Wine Labs Research · News / Media / Trends
What the wine press covered in Q3 2026
Published . 546 publications that published in both Q2 and Q3 2026.
Harvest, vineyard work and buying guides took a larger share of wine coverage in Q3 2026. Auctions, spirits, market news and Bordeaux took a smaller share.
We read 34,740 articles from the same 546 publications in both quarters, so the change is not caused by new sources.
17,336
Articles in Q3 2026
546
Publications
24.7%
Articles with a negative tone
Topics that grew
Change in the share of articles about each topic, Q2 to Q3 2026, in percentage points.
Share of articles, Q3 2026
Share of articles in the panel. An article can have several topics.
Topics that shrank
Events and auctions fell after the spring sale season. Bordeaux fell after the en primeur campaign.
Share of articles, Q3 2026
Share of articles in the panel. An article can have several topics.
Politics and harvest news had the most negative tone
50.4% of politics and regulation articles in Q3 had a negative tone.
Harvest coverage was next at 40.2%, as the share of harvest articles rose.
Articles with a negative tone, Q3 2026
Topics with at least 300 articles in Q3.
Most-mentioned regions
Number of articles that mention a wine or spirit from each region.
Articles that mention the region, Q2 and Q3 2026.
| Region | Q2 2026 | Q3 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Champagne | 689 | 639 | -7% |
| Bordeaux | 568 | 491 | -14% |
| Burgundy | 454 | 465 | +2% |
| Napa Valley | 378 | 371 | -2% |
| Speyside | 357 | 371 | +4% |
| Kentucky | 489 | 333 | -32% |
| California | 205 | 222 | +8% |
| Islay | 344 | 198 | -42% |
| Rioja | 219 | 174 | -21% |
| Bourgogne | 89 | 164 | +84% |
| Alsace | 169 | 151 | -11% |
| Barolo | 115 | 143 | +24% |
| Provence | 177 | 141 | -20% |
| Beaujolais | 78 | 133 | +71% |
| Tuscany | 170 | 131 | -23% |
Most-mentioned producers
Champagne houses held their coverage. The first growths of Bordeaux lost most of theirs after en primeur.
Articles that name a wine from the producer. Producers in 8 or more publications in Q3.
| Producer | Q2 2026 | Q3 2026 | Publications in Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Krug | 34 | 30 | 18 |
| Champagne Bollinger | 24 | 28 | 20 |
| Louis Roederer | 31 | 25 | 17 |
| Champagne Salon | 17 | 21 | 11 |
| Chateau Lafite Rothschild | 66 | 19 | 13 |
| Veuve Clicquot | 21 | 17 | 14 |
| Penfolds | 20 | 17 | 12 |
| Chateau Mouton Rothschild | 41 | 15 | 10 |
| Champagne Taittinger | 20 | 14 | 10 |
| Opus One | 18 | 14 | 11 |
| Chateau Haut-Brion | 43 | 14 | 12 |
| Chateau Latour | 28 | 13 | 10 |
| Chateau Cheval Blanc | 46 | 11 | 8 |
| Chateau Montelena | 21 | 11 | 11 |
| Petrus | 16 | 10 | 9 |
Most-mentioned grapes
Articles that mention the grape, Q3 2026
Articles in the panel that mention the grape.
Questions
What were the biggest wine news topics in Q3 2026?
Industry news, tasting notes and spirits had the largest share of articles. Harvest Updates, Viticulture & Farming, Education & Guides grew most compared with Q2.
Was wine news more negative in Q3 2026?
Slightly. 24.7% of articles had a negative tone in Q3, against 23.6% in Q2. Harvest coverage was 40.2% negative.
Sources and method
The panel is the 546 publications that published at least five articles in each of Q2 and Q3 2026. This keeps the comparison on the same sources while Wine Labs adds new ones.
A language model assigns topics from a fixed list of about 50 and finds wine, producer, region and grape mentions. A separate model scores the tone of each article. An article can have several topics.
Producer counts keep a mention only when the producer named in the article agrees with the matched wine. Spirits producers are excluded.