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VinePair

@vinepair.com

Drinking is culture. vinepair.com

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03.12.2024
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Latest posts by VinePair @vinepair.com

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Expanding Middle-Tier Mega-Deal, RNDC Says Reyes Will Buy Five More Markets The biggest news in the beverage-alcohol industry’s middle tier is getting bigger: Reyes Beverage Group (RBG) will acquire five additional markets from its rival, Republic National Distributing Compan...

BREAKING: The country's biggest beer wholesaler is buying more markets off the country's (for-now) biggest wine/spirits wholesaler.

06.03.2026 16:27 👍 8 🔁 5 💬 2 📌 2
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The Twin Cities’ Beer Scene Is Showing the Rest of the Industry How to Fight Back When I reach Drew Hurst, he’s running late to work. “I’m taking the call from my car right now because there’s an ICE. stop on my road on my way in, which, y’know, I pulled over to film,” the presiden...

Brewery workers, bar owners, and union organizers in MSP are setting the mark on how to actually care for their community, rather than just invoke as a buzzword. At @vinepair.com, I reported how their work doubles as a playbook for colleagues nationwide whose homes may face MAGA sieges soon enough.

30.01.2026 15:41 👍 168 🔁 71 💬 4 📌 6

"which wines would sommeliers like to see less of in 2026?" An interesting take on the wine list and at first glance a controversial list. But read the article to get the whole picture and nuance. By @vinepair.com

13.01.2026 07:14 👍 10 🔁 5 💬 1 📌 1
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In Middle-Tier Mega-Deal, RNDC Says Reyes Will Buy Out Its Ops in Seven Markets (Developing) Less than one year after Republic National Distributing Company’s catastrophic collapse in California, VinePair has learned that the country’s second-largest wine and spirits wholesaler will sell a po...

Filed a quick newser for @vinepair.com with what we know. Note that while trade press has reported the statement from RBG, the memo from RNDC's Sachs is previously unreported. Will be updating this story throughout the day:

13.01.2026 14:40 👍 6 🔁 1 💬 1 📌 0
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In Middle-Tier Mega-Deal, RNDC Says Reyes Will Buy It in Seven Markets (Developing) Less than one year after Republic National Distributing Company’s catastrophic collapse in California, VinePair has learned that the country’s second-largest wine and spirits wholesaler will sell a po...

The country’s second-largest wine and spirits wholesaler will sell a portion of its national operation to the country’s largest beer distributor: Reyes Beverage Group. vinepair.com/booze-news/r...

13.01.2026 15:50 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
I am reaching out to share an important update regarding our business. We have been taking steps to evaluate our business structure, prioritize operational excellence, and ensure the strength of our business.
As part of these ongoing efforts, we have aligned with Reyes Beverage Group on key economic terms for them to acquire RNDC's operations in Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, South Carolina, Virginia and Washington, D.C.
Upon completion of the transaction, Reyes plans to run the newly acquired businesses separately from their current operations.
This transaction is the result of a thoughtful and extensive process and will support our goal of strengthening the business for the long term and supporting key existing relationships. While there are still a number of steps we need to finalize the deal, I hope that you join me in recognizing this positive development.

I am reaching out to share an important update regarding our business. We have been taking steps to evaluate our business structure, prioritize operational excellence, and ensure the strength of our business. As part of these ongoing efforts, we have aligned with Reyes Beverage Group on key economic terms for them to acquire RNDC's operations in Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, South Carolina, Virginia and Washington, D.C. Upon completion of the transaction, Reyes plans to run the newly acquired businesses separately from their current operations. This transaction is the result of a thoughtful and extensive process and will support our goal of strengthening the business for the long term and supporting key existing relationships. While there are still a number of steps we need to finalize the deal, I hope that you join me in recognizing this positive development.

In the meantime, it is business as usual. We are continuing to operate as we have been, and we ask that you remain focused on your responsibilities and keep up the great work you do every day. We are committed to being as transparent as possible and will provide additional updates as we move forward.
If you have additional inquiries about this news, I encourage you to speak directly with your manager or local leadership. Open, direct conversations are the best way to get clarity and context.
I wanted to take a moment to thank you all for your hard work and dedication. You are the cornerstone of RNDC and we appreciate what you do every day. Let's keep up the good work.
Sincerely,
Marc Sachs

In the meantime, it is business as usual. We are continuing to operate as we have been, and we ask that you remain focused on your responsibilities and keep up the great work you do every day. We are committed to being as transparent as possible and will provide additional updates as we move forward. If you have additional inquiries about this news, I encourage you to speak directly with your manager or local leadership. Open, direct conversations are the best way to get clarity and context. I wanted to take a moment to thank you all for your hard work and dedication. You are the cornerstone of RNDC and we appreciate what you do every day. Let's keep up the good work. Sincerely, Marc Sachs

NEW: I have obtained an internal memo from RNDC's new prez/CEO stating that Reyes Bev Group (US' largest beer distro) has agreed to acquire RNDC in 7 markets. Trade press this morning reported RBG spox saying it was in "active discussions" for such a deal; RNDC memo suggests it's happening. More TK.

13.01.2026 14:26 👍 14 🔁 1 💬 1 📌 2
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Anheuser-Busch Is Selling Cutwater Like Crazy — and Keeping Quiet About the Viral #Challenge The song is called “Cut Wader,” by Lex OnGoo and LadyBouncee, and it opens like this: She want some Cutwater All these b*tches see us bounce, me and my homegirl on the roof. We drinkin’ Cuts but that’...

Cutwater's triple-digit sales growth in 2025 wasn't strictly due to the TikTok trend of housing/getting housed by a 4pk of the stuff and filming the results. But that didn't hurt! At @vinepair.com I laid out the needle A-B has been threading to cash in on heavy users without marketing heavy use.

09.01.2026 15:28 👍 7 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
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The 7 Stories That Defined the Beer Industry in 2025 Here we are again, reader. The last column of 2025. I hope you had a lovely holiday, full of good cheer and other things of that nature. But now it’s back to business: one final recap on the biggest s...

@dinfontay.com recounts what are, in his opinion, the most important storylines and turning points for the beer industry in 2025.

26.12.2025 18:06 👍 7 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 1
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The Beer Industry Is Special. My Dad Taught Me That I love beer, and I love covering the beer industry, and those are two different things. I am constantly explaining to people — angry readers, new sources, confused strangers — that while I personally ...

My father, Nick Infante, adored the American beer business. A week ago, he passed away. My column today at @vinepair.com is a tribute to his lifelong passion for the trade, and a challenge to its leaders to hold close all that makes it unique.

12.12.2025 14:47 👍 204 🔁 26 💬 46 📌 3
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The 26 Best New Breweries of 2025, According to Beer Pros As a writer, finding negative narratives in craft beer is a breeze. Sales are declining. Closures are climbing. Let’s blame all those IPAs! Or Gen Z! Or THC! Instead of focusing on deflating news, tho...

🍻 Even in a challenging year, brewers pushed forward to open impressive new breweries in 2025. Here are 26 of the best, according to the pros.

08.12.2025 13:31 👍 6 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 4
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British-Style Cask Ale Is a Challenge, but These Breweries Are Making It Work in the U.S. At Gigantic Brewing Company in Portland, Ore., brewer and co-owner Van Havig has a response ready for whenever customers ask what cask ale is. “You look them right in the eye, and you say, ‘It’s the w...

In a country dominated by artificially carbonated keg beer, cask ale can be challenging to serve well. These breweries are pulling it off. vinepair.com/articles/bre...

26.11.2025 18:10 👍 19 🔁 4 💬 3 📌 2
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How Czech Brewers Make Low-Alcohol Lagers With Big Flavor Beer fans who make it to Prague before the weather turns will find exactly what they’ve been told to expect: a beautiful Old World city where classic Pilsner-style beers are everywhere, with hundreds ...

Czech brewers are making low-alcohol beers that are complex, rich, and fun to drink, offering a blueprint for other brewers to do the same.

03.09.2025 15:58 👍 16 🔁 5 💬 0 📌 2

VOS Selections, the lead plaintiff on this suit, is a ~4-decade family-owned wine/spirits importer out of NY. As the owner told @vinepair.com after the initial win in the Court of International Trade in late May: "When they asked me to be lead plaintiff, I thought ‘Somebody needs to step up.’"

29.08.2025 21:43 👍 38 🔁 11 💬 0 📌 0
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The Prized White Wines Collectors Covet Most — That Aren’t Chardonnay All too often, when the world’s white cult wines are lined up, Burgundy, and its star grape Chardonnay, steal the show. Even beyond the Côte de Beaune — from Sonoma to South Africa to Australia — Char...

Chardonnay remains the most celebrated white variety in the world, but what cult whites do collectors seek out outside of the grape?

02.09.2025 15:19 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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The 10 Best Rosés Under $25 About two decades ago, rosé took the United States by storm. Spurred on by chic beach goers spending their summers “out east,” the pink wines captured the American imagination and have yet to truly lo...

From classic Provence expressions to thought-provoking bottles from the Finger Lakes, here are the best rosés under $25.

18.08.2025 14:52 👍 3 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
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Busch Light Apple Is the McRib of Beer You don’t have to be an expert gambler to understand why it’s verboten to interrupt a craps player’s hot hand at the casino, nor a historian of America’s pastime to grasp why a baseball team won’t say...

Bapple's comeback boomed, but ABI has once again stopped shipping the brand—leaving competitors an angle on the national thirst for apple-flavored beers. At @vinepair.com I evaluated the macrobrewer's scarcity strategy in context of another LTO gambit: McDonald's infamously successful hog arbitrage.

15.08.2025 14:31 👍 12 🔁 1 💬 1 📌 0
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Busch Light Apple Is the McRib of Beer You don’t have to be an expert gambler to understand why it’s verboten to interrupt a craps player’s hot hand at the casino, nor a historian of America’s pastime to grasp why a baseball team won’t say...

Busch Light Apple's return to shelves this year has been nothing short of triumphant, begging the question: Why isn't it around year-round?

15.08.2025 16:15 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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Is Still Prosecco a Clever Bid or a Branding Blunder? There comes a time in the lifespan of wildly successful products when it seems the world is not enough. Think: Crystal Pepsi, Facebook’s pivot to Meta, and non-alcoholic hard seltzer. Prosecco, that c...

Prosecco is famous for its fizz, yet, much to the confusion of everyone, the confounding era of bubble-free Prosecco is here.

12.08.2025 17:37 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
🤯 Hop-ocalypse Now
Everything is relative. For example, the data are in on tax paid beer shipments for June 2025, and according to analysis from the Beer Institute, they’re up 0.3 percent year over year. To the untrained ear, a mere 30 basis points may not sound so hot. It isn’t when compared to, say, a decade ago, when the category’s growth was double that figure. But as the trade group’s chief economist Andrew Heritage noted in a statement to Brewbound, the slight increase marks the “strongest growth” on a monthly basis so far this year. And get this: Removals for Q2 “only” declined at about half the rate they did in Q1! Good news is just a matter of perspective, when you think about it.

🤯 Hop-ocalypse Now Everything is relative. For example, the data are in on tax paid beer shipments for June 2025, and according to analysis from the Beer Institute, they’re up 0.3 percent year over year. To the untrained ear, a mere 30 basis points may not sound so hot. It isn’t when compared to, say, a decade ago, when the category’s growth was double that figure. But as the trade group’s chief economist Andrew Heritage noted in a statement to Brewbound, the slight increase marks the “strongest growth” on a monthly basis so far this year. And get this: Removals for Q2 “only” declined at about half the rate they did in Q1! Good news is just a matter of perspective, when you think about it.

And your Hop-ocalypse Now from the latest @vinepair.com Hop Take 🤯: vinepair.com/articles/hop...

12.08.2025 14:43 👍 0 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 1
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It’s Now or Never for Cannabis Drinks Cannabis, marijuana, weed, pot, hemp, the devil’s lettuce — call THC products whatever you like, but they aren’t going away any time soon. And once again, they have the alcohol industry on edge. Since...

The THC drinks category is undeniably exploding, but can the growth predictions actually hold up? If it's going to happen, now is the time.

12.08.2025 15:00 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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The Bar Teams That Defined the Craft Cocktail Revival When debating the greatest sports teams in history, rabid fans always defend their hometown heroes. They don’t just anoint the Chicago Bulls the greatest basketball team of all time, they exalt the vi...

With the cocktail renaissance well into its third decade, it's time to step back and consider the greatest bar teams of all time.

31.07.2025 16:44 👍 1 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
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How Mead, the Drink of the Vikings, Came to Dominate Untappd Rankings At first glance, Untappd’s list of highest-rated breweries looks kind of weird: Currently, three of the top five producers in the U.S. aren’t breweries at all. Instead, Pips Meadery (#2), Schramm’s Me...

Currently, three of the top five breweries in the United States aren't breweries at all, they're meaderies.

30.07.2025 14:36 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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🎧 It's always a treat to join The @vinepair.com Podcast to talk about my recent coverage. In this episode, I recapped the state of play for the hemp-beverage business and my reporting at the Hemp Beverage Alliance's 2025 Hemp Beverage Expo: pod.link/1402310626/e...

(clip via @zgeballe.bsky.social!)

29.07.2025 18:38 👍 4 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
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What Can Bourbon Distillers Learn From the Last Big Bust? The bourbon industry is looking at some tough times right now. Sales are down, supply is way up, and distilleries are facing bankruptcy, lawsuits, and even closure. Words like “glut” and “bust,” which...

What can today's distillers learn from the last bourbon bust? I try to answer that question, with the help of some folks who actually lived through it (ahem Eddie Russell) in my latest article for @vinepair.com vinepair.com/articles/bou...

28.07.2025 20:29 👍 4 🔁 3 💬 2 📌 0
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The 10 Most Iconic Beer Cans and Innovations of All Time — and How They Changed Packaging Forever Please consider the beer can. The aluminum cylinder is one of beer drinking’s greatest inventions, equally a standard accessory at bars, concerts, and backyard BBQs, and a status symbol for drinkers s...

The first beer can was sold in 1935, and from that point forward breweries and manufacturers have revolutionized its form.

29.07.2025 15:21 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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The VinePair Podcast: The Complex Impact of the Mezcal Boom Roughly two years ago, VinePair managing editor and “Cocktail College” host Tim McKirdy received an invite from Los Angeles-based restauranteur Ivan Vasquez to travel down to Oaxaca and get a behind-t...

having gotten a sneak preview of @timmckirdy.bsky.social's new mezcal miniseries for @vinepair.com i can't emphasize enough how stoked i am for the show

23.07.2025 18:36 👍 7 🔁 2 💬 1 📌 0
Digital artwork created for "Mezcal's Untold Past, Soaring Present, and Fragile Future, Part 2," a new mezcal-focused documentary for VinePair's Cocktail College podcast.

It depicts a Mexican man, a farmer and/or mezcalero, walking through a conceptual space showing Oaxacan magueys (the regional term for agave plants), as well as a clay pot used for distilling.

Digital artwork created for "Mezcal's Untold Past, Soaring Present, and Fragile Future, Part 2," a new mezcal-focused documentary for VinePair's Cocktail College podcast. It depicts a Mexican man, a farmer and/or mezcalero, walking through a conceptual space showing Oaxacan magueys (the regional term for agave plants), as well as a clay pot used for distilling.

Part 2 of Cocktail College's new series on traditional mezcal!

Mezcal's taste as we know today was shaped by prohibitions, corruption, and outside meddling...and all more recently than you think. Listen for yourself.

open.spotify.com/episode/4faV... @vinepair.com @timmckirdy.bsky.social

24.07.2025 14:02 👍 5 🔁 2 💬 1 📌 2
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Beer's Biggest Season Is Here. The Sales... Not So Much. I just flew back from the Hemp Beverage Expo, and boy, are my arms tired! No, but seriously folks, we’ve got a great crowd tonight, which is why it kills me to tell you that the vibes I was getting fr...

The period from Memorial Day to Labor Day is traditionally the most important season for selling beer. There are all sorts of exceptions to this rule, but as I wrote this week at @vinepair.com, none are big enough to offset what’s shaping up to be another rough summer for the American beer business.

25.07.2025 15:13 👍 11 🔁 1 💬 1 📌 0
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What Can Bourbon Distillers Learn From the Last Big Bust? The bourbon industry is looking at some tough times right now. Sales are down, supply is way up, and distilleries are facing bankruptcy, lawsuits, and even closure. Words like “glut” and “bust,” which...

The bourbon industry is looking at some tough times right now. How can distillers learn from the sector's last big bust?

28.07.2025 14:31 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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Inside Durham’s Booziest Bar Fight — Featuring Robots Durham, North Carolina. Home of Duke University and its vaunted Blue Devils basketball team. An anchor of the so-called Research Triangle, with some of the nation’s top medical centers, numerous high ...

The Bull City has become the site of a most unusual monthly bar brawl known as Giant Robot Fight Club, the first of which was held in December 2024. vinepair.com/articles/dur...

24.07.2025 15:05 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0