Constellation Brands — the company behind America’s best-selling beer Modelo and major wine labels like Robert Mondavi and Kim Crawford — is adding another winery to its portfolio. The beverage giant announced on Wednesday that it acquired Sea Smoke, an esteemed producer of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in California’s Santa Barbara region. The purchase price for the deal was not disclosed, but the acquisition includes Sea Smoke’s brand, inventory, winery, and 1,100 acres of land — 256 of which are under vine. Founded by Bob Davids in 1998, Sea Smoke was a pioneer in proving the impeccable qualit ..read more

17 years after co-founding Scottish multinational brewery and pub chain BrewDog, CEO James Watt will step down from his position and assume a new role of ‘captain and co-founder.’ According to The Guardian, Watt informed the company board of his plans to step down last year, and COO James Arrow will take the reins as CEO. Watt will still own a 21-percent stake in BrewDog, and will remain active in company affairs and brand direction as a non-executive member. “For almost 2 decades pretty much every second of my waking existence has been focused on this amazing business,” Watt wrote in a Linke ..read more

Ron Swanson’s done it again. On Monday, Lagavulin launched the fourth limited-edition installment in its ongoing collaboration with actor Nick Offerman: Lagavulin: Offerman Edition Caribbean Rum Cask Finish Aged 11 Years. According to a brand press release, the expression is inspired by the “Parks and Recreation” star’s love of sailing and seafaring, and is said to embody a journey between the Caribbean islands and the coastal Scottish isle of Islay. “Laboring together with Lagavulin blending master Stuart Morrison, we have landed upon our most delicious, exotic liquid yet,” Offerman said in ..read more

The Michelin Guide has been chronicling the who’s who of global dining culture for over a century. While it was originally established in 1900 to provide French motorists with information about car mechanics, petrol stations, and hotels throughout France — encouraging travel and increasing Michelin tire sales — the guide’s 1926 edition introduced the now-coveted star awarded to exceptional fine dining establishments. Nowadays, the guide features over 3,500 restaurants in over 40 countries and territories, and encourages gourmands across the globe flock to the establishments achieving one, two ..read more

It’s no secret that in the United States, tipping is the norm. In recent years, though, many Americans feel as if it has become too normal: stateside shoppers now encounter point-of-sale apps on touch-screens requesting extra cash almost everywhere, from bars and restaurants to self-checkout markets and convenience stores. And consumers are feeling it, with many claiming the practice is “out of control” and significantly reducing the amount of gratuity they leave behind. Despite this tip fatigue, recent data from YouGov shows that approximately 46 percent of Americans will still tip their ser ..read more

High Noon is expanding its portfolio with its first-ever hard tea. The brand announced on Monday that High Noon Vodka Iced Tea — made with vodka, iced tea, and no added sugar — is now available on shelves nationwide. High Noon Vodka Iced Tea is available in four flavors (original, peach, lemon, and raspberry) with 90 calories and 4.5 percent ABV per 12-ounce can. A deviation from the line’s traditional seltzers, the new offerings are non-carbonated, and are the Spirit of Gallo-owned brand’s first foray into the hard tea category. “Hard tea was one of consumers’ most frequent RTD category purc ..read more

When’s the last time you heard someone claiming to crave a warm, cozy IPA or an ice-cold glass of Bordeaux? Probably never. And while we don’t usually think about the reason why we like our beverages served at specific temps, a new study says the answer lies in the interplay between ethanol taste and temperature. In an article published in journal “Matter” on Wednesday, researchers report that the variation of “ethanol-like” tastes between beverages is likely more due to the interaction between water and ethanol on a molecular scale rather than the ABV alone. “I had the idea to ask the questi ..read more

America’s drinking culture is extremely diverse, which makes it all the more fascinating to dissect. While we’ve covered the states that drink the most in the U.S. before, this new interactive map from IntoxiStates breaks down America’s consumption data on a county-by-county basis. The site generated this map using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) excessive drinking data from county health rankings and roadmaps. The darker red and purple shades represent counties with a higher percentage of excess drinking, which is defined by the CDC as more than eight or 15 d ..read more

Beer and fishing go hand in hand, but this weekend, we saw those worlds collide in particularly gnarly fashion. On Sunday, country music singer Alli Walker performed during intermission of a Stanley Cup playoff match between the Nashville Predators and Vancouver Canucks at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena. For her grand finale, Walker poured a tallboy of Budweiser into the mouth of a dead catfish and…chugged. CATFISH BEER CHUG DURING INTERMISSION IN NASHVILLE ? pic.twitter.com/HoQfb3LwgF — B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) April 28, 2024 If Walker’s stunt seems crazy, know that bringing dead catfish ..read more

The Organization for Vine and Wine (OIV) announced new data Thursday that suggests global wine consumption has dropped to the lowest level since 1996. John Barker, the director general of OIV, hosted a web conference from the organization’s headquarters in Dijon, France to share how vineyard surface area, wine production, wine consumption, and wine trade fared in 2023. Across the board, the numbers were pretty grim for the wine world. The estimated global wine consumption in 2023 was 221 million hectoliters, down 2.6 percent from 2022 and 7.5 percent from 2018. Further, the world’s vineyard s ..read more