Fish vendor in the city of Coquimbo, Chile, c. 1930

The National Alcohol Beverage Control Association (NABCA) offers a snapshot of recent data through June 2026. Wine consumption in 11 control states — where the state runs wine wholesale and retail — hasn't turned around. June 2026 was 0.1% above June 2025, while the rolling 12-month avg is down 4.2%

"Greetings from the wine tasting on the Mosel" — West German wine tourism kitsch, postcard from the 1970s/80s

2026 Australian Wine Grape Crush, by Variety. Chardonnay has overtaken Shiraz as Australia's #1 crushed variety — 288,183 tons vs. 234,377 in 2026. Whites lead reds overall too: 669,445 tons vs. 596,226.

Penfolds wine advertisement, Australia 1953 — when New World producers (esp. Australian and U.S.) freely borrowed European names like Chablis, Burgundy, Sauternes and Port for their own wines.

South Australia crushed 52% of Australia's 2026 national wine grape harvest, with New South Wales next at 30% — but nearly every state saw double-digit declines, led by Tasmania (-40%) and Victoria (-31%). Source: www.wineaustralia.com/getmedia/416...

Main Still Wine Brands Imported into the U.S., 1990-2024. The rise and fall of Yellow Tail

Main Winegrape Varieties in Australia, 1956–2023. After trailing Grenache in the 1950s–60s, Syrah has led Australian vineyards for over 50 years — from under 2,000 ha in 1956 to over 43,000 ha today, with a sustained boom from the mid-1990s through 2008 that reshaped the industry.

Newspaper advertisement for Penfolds wine, in the Australasian Pictorial Annual, 1938.

After the 18th AAWE Wine Economics Conference in Perth and field trips, it's clear Western Australia is a fascinating wine destination. Winegrowing dates to 1829, when vine cuttings reached the Swan River Colony. Today's top regions are Margaret River and Great Southern. Here's a 1930s WA travel ad.

Wine Grape Varieties in Australia, 1956: Before the Dominance of Shiraz

Wildfires near Bordeaux. NASA live shot (July 27, 2026). firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/map/#d:24hrs...

1939 Penfolds wine advertisement, Australia. A koala choosing eucalyptus by brand recognition is basically an inelastic-demand joke — and Penfolds was banking on the same behavior from wine buyers.

This great Pinot Noir by Levantine Hill has a 6.5 cm punt. Does a punt serve any function for still wines?

Wine Grape Varieties in Australia, 2023

Grape Picking in the Barossa Valley, South Australia, 1930s. Source: State Library of South Australia.

Yellow Tail is among the least expensive wines anywehre. Here are 2 bottles for A$18 at a wine store in Cairns, QLD. Note that this price includes high taxes, as Australia charges a Goods and Services Tax (GST) of 10% on the retail price and a 29% Wine Equalisation Tax (WET) on the wholesale price.

According to FADN's 2024 accounting data, Farm Net Value Added per hectare of vineyards exhibits substantial variation across Europe, ranging from €684 in Comunidad Valenciana (ESP) to €60,030 in Champagne-Ardenne (FRA) — a differential of approximately 88-fold.

An 1871 advertisement, in English and German — both versions rhyme: 'The best wines, liquors, ales & lager beer, we are selling here.' Philadelphia, PA. Source: Library of Congress.

U.S. Wine Trade Summary, 2025 vs 2024: U.S. wine imports fell by $609m, cutting the wine trade deficit by $176m. Wine tariff revenue grew by $410m, but this gain was more than offset by a $435m decline in wine exports. Most of the 2025 tariff revenue increase is expected to be refunded to importers.

"Faire chabrot" or "faire chabròl" is an ancient Occitan custom (from the south of France) in which, at the end of a bowl of soup or broth, one adds red wine to dilute the remnants and drinks it directly from the plate in large gulps. It pairs well with a glass of red wine.

After the repeal of prohibition. Western Pacific Railroad steam locomotive No. 40 (built in 1909) pulls train with banner "Largest train load of wines in history being shipped to Eastern Wine Corporation, New York, by Woodbridge Vineyard Association, Lodi." Photograph by Frederick Burkett, mid 1930s

JOURNAL OF WINE ECONOMICS (2022): Tracking the wines of the Judgment of Paris over time: The case of Stag's Leap Wine Cellars’ Cabernet Sauvignon” by Olivier Gergaud, Victor Ginsburgh, and Juan D. Moreno-Ternero. Open access: www.cambridge.org/core/service...

Per capita vineyard area has declined sharply across the Old World since 1880. France and Italy have fallen from 5–12 hectares per 100 people to barely 1 today. The most striking case is colonial Algeria—peaking above 5 in the 1930s before all but disappearing.

Trump imposes 50% tariffs on Canadian wine & spirits, motor vehicles, dairy and others. The tariffs fall under the rarely used Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930 and are set to take effect 30 days after the signings. www.cnbc.com/2026/07/20/t...

Trump imposing 50% tariffs on certain Canadian goods over alleged trade discrimination

Canada's relationship with the U.S. has frayed amid Trump's tariff-heavy agenda and vocal displeasure with the nations' trilateral trade pact with Mexico.

cnbc.com

Bordeaux vineyard values plunge as wine sales fall below three million hectolitres www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2026/07/bord...

Advertisement for the Fiat 500 Giardiniera in a vineyard, early 1960s.

Per Capita Wine Consumption in Australia and New Zealand, 1900-2024

Ice drift in Pünderich, Mosel (Germany), 1940. In the background, the steep slopes of the "Pündericher Marienburg" vineyard site.

New Data: Average AOP Vineyard Prices in France by Viticultural Region, 2024. Amazing stratification from below €15k per hectare in Sud-Ouest and Languedoc to more than €1.1m per hectare in Champagne.