Challenging economic times, tariffs, health advisories and fraud were some of the trends that dominated the news in wine in 2025. And yet, there were plenty of bright spots this year as well.
Looking back at the highest-drawing news stories of the past 12 months, worry was a persistent theme. The wine industry had grappled with sluggish sales in 2024, and there was no sign of that improving, thanks to inflation and economic uncertainty. Those who love imported wine also knew that President Donald J. Trump’s second term would probably lead to tariffs on those wines, and importers, restaurateurs and retailers began to sound the alarm even before the inauguration. And then the outgoing U.S. Surgeon General decided to kick off 2025 by issuing a call for new warning labels on wine bottles.
Sounds like a bummer year, huh? But there was plenty of bright news, particularly among small winery owners who saw the current challenges as a reason to double down and invest in the future. So enjoy a nice sip of Port or Madeira, and let’s look back at 2025 in news.
1. Jeff Cohn Closes His Sonoma Winery
[article-img-container][src=2025-12/ns_jeff-cohn-iron-hill-062625_1600.jpg] [credit=] [alt= Jeff Cohn in Sonoma’s Iron Hill Vineyard.] [end: article-img-container]
Our highest-drawing news story of the year was bittersweet: After nearly 30 years, Sonoma winemaker Jeff Cohn and his wife and partner, Alexandra, announced in June that they will shut down Jeff Cohn Cellars, halting production and closing after they sell their remaining inventory. Though known as a top producer of California Zinfandel and Syrah, they felt the current economic climate meant it was time.
The Cohns told Wine Spectator they had been considering a change for more than a year. Selling the winery seemed a longshot, considering how many wineries are reportedly for sale in California. With the industry in flux, potential buyers are holding off, particularly on smaller wineries. There is also a glut of wine in the state—many growers left grapes unpicked in 2024.
While the Cohn’s decision is symbolic of the challenges many winemakers and grapegrowers faced in 2025, there were bright spots among the adversity. (See item 3.)
2. Two Suspects in $99 Million Ponzi Scheme Plead Guilty
[article-img-container][src=2025-12/ns_stephen-burton-wines-102225_1600.jpg] [credit=] [alt= Stephen Burton with wine bottles.] [end: article-img-container]
Wine remains an attractive investment, and unfortunately that makes it a target for fraud. The sorry saga of James Wellesley and Stephen Burton took a turn in October, when Wellesley plead guilty to wire fraud conspiracy in a federal court in Brooklyn. The fraud in question? Wellesley and Burton had been accused of taking $99.4 million from investors in an elaborate Ponzi scheme. The two British men claimed the money would be used for high-interest loans to wealthy investors in need of quick capital. The loans would be backed by rare collectible wines, which would be sold if the investors failed to pay back the loans.
The problem was, those wines never existed. Neither did the borrowers supposedly taking out the loans. Instead the money went into Burton and Wellesley’s pockets; they used the money for their own expenses and to pay some “interest” to their investors. After being extradited to the U.S., Burton plead guilty in July. Both men now face a decade or more in prison.
3., 8., 9. and 10. Signs of Trouble But Also Hope
[article-img-container][src=2025-12/gvopen1_123125_1600.jpg] [credit= (Courtesy Newton Vineyards) ] [alt= Nick Livanos and Eric Bryan Seuthe in the barrel cellar.] [end: article-img-container]
Yes, there were plenty of sad stories of wineries struggling and even closing in 2025, but there was also plenty of evidence that wine will endure. In February, LVMH announced that it would permanently close Napa’s Newton Vineyard. (3) The winery, founded by Peter Newton in 1977 and owned by LVMH since 2001, was destroyed in the 2020 Glass fire and has been making wine in a temporary space since. The statement cited the fire as the reason ownership made the difficult decision.
But in September, two friends with no previous wine experience, Nick Livanos and Eric Bryan Seuthe, purchased Newton, including 487 acres and the brand, which they plan to revive. The new owners are excited to bring the important property back to live. “We’re just really excited that LVMH gave us this opportunity,” said Seuthe. “We’re just little guys. We can’t tell you how much we love wine.”
While some wineries shut down in 2025, others saw the tough times as an opportunity (9) to plan for the future. Antinori continued its commitment to Stag’s Leap Winery in Napa by buying one of its top sources for fruit, the Arcadia Vineyard, and Christian Moueix expanded his Napa vineyard holdings by buying a prime vineyard next to his Dominus Estate (8).
Constellation shifted its focus further toward luxury wine, selling labels like Meiomi and Woodbridge to The Wine Group, which sees more potential in value brands. And there were buyers for some small wineries, primarily fellow small winery owners looking to grow. For example, partners Jack Bittner and the Bettinelli family, longtime grapegrowers, bought Accendo from the Aruajo family (10).
4. Thinking Outside the Box
[article-img-container][src=2025-12/business2_ws113025_1600.jpg] [credit= (Courtesy Nomadica) ] [alt= Nomadica boxed wine.] [end: article-img-container]
Tough times provide opportunities for innovation. One such category readers were interested in was premium boxed wine, which continues to grow. According to Nielsen, retail sales of boxed wine increased by more than 4 percent by value in 2024. Premium boxed wines—those priced at $28 or more—led that growth, with sales totaling $1.6 billion, a nearly 9 percent increase compared to 2023. “I’m so tired of all the headlines about wine being a dying industry. There are bright spots, and this is one of them,” said Kristin Olszewski, founder of boxed brand Nomadica.
Another growing category was alcohol-removed or de-alcoholized wine, along with low-alcohol wines, as consumers looked for ways to moderate consumption but still enjoy their favorite beverage. A growing number of winemakers are moving into the category of de-alcoholized (DA) wines. According to data from Impact Databank, a sister publication of Wine Spectator, wines without alcohol are selling at double-digit rates, outperforming other wine types. The total de-alcoholized wine market amounted to more than a million cases sold in the United States in 2024.
5. Tariffs, Tariffs and More Tariffs
[article-img-container][src=2025-12/gvopen_093025_1600.jpg] [credit= (Courtesy VOS Selections) ] [alt= Victor and Chloe Schwartz.] [end: article-img-container]
All year, readers followed the saga of President Donald J. Trump’s tariffs and their impact on imported wines, with interest peaking when VOS Selections, a small father-and-daughter wine importer in New York, joined with other small businesses to challenge several of those tariffs in federal court, arguing Trump improperly imposed them. Their challenge was heard by the U.S. Supreme Court in November, with a decision expected soon.
Foreign wineries, as well as the importers, restaurants and retailers who sell their wines, have struggled to decide how to deal with the cost of the tariffs, which by law must be paid by the importer the moment the wine arrives on U.S. shores. Some wineries have been swallowing some of the cost, but say they cannot afford to do so if the tariffs stay in place. Many are shifting their focus to other markets.
6. U.S. Agency Revokes To Kalon Name
[article-img-container][src=2025-12/ns_macdonald-brothers-122325_1600.jpg] [credit= (Guy Katsav) ] [alt= Graeme, left, and Alex MacDonald in To Kalon vineyard.] [end: article-img-container]
To Kalon may be America’s most famous vineyard, but according to its biggest owner there’s no such place, and the U.S. government agrees. In August, the U.S. Board of Geographic Names (BGN) repealed its own 2017 decision recognizing the name To Kalon Creek for a small tributary running through the vineyard. Constellation Brands, which owns Robert Mondavi Winery, petitioned to have “To Kalon Creek” removed from the BGN’s list of registered places. Constellation owns a trademark on the name To Kalon.
The decision is a blow to fellow Napa vintners who believe the vineyard surrounding the creek is one of America’s most notable and deserves to be recognized as a distinct terroir, a recognized place, not a brand. Vintner Graeme MacDonald, who extensively researched the history of the land that connects his family’s property and the adjoining Robert Mondavi estate, had hoped to add To Kalon Vineyard to the National Register of Historic Places.
7. A Perfect Storm for 2024 Bordeaux Futures Pricing
[article-img-container][src=2025-12/giscoursb_111025_1600.jpg] [credit= ] [alt= Château Giscours in Margaux.] [end: article-img-container]
There are three major ingredients for a successful Bordeaux futures campaign in the U.S. market. The vintage must be promising, the global economy must be stable and the dollar must be fairly strong. None of those conditions were met when the 2024 futures started being released to the market in spring 2025.
The château owners tried to attract interest by lowering prices—in some cases by more than a third from the previous year. But quality-wise, 2024 was not a blockbuster vintage. No matter how strong the latest vintage, the nature of Bordeaux futures means sales are at the mercy of global economic conditions. The world was already suffering from a pandemic/inflation hangover, and the trade battles between the United States and everyone else only added to the anxiety. To complicate matters, the shrinking value of the dollar to the euro meant that American consumers saw less of a price cut than other markets.
11. Surgeon General Opts for Simple Slogans in Alcohol Advisory
[article-img-container][src=2025-12/ns_surgeon-general-cancer-warnings-010325_540.jpg] [credit= (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)] [alt= Surgeon General Vivek Murthy takes questions from the media.] [end: article-img-container]
The other major topic in the wine world in 2025 was a growing chorus of voices arguing that alcohol’s health risks outweigh its benefits. While respected medical studies continue to find that light-to-moderate consumption of alcohol leads to lower rates of cardiovascular disease, other voices, including the World Health Organization and outgoing U.S. surgeon general Dr. Vivek Murthy, argued that the evidence linking alcohol to certain forms of cancer meant that no level of drinking is safe.
Murthy made a big splash when he issued his final health advisory in January, calling for alcoholic beverages to carry warnings that alcohol is a cancer risk. He also called for more public education on alcohol’s risks and for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Department of Health and Human Services to revisit the alcohol consumption recommendations in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. His advisory drew a lot of attention. And a Gallup poll a few months later found that, for the first time in the decades since the polling organization began asking, a slight majority of Americans believe any level of drinking is unhealthy. It’s one topic that is sure to attract even more attention in 2026.
Stay on top of important wine stories with Wine Spectator’s free Breaking News Alerts.
