🧭 Adapt or Fade

In this week’s DECORKED digest, we look at India’s tariff breakthrough, organic vines playing the long game, Spain courting the US, and Napa’s price rethink.

February 23, 2026

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Happy Monday! We hope you have a great week ahead. In this week’s DECORKED digest, we look at India’s tariff breakthrough, organic vines playing the long game, Spain courting the US, and Napa’s price rethink. Keep reading!

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Read the most important and interesting news this week.

🌎 Russia boosts domestic wine production as imports plummet READ HERE

🏆 The first Masters of Wine of 2026 have been announced READ HERE

đź“Ś Wine giant Gallo shuts down production in California READ HERE

⛓️‍💥 California on track to raze 40,000 acres of vineyards READ HERE

đź“ť Supreme Court strikes down tariffs READ HERE

📉 Piedmont wine hits crisis point READ HERE

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We curate, filter, and select only the most exciting and important news for you.

INDIA BACK IN FOCUS

The new EU–India trade agreement, which cuts Indian import tariffs on European wine from 150% to as low as 20% for premium bottles, could mark a pivotal long-term opportunity for fine wine. While change won’t be immediate due to complex state taxes, logistics challenges and low per capita consumption, India’s growing wealthy and expanding middle class present significant potential. Wine is increasingly viewed as a lifestyle and premium product rather than a mass-market drink, with education and qualifications such as WSET gaining traction. If logistics, distribution and investment grow alongside tariff reform, India could become a major fine wine market within a decade.

ORGANIC VINES, LONG GAME

An 18-year Riesling trial in Geisenheim shows organic and biodynamic vineyards can take a while to hit their stride. Yields were initially lower (around 14–17% behind integrated), but the gap tightened after about a decade. In hotter, drier years, organic (and especially biodynamic) plots matched or even beat integrated yields, while cooler, wetter vintages still caused losses (likely from higher disease pressure). Overall grape quality stayed broadly similar, suggesting these systems can become more resilient as conditions warm.

WINE PARIS: BACK TO BASICS

Wine Paris 2026 reflected an industry actively recalibrating rather than retreating. With global consumption at its lowest since the 1960s and red wine losing share to white, rosé and sparkling, producers are confronting structural shifts in demand, generational behavior and premium buying patterns. Research presented at the fair showed that younger consumers enter fine wine socially, not aspirationally, and that traditional upgrade pathways are weakening. The message from Paris was clear: the next chapter of wine will be defined less by legacy and more by adaptability.

APPELLATIONS UNDER PRESSURE

The debate over wine appellation systems is intensifying as climate change challenges long-standing rules on grape varieties, vineyard locations, and production methods. While New World regions like Australia and Argentina are adapting more flexibly, many European GIs face bureaucratic hurdles that slow any meaningful reform. Some regions are experimenting with higher-altitude plantings and new grape varieties, including disease-resistant options, to maintain quality and preserve their identity. Ultimately, the industry is being forced to reconsider how to balance tradition with the urgent need for environmental and economic resilience.

SPAIN EYES THE US

At Barcelona Wine Week, Spain made a renewed push to win back American buyers amid tariff uncertainty and slowing imports. Despite its vast vineyard area, Spain ranks only seventh in US supply, with many top wines still lacking distribution. As global demand shifts toward white over red, producers are betting on long-term investment and tourism-driven branding to reposition Spain as a quality leader, not just a value player.

THE RETURN OF PAĂŤS

Chile’s ancestral grape País, once dismissed as a bulk-wine variety, is tipped for a second renaissance. After Miguel Torres reignited interest in the 2010s with quality single-varietal releases, producers now see new potential in the old bush vines’ resilience to drought and climate change. With demand rising for lighter, chillable reds, País (known as Criolla in parts of South America) is gaining traction again, not just in Chile but across Argentina, Peru and Bolivia, as winemakers rediscover its historic roots and new appeal.

NAPA’S PRICE RESET

Luxury fatigue is reshaping California wine country. With Napa tastings climbing as high as $500–$750, many wineries are pivoting from exclusivity to accessibility. Across Napa, Sonoma, and Paso Robles, producers are introducing $20–$50 tastings, crediting fees toward purchases, and swapping white-tablecloth formality for zip lines, vinyl nights, trivia parties, and family-friendly vineyard spaces. The goal: build relationships, not just margins. As Millennials and Gen Z seek experience over prestige, wineries are betting that community, creativity, and affordability could be the future of tasting rooms.

CHAMPAGNE DOING BETTER THAN IT LOOKS

Champagne shipments fell 2% to 266m bottles in 2025, but the decline was largely influenced by US importers accelerating purchases in late 2024 ahead of tariff fears, inflating the prior year’s figures and dampening early 2025 reorders. Strip out that distortion and underlying demand appears broadly stable, with exports holding up and value slipping just 1.7% to €5.7bn, suggesting mood remains the key headwind.

Learn something new every week.

Copyright @ Vino Mundo

WINE REGION OF THE WEEK: TARIJA, BOLIVIA

Tarija, in southern Bolivia near the Argentine border, is the country’s main wine region, accounting for around 80–90% of national production. Classified as high-altitude viticulture with vineyards above 1,500 metres, it combines centuries-old winemaking roots with a modern industry focused largely on domestic consumption, supported by research institutions dedicated to high-altitude wine production.

Copyright @ Marselan Selection

GRAPE OF THE WEEK: MARSELAN

Marselan is a 1961 French crossing of Grenache and Cabernet Sauvignon, created in the Languedoc to combine quality and resilience. Now planted from southern France to China and Uruguay, it produces medium-bodied wines with fine tannins, deep colour and notes of cherry and cassis, and is increasingly valued for both blending potential and climate adaptability.

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