Tag: US Wine

USA Today Recognizes Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery as America’s Leading Destination for Wine Tours and Tastings

For the fourth consecutive year, Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery in New York’s Finger Lakes wine region has been named the Best Winery Tour in the United States by the 2025 USA Today 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards. This recognition underscores the winery’s enduring role in advancing American viticulture and wine tourism through innovation, history, and experiential hospitality. In addition to securing the top honour for winery tours, Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery also ranked among the nation’s leading wine tasting rooms, highlighting its 1886 Food & Wine Experience, where visitors enjoy curated tours followed by seated tastings paired with seasonal culinary creations. The winery’s tasting facilities, knowledgeable staff, and panoramic views of Keuka Lake reinforce its position as a premier destination for wine education, heritage, and sensory exploration.

Here are the results of USA Today’s 10 Best Winery Tours, 10 Best Tasting Rooms, and 10 Best Winery Restaurants:

USA Today’s 10 Best Winery Tours

Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery (Hammondsport, New York)

Baldacci Family Vineyards (Napa, California)

Eberle Winery (Paso Robles, California)

Buena Vista Winery (Sonoma, California)

Jordan Vineyard & Winery (Healdsburg, California)

Francis Ford Coppola Winery (Geyserville, California)

Grape Creek Vineyards (Fredericksburg, Texas)

Cline Family Cellars (Sonoma, California)

Benziger Family Winery (Glen Ellen, California)

Alma Rosa Winery & Vineyards (Solvang, California)

USA Today’s 10 Best Tasting Rooms

Willamette Valley Vineyards (Turner, Oregon)

Stoller Family Estate (Dayton, Oregon)

Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery (Hammondsport, New York)

Los Milics Vineyards (Elgin and Scottsdale, Arizona)

Final Girl Wines (Solvang, California)

Rune Wines (Sonoita, Arizona)

Irvine & Roberts Vineyards (Ashland, Oregon)

Durant Vineyards (Dayton, Oregon)

Boordy Vineyards (Hydes, Maryland)

McPherson Cellars (Lubbock, Texas)

USA Today’s 10Best Winery Restaurants

Roblar Winery and Vineyards (Santa Ynez, California)

Farm & Forage at Sokol Blosser Winery (Dayton, Oregon)

The Restaurant at JUSTIN (Paso Robles, California)

Black Star Farms (Suttons Bay, Michigan)

The Tasting Barn at Ryan William Vineyard (Burdett, New York)

Arbor Crest Wine Cellars (Spokane, Washington)

Bolero Restaurante (Temecula, California)

Farm Cafe (Lodi, California)

Pronghorn Pizza (Sonoita, Arizona)

The Kitchen at Abeja (Walla Walla, Washington)

USA Today’s 10 Best Winery Restaurants

Roblar Winery and Vineyards (Santa Ynez, California)

Farm & Forage at Sokol Blosser Winery (Dayton, Oregon)

The Restaurant at JUSTIN (Paso Robles, California)

Black Star Farms (Suttons Bay, Michigan)

The Tasting Barn at Ryan William Vineyard (Burdett, New York)

Arbor Crest Wine Cellars (Spokane, Washington)

Bolero Restaurante (Temecula, California)

Farm Cafe (Lodi, California)

Pronghorn Pizza (Sonoita, Arizona)

The Kitchen at Abeja (Walla Walla, Washington)

The 2025 USA Today 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards showcase how wineries across the United States are elevating wine tourism through innovation, hospitality, and memorable visitor experiences. From the historic estates of New York’s Finger Lakes to the acclaimed tasting rooms of Oregon, the culinary-driven winery restaurants of California, and the boutique vineyards of Texas and Arizona, these award-winning destinations reflect the diversity and richness of American wine culture. Together, they highlight how wine tourism fosters regional identity, supports local economies, and deepens travellers’ connections to both place and tradition. These celebrated wineries offer the perfect opportunity to plan a journey that combines history, education, gastronomy, and the joy of discovery, an invitation to explore the very best of U.S. wine country.

Wine Institute Urges Resolution of US-Canada Dispute

The Wine Institute issued the following statement this week in response to the announcements that the United States would be placing tariffs on imports from Canada, and the Canadian government responded with retaliatory tariffs against U.S. wine. Additionally, provincial leaders across Canada’s largest provinces threaten to remove U.S. wine and beverage alcohol from their provinces in response to the U.S. tariffs.

“Canada is the single most important export market for U.S. wines with retail sales over $1.1 billion annually,” said Robert P. Koch, President & CEO of Wine Institute. “Wine is one of the U.S.’s most highly value-added agricultural exports, so any loss of access to the Canadian market will damage the entire US wine sector. Our wineries have spent decades building market share and brand loyalty across Canada. These actions put all of this at risk. In addition, all of beverage alcohol is already facing unprecedented challenges in the marketplace so these tariffs and potential product removals come at a time when their impact will be tough to absorb. We urge both governments to work together to resolve this dispute as soon as possible to minimize the economic harm.”

The U.S. wine industry has long supported the position that wine, as a unique agricultural product, should not be targeted in trade disputes unrelated to wine. Wine Institute strongly advocates for the removal of wine from all trade retaliation lists regardless of the market. Retaliatory tariffs invariably harm U.S. wine producers and impede the growth of the wine sector.

New Report: What percentage of Americans drink alcohol?

Here is the short answer…

The percentage of US adults [18 years and older] who drink alcohol averaged 63% over the last two years, whereas 36% described themselves as “total abstainers.” The drinking rate ticks up to 65% when narrowed to adults of legal drinking age, which is 21 and older nationwide.

Since 1939, Gallup has asked Americans whether they “have occasion to use alcoholic beverages such as liquor, wine or beer” or if they are “a total abstainer.” Across the trend, the percentage saying they drink has dipped as low as 55% (in 1958) and risen as high as 71% (in the 1970s). However, in recent decades, the U.S. drinking rate has consistently registered near the long-term average of 63%.

Drinking Varies Most by Financial Means

The drinking rate among U.S. adults differs more by household income than by any other standard demographic characteristic. According to the 2021-2022 data, 80% of adults aged 18 and older living in households earning $100,000 or more say they drink, far exceeding the 49% of those earning less than $40,000. The rate among middle-income earners falls about halfway between, at 63%.

Relatedly, drinking also differs by education, with college graduates (76%) and postgraduates (75%) the most likely to report they drink. This is followed by nearly two-thirds of those with some college education (65%) and about half of those who haven’t attended college (51%).

Religiosity Also a Factor in Likelihood That People Drink

Whether people drink also varies significantly by their religiosity. Adults who attend their church or other place of worship weekly (50%) are less likely than less-frequent attenders (63%) and nonadherents (69%) to say they drink.

By contrast, religious denomination is not a strong factor in use of alcohol. Protestants are the least-likely major religious category in the U.S. to say they ever drink alcohol. However, the 60% of Protestants who in 2021-2022 reported they drink is only modestly lower than the 68% among U.S. Catholics and 67% among those with no religious affiliation.

Men, Younger and White Adults More Likely to Drink Than Their Counterparts

In contrast to the wide variations seen by income and religiosity, alcohol consumption varies only slightly by gender, with 66% of men versus 61% of women saying they ever have occasion to drink.

Drinking is more common among younger than older adults, but this is evident only when the analysis is limited to those of legal drinking age. Whereas 60% of adults aged 18 to 29 say they drink, the rate is 71% among those aged 21 to 29. That matches the percentage of 30- to 49-year-olds who drink (70%), while it exceeds the rate among those 50 to 64 (64%) and 65 and older (54%).

Among the nation’s largest racial and ethnic groups, White adults aged 18 and older (68%) are more likely than Hispanic adults (59%) or Black adults (50%) to report they drink. A review of Gallup’s longer-term data confirm that White adults have been consistently more likely than Hispanic and Black adults to drink, while the rate among the last two groups has been statistically similar.

How Much Do Drinkers Consume?

Overall, U.S. drinkers reported consuming a modest amount of alcohol in 2022, averaging four drinks per week for all drinkers. The figure rises to six drinks per week on average for those who appear to be regular drinkers, defined as those who had at least one drink in the past week.

More specifically, when asked how many alcoholic drinks of any kind they had in the past seven days, a third of drinkers (34%) in 2022 said they had had none. About half (53%) said they had between one and seven drinks, while 12% reported consuming eight or more drinks, thus averaging more than one per day.

What Is Americans’ Drink of Choice?

For many years, beer was the strong favorite of U.S. drinkers, mentioned by close to half as the alcoholic beverage they most often drink. It still leads, but by a thinner, four-percentage-point margin over wine, 35% to 31%, according to the 2022 survey. Meanwhile, 30% favor liquor — a new high — and 3% have no preference.

Source:  Gallup

#wine #winelovers #uswinelovers #winenews #wineeconomics #winestats #winefacts #alcohol #gallup #usnews #winestatistics #winconsumption #winetrends 

Washington Wine Allocated Almost $1 Million to Wine Research

The Washington State Wine Commission (WSWC) was awarded almost $1 million in research grants for the upcoming year through the statewide grape and wine research program, along with its own grant program. The broad research projects aim to improve wine quality by tackling high-priority vineyard and winery issues.

The WSWC Board of Directors approved 24 projects totaling $994,184 for the upcoming fiscal year (July 2022-June 2023). Research grant awards have grown by 30% since 2015.

The research theme for the coming year is sustainability. WSU is working to develop cutting-edge, sustainable management strategies and tools that wine grape growers can use in the newly launched Sustainable WA certification program.

Scientists will evaluate innovative techniques to control pests and diseases, such as combining attractants with drone aerial release of beneficial predators, using pheromones to disrupt the mating of grape mealybug, trialing UV light in vineyards to control powdery mildew, and growing cover crops to trap or trick nematodes that feed on grapevine roots. A long-term research vineyard will be planted in 2021 to study the effects of traditional and novel viticultural practices on soil health.  Winery projects will include developing a predictive model of Raman spectroscopy and machine learning to make wine analysis faster and easier, mitigating potential impacts on grapes from smoke exposure, and using native yeasts to reduce wine alcohol concentrations.

Through the WSWC’s own research grant program, research teams from WSU and University of California, Davis are collaborating to better understand condensed tannins and develop a novel approach to analysis of tannins in wine. The WSWC also awarded one-year demonstration grants to study acid timing on sensory perception of wine and fund evaluation of different irrigation sensors in a WSU Smart Vineyard.

Wine research in Washington is funded through several competitive grant programs. A statewide program administered by WSU combines public, private and industry monies to support viticulture and enology research at WSU. Four entities fund the statewide program: the Washington State Wine Commission, Auction of Washington Wines, WSU’s Agriculture Research Center, and state wine liter taxes (1/4 cent per liter of all wine sold). Additionally, the WSWC administers a competitive grant program to support short-term, demonstration research at Washington community colleges and studies beyond state borders.

Return on investment from previous research has helped growers and wineries improve wine quality, reduce pesticide inputs by up to 80 percent which saves the industry $35 million annually, conserve up to 50% irrigation water from deficit irrigation strategies, and make informed frost and cold protection decisions using a cold hardiness model. Current research projects have significant potential for economic benefits, including sustainable nematode management tools for replant situations to protect an estimated $44 million in annual replanting costs, helping growers assess risk for phylloxera to prolong replanting with rootstocks, which costs $25,000 per acre.

Learn more about the research projects at Washington State Wine Commission website.

#wine #winelovers #wineresearch #winescience #wineries #winegrowers #wineeconomics #vineyards #sustainability #USWine #wawine #washingtonwine #washingtonstatewine #winenews #USwineindustry #winetrade@wa_state_wine

 

2022 Oregon Wine Symposium – February 15-17, 2022

Ice storms and restrictions on public gatherings can’t stop the demand for Oregon wine education, and in the case of the Oregon Wine Symposium, the show must go on. The annual event, held virtually for the second time in its 17-year history, is shaped by industry volunteers who make up the Education Committee that carefully evaluates and designs the curriculum around the most pressing needs of the industry. Driven by this input along with qualitative feedback and marketplace trend analysis, the Symposium strives to provide maximum value to attendees. More than 30 seminars and presentations by global wine experts are offered with three days full of information for $79 for registrants between now and January 14, 2022.

The 2022 Symposium will be organized in the familiar format of three separate tracks: Viticulture, Enology, and Business of Wine.

Some seminars to note are as follows:

In the Viticulture track, Drought in Oregon will present perspectives on one of the most serious environmental issues faced by many in the industry. Dr. Alec Levin and Chad Vargas will discuss the issue in depth and will be joined by Gregory Gambetta from the Bordeaux region of France. Gambetta will explore how common maladies like trunk disease and vine decline are being linked to the effects of long-term water stress.

Examining more topics within the water management arena, the Enology track offers two critical seminars on Tuesday, February 15: Winery Sustainability and Best Practices for Water Management in the Cellar and Diving Deep Into Winery Water Usage & Treatment at 10:45 and 11:45 am.

The Business of Wine track has several standout seminars for 2022. Benchmarking Oregon’s DTC Landscape will explore how Oregon-wide Community Benchmark DTC data can supply tasting rooms with opportunities for activating positive change and increasing channel growth. Regional associations will also discuss insights they’ve gathered from this regional benchmarking and what it means for their success.

The second day will take a two-pronged approach to media relations with back-to-back seminars; PR 101: Inside PR & Communications Strategies and Building your Media Relations Tool Kit: A Playbook for Successful PR & Communications Strategies as presented by Oregon wine PR veterans Kelli Matthews, Michelle Kauffman and Ryan Pennington.

Instead of just one Keynote speaker, the 2022 Symposium will extend the excitement by featuring a different Keynote address each day. This Keynote series will kick off with the return of Rob McMillan from Silicon Valley Bank, who will deliver the annual State of the Industry. As Oregon continues to be one of the hottest commodities in North American wine in the mergers and acquisitions (M & A) space, Kevin O’Brien of Zepponi & Company and Erik McLaughlin, CEO of METIS will together cover M&A Trends & Positioning for Sale.

Day three will feature a double dose of Dr. Greg Jones (pictured at right), who will highlight his riveting Climatology Report and the Vintage Report in his Keynote speeches. Dr. Jones’ highly anticipated seminars provide excellent educated glimpses into the future of Oregon Wine by examining our immediate past.

Participants are encouraged to register before January 14, 2022 to take advantage of the full-access admission reduction of 25% for early bird pricing, putting admission cost at only $79 for three full days of education and networking. Group admission for four or more drops to $69 apiece, and $25 admission for full access to viticulture seminars and general sessions with Spanish interpretation. This year, a new feature has been added—the Group Spanish Speaker Interpretation at $125 – which grants access to all virtual Viticulture sessions, Enology sessions on day 2, and OWB Research Updates for all company employees.

For more information on further discounts, preliminary programs, speakers, and special events, visit www.oregonwinesymposium.com.

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#winebusiness #winetasting #viticulture #enology