As many of you have noticed (based on my DMs, anyway), I have not posted much here on 1WD in the last quarter of 2025. Here are the top 10 reasons for my recent lack of prolific-ness:
10. I have a toddler.
9. I have been writing books, with one still in development, and another just released in October. And, well, that shizz takes up a serious amount of time!
8. Drinking too much.
7. Toddler.
6. Behind the scenes, I’ve been working on some larger moves in the wine biz, of which I am extremely stoked. If all goes well, you will be hearing about these in Q1 of 2026! MUCH more info. to come!
5. Playing too much Ghost of Tsushima DIRECTOR’S CUT.
4. Toddler.
3. The family may be relocating, and, well, that shizz also takes up a serious amount of time.
2. See #8.
1. Toddler.
Do I hope that the content stream on here will get back to normal levels soon? Absolutely. Do I promise it? No, not really.
But as I work on all of the books and hush-hush-for-now stuff, the close of the year is always a good time to look back over the previous 12 months, and so, as we’ve done for a decade+ here on 1WD, I give you..
The 10 Most Popular 1WD Posts of 2025
10. “Top of the Hill” (100th Anniversary of Giovanni Manzone)
9. Me, and the Ladies (Maculan Recent Releases)
8. “The Opposite Direction Than Everybody Else” (Eugenio Collavini Recent Releases)
Let’s talk about these first three as a group. I’ve been joking since the COVID lock-down days that people are going to mistaken 1WD for a website that focuses exclusively on Italian wine. There is no question that Italy dominated the wine coverage here for a few years, and there is excellent reason for that: Italy wine PR is killing it in the best of ways right now, and they reach out to me far more than any other region. Maybe it’s due to the fact that Italy was ground zero for the COVID outbreak in Europe, and so they were ahead of everyone else in terms of recovery, and subsequently trying to get back to some sense of normalcy with respect to media outreach. Whatever the reason, Italy is the squeaky wine wheel at the moment, and are clearly getting the grease in terms of coverage!
7. Victory for Your Wallet (Some Price-Friendly Selections from Victoria): I have had a soft spot for the wines of this Australian enclave since visiting the region over a decade ago. It’s sooooo nice to see them getting some media luv—they deserve it (at least, the wines do).
6. Ever Elusive Product Reviews (March, 2025)!: I gotta admit, this one making the cut surprised me; and it’s placement in the Top 6 surprised the F— outa me. I mean, I hardly ever get around to doing product reviews these days… Maybe that should change!!
5. “The Biggest Fear” (Catching Up With Bolgheri’s Tenuta Argentiera): Speaking of Italy… Impressive wines, from a perennially impressive region, with impressive price-tags… Ok, this one isn’t so surprising.
4. Uncorking Livermore Valley’s Best (Uncorked! 2025 Wine Competition Winners): Look at good ol’ Livermore getting all impressive and sh*t! Another of my fave wine regions, and I’m just as thrilled to see the coverage of their 2025 wine competition get some luv here as I was to have been included as a judge for it this year.
3. NEW BOOK RELEASE!! How to WIN at Wine: A Practical Playbook for Getting Maximum Enjoyment from Every Bottle: THANK YOU, peeps! Now, I just need more of you to ACTUALLY BUY THE BOOK! Thanks in advance, friends!
And now, unfortunately, for the top two articles of 2025, I need to throw a wet blanket on our high-temperature fermentation here…
2. California Wine’s No Good, Very Bad Month
1. More Bad News for the Wine Biz
2025 was an absolute dogsh*t year for the wine business globally, and that is being kind. Why? Pick your reason, and you’d be right: declining demand, tariff-caused market jitters, an abstinence movement, inflation… 2025 was the continuation of the perfect storm that battered the wine biz in 2024. Some industry pundits are now saying that industry has finally hit bottom on its correction. The insiders that I know are not in agreement, and are basically saying that talk of already bottoming out is still wishful thinking. Me? I tend to agree with the pessimists right now, but I sure hope that I’m wrong!
Thanks for coming along for the ride here in 2025. Have a safe and happy new year, you filthy animals!
Cheers!