TERROIR
THE FEATURE
Etna Bianco, Out of Afterthought: Inside the DOCG Bid for the Volcano's East Face
On Etna's east face above Milo, Carricante vines in the Caselle contrada sit at 800 meters, lose the sun by five, and face the Ionian Sea. The wines themselves are saline and age-worthy, Riesling-adjacent at ten years in bottle. Until recently they were treated as a secondary product of a region defined by its reds. That premise is collapsing.
On 10 November 2023 the Consorzio Tutela Vini Etna voted to seek DOCG elevation with Bianco at the structural center. The data underneath explains the urgency. Bianco DOC volume rose 19 percent year on year in H1 2023, with the Superiore designation up 120 percent over the same window. The grower count has gone from roughly 200 in 2013 to 474 today. The Italian Ministry now frames the petition as a 60-day push toward ratification before the 2026 harvest.
THE DISPATCH
Latest from this week
OIV: Global Wine Consumption Hits A 68-Year Low As 2025 Trade Tumbles
The OIV's State of the World Vine and Wine Sector report, released this week, prints 2025 global consumption at 208 million hectoliters—the lowest since 1957. Exports fell 4.7 percent by volume to 94.8M hl, the lowest since 2009, and 6.7 percent by value to €33.8 billion. Country-level reads: US consumption down 4.3 percent, France down 3.2 percent, China down 13 percent year on year and 61 percent below 2020. Director General John Barker frames the year as “climatic variability, softer demand and rising trade uncertainty.”
South Africa’s 2026 Harvest Climbs To 1.37M Tonnes After A “Pendulum” Season
South Africa Wine confirmed the 2026 harvest at 1.370 million tonnes, a roughly 10 percent recovery from 2025's 1.244M and the largest crop since 2022. The growing season swung from drought to heavy rainfall to March heat spikes, an oscillation Vinpro calls “pendulum”; the result was compressed ripening and pressured disease management across the Cape. Vinpro’s Dr Etienne Terblanche calls the vintage “highly variable and technically demanding,” yielding “wines of excellent balance, concentration and strong premium potential.” Standouts across cultivars: Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc, Pinotage, Cabernet Sauvignon.
THE PICK
MOULIN DE GASSAC PICPOUL DE PINET 2023
Aimé Guibert created the Moulin de Gassac line in 1990 from the Villeveyrac amphitheatre site as the value sister to Mas de Daumas Gassac, his Languedoc benchmark estate. The intent was to put serious appellation terroir below the fifteen-dollar line. The 2023 Picpoul reads to that brief: 100 percent Piquepoul Blanc from limestone-and-gravel soils at higher elevation, stainless fermentation, three to five months on lees. Lemon blossom, salt, a clean stony finish.
The wine drinks at the register of the appellation’s lazy stereotype, oysters and plateau de fruits de mer, and rewards harder pairings too: anchovy with white beans, leeks vinaigrette eaten cold. Production sits around 1,000 cases annually. Stock confirmed at The Wine Country (Long Beach) at $13.99 retail. Decanter ran a Picpoul de Pinet feature this month; the appellation is having a quiet ascent moment.
Until next Thursday,
The editors of TERROIR