Wine Trends Archives

Historic British Wine Merchant Berry Bros. & Rudd to Launch First U.S. Flagship in Washington, D.C.

As part of a strategic international expansion, the venerable British wine institution Berry Bros. & Rudd has announced the opening of its first bricks-and-mortar retail outlet in the United States, to be located in Washington, D.C. This significant development reflects a broader transatlantic demand for luxury British heritage brands, particularly within the fine wine and spirit’s sector.

Established in 1698, Berry Bros. & Rudd holds the distinction of being Britain’s oldest wine and spirits merchant and is internationally renowned for its longstanding affiliation with the British Royal Family. It has served as the official wine supplier to the Royal Household since the reign of King George III in 1760, a heritage that continues to enhance the brand’s reputation for excellence and tradition.

While Berry Bros. & Rudd currently maintains international offices in Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo, and its historic headquarters in St. James’s, London, the U.S. retail launch represents the firm’s first physical retail presence in North America. This move aligns with a noticeable uptick in American consumer interest in authentic British luxury products, paralleling similar expansions by iconic British brands such as Fortnum & Mason.

“This marks a key milestone in our international growth, and we look forward to serving a wider community of customers across the US” said a company spokesperson.

The Washington, D.C. location will provide curated selections of fine wines and rare spirits, underpinned by centuries of expertise and Royal endorsement, positioning the store as a premier destination for discerning American oenophiles.

The 2025 Edition of Regina Ribelle – Vernaccia di San Gimignano Wine Fest Successfully Concluded!

The 2025 edition of Regina Ribelle—Vernaccia di San Gimignano Wine Fest concluded triumphantly, reaffirming its status as a pivotal wine event in Italy’s calendar. Dedicated to Vernaccia di San Gimignano, the historic white wine [the ‘White Queen’] in a land of reds, the festival drew over 1,500 visitors to the medieval streets of San Gimignano for a multi-sensory journey through tastings, seminars, and cultural encounters.

Strongly promoted by the Consorzio del Vino Vernaccia di San Gimignano, in collaboration with the Municipality of San Gimignano, the festival featured 34 wineries, facilitating over 10,000 tastings across the two-day celebration. The program extended beyond wine to include masterclasses, gastronomic pairings with Tuscan delicacies, and family-friendly entertainment.

An important highlight was the Best Sommelier of Tuscany competition—organized by the Italian Sommelier Association (AIS)—with Luca Marchiani receiving top honours.

From an industry standpoint, the event served as a crucial platform for media engagement. Over 80 international and Italian journalists, including myself, were hosted for exclusive press days (May 15–16), which featured technical tastings and curated winery visits. The gala dinner, held in the breathtaking historic Piazza del Duomo, was curated by Chef Gaetano Trovato of the two-Michelin-starred Arnolfo Ristorante.

Adding a cultural dimension, the unveiling of a sculpture by renowned Tuscan artist Andrea Roggi underscored the connection between Vernaccia and the arts, both classical and contemporary.

The 2024 Vintage

The 2024 vintage marks a return to productivity after the decline of 2023. Despite a rainy September that delayed the harvest, the results were notably elegant. Vernaccia di San Gimignano demonstrated once again its remarkable adaptability to its native territory. In terms of numbers, the 2024 harvest produced 5,904,698 kg of grapes for Vernaccia di San Gimignano DOCG wine, equating to 4,069,843 litres of wine, with a 44.18% increase compared to the previous year. The number of bottles released to the market is 3,670,357.

“We are extremely pleased with the great public response at this 2025 edition of Regina Ribelle – Vernaccia di San Gimignano Wine Fest. It was truly exciting to see so many people—journalists, tasters, professionals, and wine lovers—come together to celebrate this unique wine, a symbol of an extraordinary region. Our heartfelt thanks go to everyone who believed in this challenge alongside the Consorzio, from the authorities and producers to local businesses and communities, contributing to an event that celebrates a truly unique Denomination: eight centuries of history looking decisively toward the future. Regina Ribelle is now an unmissable event in the wine world, a moment to narrate Vernaccia di San Gimignano as the oldest white wine in our region.

This festival represents not only a great celebration and an ode to the ‘Beauty’ of Vernaccia di San Gimignano but also an opportunity to reinforce the bond between tradition and the future, celebrating its identity and its central role in the Tuscan and national wine scene. Let’s not forget that in 2026, we will celebrate 750 years of this denomination in the territory and 60 years as Italy’s first DOC—a truly unique milestone,” commented Irina Strozzi, President of the Consorzio del Vino Vernaccia di San Gimignano.

The next edition of Regina Ribelle – Vernaccia di San Gimignano Wine Fest will occur from May 14 to 17, 2026, in San Gimignano.

Barclays Predicts Global Alcohol Trends: Why Demographics Hold the Key

Several financial institutions, from Rabobank to BMO Capital Markets, have recently released reports on the state of the alcohol, including wine markets. But the most wide-ranging of these was The Future of Global Alcohol, produced by Barclays Investment Bank for its private clients, which is not publicly available.

Areni spoke with Laurence Whyatt, the lead author of the report and the Head of European Beverages Equity Research. Whyatt is an incisive analyst and communicator.

Here are three key takeaways from the conversation:

Demographics are destiny

Whyatt says that Barclays Bank has been concerned with demographics for a long time, because “The more people you have, the more potential consumers you have,” he said.

He said that after recognizing that demographics were an important driver of the market, Barclays built a database that layered economic and other information on top of UN population data. The result is an alcohol database for every country.

“What we learned is that the demographic changes were largely explaining the volume changes in alcohol,” he said.

After looking at the data, they realized the Chinese market was changing.

‘We identified the issues in demographics, particularly in the Chinese market, back in 2023, when we became much more concerned about potential growth,” he said.

The reason is that the number of young people has been declining for more than a decade.

“We were running some models looking at how that population was going to evolve over the next decade and realized it was going to shrink by nearly a quarter between now and 2035,” said Whyatt. “That made us much more concerned about the potential for growth of things like Cognac and even the Scotch Whisky industry.”

Consumption has already begun its downward slide. “China’s alcohol consumption has halved per capita since 2015 in spirits,” says Whyatt.” Beer consumption is down around 20% since 2013.”

One group is the most important

According to Whyatt, not only are demographics the most important indicator of alcohol consumption, but the proportion of people in the population aged 25-40 is critical. This group not only predicts total alcohol consumption but is the group that’s most likely to be working.

“Western Europe is seeing declining per capita consumption,” he said. “Young people in these countries are declining in number; the birth rate has been falling in a number of these places over the past few decades, and you really need a healthy young population in order to have high alcohol consumption.”

The birth rate has been falling in Western Europe over the past few decades, and you really need a healthy young population in order to have high alcohol consumption – Laurence Whyatt

The outlook for the US remains positive

Whyatt says the US is a good market to study because there is so much publicly available data.

“We can go back a century to Prohibition and look at how alcohol consumption has changed,” he says. “Generally speaking, we’ve seen an increase in alcohol over that century.”

There have been two major times when consumption has fallen: the first was after WWII, owing to economic weakness. “The second time was in the late ‘70s, early ‘80s, when the US introduced a 21-year-old legal drinking age,” he says.

Since then, there have been three decades of growth in per capita consumption, until the pandemic altered things. “Overall alcohol consumption increased in 2020 and 2021 when lockdown started to end, then we started seeing a decline in alcohol purchases.”

Young people are also drinking less, with declines in underage consumption, plus a decline in heavy drinking among young people since 2010. Whyatt notes, however, that stories about young people drinking less have to be treated with caution.

“The study that’s often quoted to me is the Gallup study,” he says, adding that Gallup is a very reputable polling company. “People look at the stats showing that, say, 18-to-30-year-olds are drinking less, which is true, but only because the 18-to-20-year-olds are drinking less, but the 21-to-30-year-olds are drinking about the same as what they used to drink.”

The 18-to-20-year-olds are drinking less, but the 21-to-30-year-olds are drinking about the same as
what they used to drink – Laurence Whyatt

Whyatt also said that US adults consume the most when they first turn 21, “and that level of consumption stays pretty linear until the age of about 40 to 45.” From then on, consumption begins to decline up to the age of 65. It drops again from age 75.

Whyatt remains positive about the US market because of its continuing economic growth.

Margaret River to Host World’s 50 Best Vineyards Awards November 2025

The World’s 50 Best Vineyards Awards returns in 2025, with this year’s event hosted in Margaret River, Western Australia. On Wednesday, November 19, the list of 2025’s finest vineyard experiences will be revealed at a special live event in Margaret River, encouraging travellers to discover the very best wine and gastronomy tourism in the world.

The Margaret River Region, in Western Australia’s Southwest, is the only premium wine region in Australia that combines world-class food and wine with pristine beaches, tall-timber forests, renowned surf breaks and ancient caves. In addition to its 200 vineyards and welcoming cellars, the region is home to a diverse selection of restaurants, from award-winning establishments to local favourites, presenting wine and food pairings that showcase the best of the region’s produce.

“We are absolutely delighted to bring The World’s 50 Best Vineyards awards to Western Australia later this year for the first time,” says William Drew, Director of Content for The World’s 50 Best Vineyards. “This region offers the perfect combination of world-class wine, vibrant gastronomy and breathtaking natural surroundings. From its pristine coastline and ancient forests to its dynamic food and wine scene, Margaret River delivers an unforgettable visitor experience. It’s an ideal setting to celebrate the innovation, excellence and diversity that characterize global wine tourism.”

Tourism WA Managing Director Anneke Brown said, “Welcoming The World’s 50 Best Vineyards to our iconic Margaret River Region is a proud moment for Western Australia. This globally recognized event will shine a spotlight on the world-class wine experiences found in WA and reinforces our reputation as a premium destination for travellers seeking extraordinary food, wine and nature-based tourism. We look forward to hosting industry leaders, media and wine enthusiasts from around the world, showcasing the very best our region – and our state – has to offer.”

The World’s 50 Best Vineyards list is compiled annually to spotlight and celebrate the leading wine tourism destinations around the globe. Each year, it highlights exceptional vineyards that offer unique visitor experiences, ranging from modern architectural masterpieces and UNESCO-protected ancient cellars to award-winning dining spots and intimate family-run wineries.

The Voting Academy, made up of more than 700 influential wine and travel experts and sommeliers, submit their nominations based on their best vineyard experience during the voting period. There is no set criteria for what constitutes best elements such as overall visitor experience, ambiance, cuisine, activities, views, service, staff, and value for money may have varying degrees of importance to different voters. The votes are then collated to determine the annual list of The World’s 50 Best Vineyards. Vineyards cannot apply to be on the list. Equally, no sponsor has any influence on the voting process.

The World’s 50 Best Vineyards is now fully integrated into the 50 Best brand portfolios, published by William Reed, which includes The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, The World’s 50 Best Bars, The World’s 50 Best Hotels, and regional iterations of the brand. This new alignment brings the wine portfolio – including World’s Best Vineyards and World’s Best Sommeliers’ Selection – under the globally recognized 50 Best umbrella, the leading authority in gastronomy, hospitality and travel.

Erni Loosen Launches a New Winemaking Project in Burgundy

Internationally renowned winemaker Erni Loosen announces the launch of Perron de Mypont, his new winemaking project in Burgundy. A passionate and lifelong collector of Pinot Noir from around the world, Erni has long dreamed of producing wine in Burgundy, the variety’s birthplace. That dream has now become a reality. The initial releases from Perron de Mypont will be available to U.S. consumers beginning May 2025.

“I fell in love with Burgundy about 50 years ago, during a winemaking internship there,” said Loosen. “I was immediately struck by the similarities between Riesling and Pinot Noir, which are both cool-climate varieties that can make truly profound wines that develop beautifully with age. Since then, I’ve dreamed of making my own wine in Burgundy. And it’s finally happening!”

Perron de Mypont is based at the Vieux Château de Puligny-Montrachet, in the famed village in Burgundy’s Côte d’Or. In 2019, Erni acquired the east wing of the 15th-century “Old Château” and began work on a multi-year restoration project. He also established his own négociant company and began working with growers and producers to create his own collection of wines, made to his personal standards for high quality and exceptional ageability.

Erni’s partner in Perron de Mypont is Manoël Bouchet, a long-time collaborator, highly esteemed wine professional and denizen of Burgundy, with deep expertise in the region’s terroir and legacy. Their shared vision is to produce wines that are true to the heritage and culture of the Burgundy region by blending proven traditional methods with a modern winemaking approach to ensure superior wine quality and value.

For Erni and Mano, the signature of true Burgundy wine is an elegant blend of balance, minerality and finesse. To achieve this fine balance in the wines, this alliance of good friends combines the Négociant model of sourcing finished wines with the Parcellaire approach of working directly with individual growers and specific vineyard parcels. The wines are offered in two tiers: Maison Perron de Mypont and Edition Perron de Mypont.

The Maison tier is for regional wines sourced through the traditional Burgundy Négociant system. The dedication to value is particularly evident in this tier, which blends stringently selected grapes and wines from multiple growers to maintain affordability, without compromising quality. The Maison’s initial offerings include Bourgogne AOC Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from the 2022 vintage.

For the more limited Villages and Premier Cru appellations of the Edition tier, Erni and Mano pursue excellence through close collaboration with growers, emphasizing a focus on specific climats. This is the Parcellaire approach, which benefits from the practice of maturing the wines in the growers’ cellars to harness their unique environments and capture a genuine expression of terroir. It also fosters long-term relationships with growers to build a consistent portfolio of wines.

The initial Edition offerings include 2022 Meursault, 2023 Gevrey-Chambertin, 2023 Volnay, 2022 Meursault Premier Cru Perrières, 2019 Vougeot Premier Cru, and 2022 Vosne-Romanée Premier Cru Les Suchots.