, is only a few weeks away. I will be in Sacramento to moderate the State of the Industry session,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Non-Alcoholic Wine: Three Questions
Sue and I continue exploring the world of non-alcoholic (or alcohol-removed) wines. NA wine is one of the few growing categories of wine (if it is wine — see below), so it makes sense to see what’s...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Cru Cerrati and Ruchè: Piemonte Wine’s Past, Present, & Future
What do you remember about the hit 1985 film “Back to the Future”? Doc? Marty? The “Chuck Berry” scene? How could you forget that time-traveling DeLorean sports car? I don’t know if anyone thinks much...
View ArticleClik here to view.
American Wine 2025: Field Notes from the Unified Symposium
Sue and I recently attended the Unified Wine & Grape Symposium in Sacramento, California, North America’s largest wine industry gathering. Attendance was about 10,000 for the meetings, seminars,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Three Faces of the American Wine Dilemma
We live in a time when problems we face are complicated but many of the answers proposed to address them are very simple. I am suspicious of simple answers to complicated questions, both in general...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Wine Economist Flashback: Stumbling into Sherry in Madrid
Sue and I are traveling in Spain and one of our goals is to learn more about what’s happening in the Sherry industry. It is our first visit to Andalucia, but not our first exposure to the world of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Wine & the Trump Tariffs: A Cloudy Crystal Ball
I’ve received emails asking me to write about the Trump tariff regime (and other policies) and how they will affect the wine industry. I have resisted so far because there is not enough information on...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Don Melchor & Chile’s Good Value Curse
Sue and I have been looking for the right excuse to open a bottle of Don Melchor, the famous Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon that was named 2024 Wine of the Year by Wine Spectator magazine. Finally, we...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Tenuta Licinia: In Praise of Philosophers & their Wines
If you flip to the back of my 2017 book Around the World in Eighty Wines, you’ll find a list of the wines from my global adventures. I didn’t want to just list them alphabetically or sort by price or...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Field Notes from a Visit to the Sherry Triangle
Sue and I recently returned from three weeks in Spain. We spent a few days in Madrid (where we dropped in at FEV General Assembly meetings), but most of the time in Andalusia, home of Sherry and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How Sherry Went from Boom to Bust to Today
We published an article here at The Wine Economist a few years ago, asking “Can Sherry be the Next Big Thing?” “Probably not,” we said. “But it doesn’t have to be. It is a timeless wine waiting to be...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Five Faces of Andalusia Wine (Part 1)
Sue and I recently spent more than two weeks in Andalusia, Spain, about half of the time exploring the wine scene and the other half enjoying the region’s history and culture. We covered a lot of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Bodegas Tradición & Gonzalez Byass: The Jerez File (Part 2)
This is the second part of our report on the five very different wineries that Sue and I visited during our brief stay in Andalusia. Click here to read the first half of the story. Bodegas Tradición...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Existential Threat? Anatomy of Italy’s Wine Crisis
It is cold comfort for U.S. winegrowers, producers, distributors, and retailers, but they are not alone in suffering a cascade of wine market woes. Recent reports from Italy, for example, paint an...
View Article
