Wine News: What I’m Reading the Week of October 11, 2026

Welcome to this week’s roundup of wine stories worth a closer look.

• Masked robbers steal wine worth over $5m from top Italian vineyard — Some are calling it the biggest wine theft ever. Stealing 30,000 bottles is no small undertaking, and the Marchese is understandably unhappy.
• Turning the Tables on Matt Kettmann — A profile of the Santa Barbara wine writer.
• Affordable Luxury — A case for asking whether “luxury” is really the right word to use for wine.
• Time to Get Real — Ted Hall offers a clear-eyed perspective.
• What if Your Neighbour Was Your Occasional Wine Merchant? — Peer-to-peer wine sales have been tried before.
• Can revamping a 45-year-old winery draw visitors to a wine region in the South Bay’s ‘backyard’? — Thomas Fogarty Winery is updating its visitor experience and, in the view of the roundup’s writer, making better wines than ever.
• French wine industry facing historic low harvest after extreme summer heat — France is facing a historic low harvest after a summer of extreme heat. Less wine may not necessarily be a bad thing.
• The one crucial thing that would make Gen Z buy fine wine — The article, the writer suggests, doesn’t quite answer its own question.
• Why Is California Wine’s Correction Worsening? — The roundup points to debt as a key part of the problem.
• French v NZ – the results of a blind wine tasting might surprise you — Another blind-tasting face-off.
• Mexico Moves to Certify Wine Origin as Production Grows — Origin certification could be a positive step for consumers.
• Wine talk: All’s well that ends well — A look at a new map of Israeli wine regions.
• My favorite hidden gem in California has incredible food and wine — and it’s more affordable than Napa Valley — A tribute to Paso Robles.
• This Bordeaux-Style Wine Tells the Story of a Sicilian Legend — A lavish Sicilian Cabernet-based blend raises the question of whether the world needs another expensive wine of its kind.
• Brazilians Reach Record Per Capita Wine Consumption — Brazil’s growing wine consumption is an opportunity California producers may be overlooking.
• People Still Want Wine at Their Gatherings—but Gathering Is the Challenge — People still want wine when they get together, but phones may be getting in the way. Put them down and connect.
• Short Crop Won’t Be Wine’s Savior — A smaller harvest won’t provide a simple fix for a market correction.
• Searching for weaker wines — “Weaker” here means lower in alcohol, particularly wines below 13%.

About the Author: Chris Lehoux

Meet Chris Lehoux, an experienced wine connoisseur and dedicated blogger with a deep passion for all things wine-related. With years of expertise in the industry, Chris shares insightful wine reviews, valuable wine tasting tips, expert pairing advice, and captivating tales of vineyard visits. Join Chris on a journey through the world of wine, where every sip is an adventure waiting to be savored!