The Week in Wine Episode 25

Don drinks a delicious McLaren Vale Shiraz while Olly has a lovely 'Carignane' from Lodi. Don talks Napa Merlot, RTDs taking over the drinks space, an oversupply of agave in Tequila and the latest from the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti tastings. Olly asks if there are positives to untended vineyards in wine regions (keeping bird pressure down?) and Don looks at Spanish wines – particularly whites – pushing into the USA. This week's wine news includes the revelation that Rhône wines are creating a pan-regional sparkling wine brand to produce bubbles under; there were a number of stories from the Wine Paris 2026 trade show, including cameos from former basketballer Tony Parker and singer Carla Bruni (leading Olly to question the value of celebrity wines/endorsements); wine/alcohol as a leading source of lead exposure in adult diets in France (after, it must be said, refined breads and alongside the likes of tapwater); China threatens France with trade tariffs on wine; Chilean wines experiencing growth in the Russian market; Chihuahua's bid for IGP/PGI status (and the state's signature drink, Sotol); and, finally, Bordeaux winemaker Olivier Bernard on his view that, in five years' time, wine will be in an undersupply situation...