On the Wineline, 13 June 2025

Shakeups in wine distribution, Oregon one-ups California, a New Jersey star reappears, consumers really do care about the environment, and some reminders of why we fall in love with wine.

Here’s my biweekly reading list of notable articles about wine, including a couple new (to me, at least) Substacks that I find refreshing. New perspectives sometimes help remind me why I fell in love with wine and why I enjoy writing about it. I hope you like and support them, too.

Also, I turned on the Chat feature for this newsletter this week. This is for now open to all, and I hope it can be a forum for you to reach out to me, react to what you read about wine, and stimulate conversation within our community. I posted about a new à la carte format at a Michelin-starred restaurant in D.C., as well as my recent visit to the Finger Lakes. And I’ll be in the Willamette Valley, one of my favorite wine regions, next week, so will post some updates from there. Please join in the conversation!

• They left their warehouse in San Francisco: In business news, RNDC, the nation’s second-largest distributor, dropped a bombshell by abandoning the California market. My buddy Jeff Siegel reports in Meininger’s that the company recently suffered some market setbacks, losing Tito’s vodka and the Brown-Forman spirits portfolio to rivals, but it’s the wine sector that’s likely to be impacted the most. (Link) A few days after the news broke, amid much wailing and gnashing of teeth by California retailers and somms on social media, RNDC President and CEO Bob Hendrikson issued a statement that blamed “rising operational costs, industry headwinds and supplier changes that made the market unsustainable.” His message seemed aimed more at reassuring his employees than the broader market. (Link) There’s probably a roman à clef waiting to be written about the breakup between RNDC and Brown-Forman, but it’ll have to wait in line considering the Musk-Trump schism in Washington!

• Falling in love with wine: People who are new to wine, though not new to life, often have beautiful perspectives into wine’s mysteries and its appeal, insights that longtime oenogeeks might take for granted or miss altogether. Catania Larson takes us along on her exploration of wine in her Substack, Zero to Vino. I love her wide-eyed enjoyment, her candor, and her fearlessness. This is a link to her Substack home page, rather than an individual piece. I highly recommend reading her story from the beginning, just a month ago. (Link)

• Appreciating home: In another Substack I’ve become enamored of, Season to Taste, Joan Neeno recounts her trip to Parma in Italy to remind us that we often have treasures at home, and we should not take them for granted. (Link)

• A Pacific Northwest signature? Paul Gregutt, a leading expert and advocate for wines of Washington and Oregon, argues that Sauvignon Blanc should be the region’s signature white wine. This should ignite some good exchanges with fans of Chardonnay and Riesling, and even Pinot Gris groupies, if there are any left. (Link)

• Do consumers want “eco-conscious wines”? A new study by the Wine Market Council found that more consumers are looking for wines that carry environmental certifications, such as sustainable, organic, biodynamic or even regenerative. Younger drinkers want these because they believe they are healthier, while older consumers cite environmental concerns. They also want ingredient labeling, or at least reassurances that wines contain no artificial ingredients or only natural ingredients. Recycling information about the packaging would also help. Note to wineries putting pH and total acidity levels on their labels … (Link)

• Jersey’s Prodigal Son returns. Wine takes time, and startup wineries need several years before they can release an estate wine (planting, growing, aging …). Hank Zona reports in Edible Jersey on Conor Quilty, who made a splash at New Jersey’s Unionville Vineyards (Link) before he left five years ago. Quilty re-emerged recently with his initial releases from Meadowbrook Vineyards (Link), including an award-winning ripasso-style Cabernet Franc. Welcome back, Conor Quilty! (wink) (Link)

• BREAKING NEWS: I saw this item as I was preparing this post for publication, so I’ll try to resist the temptation to speculate too much about it: Stoller Wine Group of Oregon announced Thursday, June 12, that it had acquired the Elouan brand from Copper Cane Wines & Provisions. This may seem like just another brand acquisition by a growing wine mini-empire, but it has an interesting subplot. Copper Cane is owned by Joe Wagner, creator of Meiomi and Belle Glos brands that have (for better or worse) come to define Pinot Noir for many American consumers. Wagner courted controversy with Elouan several years ago (Link) because he produced the wines in California from Oregon grapes and referenced Oregon’s AVAs on the label. Acquiring the brand will be a big boost to Stoller, jacking its production from 170,000 cases to 300,000 cases, according to the Portland Business Journal. (Link) But in reading the official announcement and the statement from Stoller president Gary Mortensen, there seems to be a deft thrust of a dagger aimed at evening a score on behalf of Oregon. “Elouan is the No. 3 selling Pinot Noir from Oregon across the country,” Mortensen said, seriously damaging my faith in my fellow American wine lovers (see ref: Meiomi above), “and we are excited about how it will enhance our overall portfolio by leveraging their existing network to get our world-class wines into the hands of consumers." Nicely done — use Elouan’s brand recognition to get “world-class” wines before its fans. And then, the final twist of the knife: “We are excited to welcome this wonderful brand and its loyal fans into our ecosystem and, rightfully, make it an Oregon icon by producing it here in the state.” (Link to announcement.)