Papapietro Perry Winery and Four Roses Bourbon Take Top Honors (March 6, 2026) — Winners have been announced in the fifth annual Los Angeles Invitational Wine & Spirits Challenge. A pinot noir from Papapietro Perry (Sonoma County, Calif.) and a small batch bourbon from Four Roses Distillery (Lawrenceburg, Ky.) topped their fields to be named Best of the Best. The competition was established in 2022, in conjunction with Los Angeles-based beverage professionals (representing both the on- and off-premise channels), to highlight the best of the best wine and spirits producers in the world, and to introduce those producers to the largest market of consumers in the United States. Judging took place February 18-19, 2026. Competition this year was stellar, says event producer Debra Del Fiorentino of Wine Competitions Management & Production: “Year after year, our judges continue to be impressed with the depth in each category. The quality of product was fantastic!” Wh

ATPGroup is pleased to announce the addition of Brendan Loftus and Georgetta Dane to its Enology Sales team, reinforcing the company’s commitment to technical expertise, regional support, and long-term partnerships with winery customers. Brendan Loftus joins ATPGroup as an Enology Sales Representative covering Napa and Lake Counties. A Sonoma County native raised in Healdsburg, Brendan studied Enology at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo before spending several years working harvests across major wine regions in both the northern and southern hemispheres. His international experience includes time in Argentina, Chile, Hungary, and other established wine producing countries. He later returned to Northern California, where he most recently worked at Rack and Riddle, gaining broad hands-on experience from grape to bottle. Georgetta Dane joins ATPGroup as a Sales Representative serving the California Central Coast, Texas, and the Southeast states. She brings more than two decades of winemakin

Napa, California - VA Filtration and LEV2050 have established an exclusive North American distribution agreement.  VA Filtration and LEV2050 have established an exclusive distribution agreement for North America and Chile. This partnership allows VA Filtration, based in Napa, California, to be the sole distributor of LEV2050’s bioreactors and related fermentation technology. The agreement leverages VA Filtration’s established presence and expertise in wine and beverage filtration, combined with LEV2050’s innovative bioreactor systems for yeast and bacteria propagation. Through this collaboration, wineries and food producers in North America and Chile gain direct access to LEV2050’s advanced microbiology solutions, streamlining imports and support. Recent import records confirm shipments of LEV2050 bioreactors to VA Filtration, highlighting the active implementation of this exclusive distribution arrangement. “We have always been known for our innovati

New partnership to be announced this year at WIN. Come by for a sneak peak. “We’re proud to partner with VA Filtration to bring _(secret)_ technology directly to winemakers and operations teams across North America and Chile. This collaboration is a major step forward in making advanced _(secret)_ practical and accessible for those seeking greater precision, quality, and sustainability in their fermentation processes.”  “We have always been known for our innovations and support of important wine industry technologies,” says Bryan Tudhope, CEO of VA Filtration USA. “This relationship furthers our interest in bringing quality and value to wine production.”  

Domaine Della 2023 Soberanes Vineyard Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir Takes Top Prize  November 18, 2025 — Winners have been announced in the 2025 Harvest Challenge Wine Competition. After two spirited days of judging, Domaine Della 2023 Soberanes Vineyard Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir took the top prize. It was also awarded Best of Show Red Wine and Best of Monterey County AVA. Coming in at 98 points, judges praised the wine as “warm and spicy” with “fig and nutmeg.” Other descriptors included “meaty,” “prosciutto,” and “dried rose petal.”  With entries from across the globe, the Harvest Challenge bases judging on a group of vineyards (or even vines) from the same region, belonging to a specific appellation and sharing the same type of soil, weather conditions and grapes that combine to give personality to the wine.  In other competitions, this terroir is ignored. At the Harvest Challen

Some markets active amid persistent global weakness Three bulk wine markets – France, Italy and Chile – entered November having experienced good activity levels through October. “Activity” is the key word: sample requests and price discussions have constituted most of the activity in southern France; actual transactions have been limited. Likewise, a steady stream of enquiries into Chile’s remaining 2025-vintage supplies, and its prospects for 2026, have outnumbered transactions. But there have been good transaction levels in Italy, as it has become clear all of Europe’s three major harvests came in short of their five-year averages. This month’s Global Market Report provides information on what Italian wines transactions have been occurring, which 2025 wines are being released early to bridge a supply gap, and what 2025-vintage stocks Chile still possesses. The latest prices on all these items, as well as France’s new 2025-vintage prici

Navigating a path forward amid the headwinds Welcome to the Ciatti Global Market Report on Substack – a new home, but with the same incisive and actionable market intelligence as before. The latest pricing tables, collectively now called the Global Pricing Grid, will be published separately in a few days. The bulk market was quiet globally through July into early August, as is typical when the Northern Hemisphere is on its summer holidays and/or preparing for harvest. However, the quietness exceeded normal levels in some countries, and speaks to a feeling – borne out by some export statistics – that 2025 has seen an intensification of the sluggishness that has characterised the bulk market since the end of the pandemic’s retail demand spike. The same period last year was also slow, but August 2024’s Global Market Report was able to state: “Shorter crops and the return of China as a buyer in Australia have helped make the landscape app

Sampling is in full swing on the Southern Hemisphere’s 2025 vintage and quality has been rated very positively. The great majority of sampling activity is being carried out by longstanding customers with established programmes and tenders; new buyers, and new programmes, are few. Only Chile and New Zealand experienced non-average crop sizes but in contrasting ways – Chile’s was as much as 25% short, New Zealand’s is expected to have been “very large” despite fruit going unpicked in response to generous carryover stocks.  The shortness of Chile’s crop triggered brisk early sampling by international buyers and the securing of batches by domestic buyers. Even in this context, however, the lack of new international business has been noticeable. In the Northern Hemisphere, meanwhile, bulk wine markets have been proceeding steadily, with activity largely consisting of incremental demand for small volumes on a just-in-time basis.  The persi