The wine industry is worried that gen Z and millennials are turning away from the grape, citing cost, health risks and alternatives such as mocktails and marijuana

“Wine just is mid.”

“It’s easier to smoke weed.”

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Last year saw the lowest wine harvest since 1961, which is worrying. But there are consolations at hand

Domaine Taluau-Foltzenlogel Passion, Bourgueil, Loire, France 2022 ( £15.75, Yapp ) It’s wine harvest time throughout the northern hemisphere at the moment. It’s a season that provokes fear and excitement in almost equal measure for wine growers: fear of what bad weather could still do to the quality and quantity of the crop; excitement about the renewal and potential that comes when the weather gods smile down with gentle sunshine until the last grape comes in. In France, advance notice suggests many growers had already adjusted their expectations downwards before the first pickers had arrived, with a savage bout of mildew affecting much of the country after heavy early summer rains. Early estimates from the official French agricultural ministry suggest a drop of about 16% on last year’s harvest – with bad weather also causing a problem called coulure , when the fruit fails to develop after flowering, in regions such as Alsace, Bordeaux and the Loire. All the more reason, then, to stock up on wines from recent successful vintages, such as Domaine Taluau-Foltzenlogel’s gracefully succulent cabernet franc red from 2022.

Acústic Celler Blanc , Montsant, Spain 2022 ( £20.95, or £18.95 as part of a case of 12 bottles, Lea & Sandeman ) Early rainfall is just one of a number of meteorological challenges that have become more severe in recent years thanks to the climate crisis, with late spring frost, extreme heat, drought and wildfires all taking their toll on production with increasing extremity and frequency. According to the International Organisation of Vine and Wine, last year was the lowest wine harvest in more than 60 years, with extreme weather events leading to a drop of 7% on 2022, taking it down to a level last seen in 1961. Among the worst-hit countries was Spain, which dropped 14% to a 20-year low thanks to extreme drought. Things are looking up: early forecasts say the total Spanish grape harvest will be up by 20% this year. Good news for producers in regions that were hardest hit last year, such as Montsant in Catalonia, home of Acústic Celler’s evocatively rich, honeyed-peachy mouthful.

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Faced with diminishing Gen-Z sales, big wine brands are now tugging the sleeves of celebrities to help them sell their booze

According to the 2023 Silicon Valley State of the US Wine Industry report , wine has a younger drinker problem. American millennials and gen Z’ers are drinking much less of the stuff, which would seem to be true in the UK , too. I imagine that’s down to a combination of factors, including competition from cheaper, more nattily packaged drinks that target young people explicitly, as well as the increased preference for low- and no-alcohol drinks (as many as 28% of young adults in the UK , for example, do not drink).

Step in celebrity wines. Or, rather, a growing branch of them. Unlike Jay-Z, who bought a whole wine estate and now makes preposterously priced champagne under the Armand de Brignac name, an increasing number of other celebrities are endorsing wines at the lower end of the market. In many ways, it’s a no-brainer – Kylie Minogue’s portfolio , for example, had consumers doing the Loco-Motion by its second year, having cornered all of one-sixth of the UK sparkling wine market , and includes glossily presented examples of popular pours, including a couple of proseccos and French rosés of varying qualities. I did enjoy her Côtes de Provence Rosé – gently fruity, creamy and saline in equal measure, it will please fans of Whispering Angel , or indeed of Miraval , the wine estate co-owned by Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.

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Pubs and retailers say it’s greener, more cost-effective and guarantees the freshest glass possible – but can they convince consumers?

I am standing at the bar at the Canton Arms in Stockwell, south London, deliberating over the options on tap. There is a friulano from Veneto, a Provençal rosé, a beaujolais villages …

Yes, it’s not just pints they pull here, but neat little glasses of wine from kegs fitted underneath the bar, using the same chilling system as the lagers and ales. I go for a glass of the rosé. It’s cold, peach‑pale and delicious: everything I want from a glass of wine in summer.

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Neither Haley Bennett as the Veuve Clicquot heir nor the film’s proto-feminist messaging can bring this bubbles-to-riches drama to life

This watered-down version of the story of Madame Barbe-Nicole Clicquot Ponsardin, known as the grande dame of champagne , is all syrup and no astringency. Haley Bennett wafts prettily through the film as the young widow of the heir to the Clicquot vineyard. Tom Sturridge, appearing in assorted flashbacks, acts mostly with his poetically tousled hair as her passionate and unpredictable late husband, François. And Sam Riley is upstaged by his dashing collection of flouncy scarves as wine exporter Louis Bohne.

Based on the bestselling biographical book by Tilar J Mazzeo, , directed by Thomas Napper, leans heavily on lush, picture-postcard shots of the French countryside: the champagne region’s tourism board will no doubt be delighted. But for all the stirring proto-feminist messaging, this is a curiously uninvolving piece of storytelling.

In UK and Irish cinemas

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Hoping for one more blast of outdoor eating in the next weeks? Look to the Med and southern Europe for full-bodied whites and juicy, coolable reds

Picnics with my family couldn’t be further from the Von Trapp idyll. I don’t own a hamper, usually forget a blanket and tend to find myself navigating the health-and-safety hazards of the local park while my children fight over the last bag of Pom-Bears. Introducing wine both improves and complicates matters, because it requires planning, as you’ll know only too well if you’ve ever swirled lukewarm rosé from a plastic cup in the sun.

Temperature is a key issue. Summer wine choices tend naturally to skew towards the white, pink or fizzy, all of which we’re used to drinking fridge-cold. “Too cold, in fact,” says Honey Spencer, sommelier and author of Natural Wine, No Drama: An Unpretentious Guide . Take a bottle straight from the fridge, she says, and it will do better given 20 minutes to warm up a touch. If you’re not the kind of picnicker who has a snazzy ice box, however, it’s better to avoid lighter whites such as sauvignon blanc or pinot grigio, which are usually best served between 7C and 10C, and instead look to more forgiving, fuller-bodied whites or rosés that can be served at up to 13C.

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Which cake tin would a Bake Off contestant pick? What vest top does the Vogue editor find the most flattering? Our panel shares their best £20-or-less go-tos

Can you buy anything useful and good quality for £20 or under? Yes, as it turns out. To prove it, we asked 14 experts in their fields, from a former Olympic athlete to a makeup guru, for their recommendations for the best thing to spend that money on.

So, whether you want affordable ideas for how to make wine last longer or have a happier dog, or are looking for better home storage, the best cake tin or the nattiest men’s socks, these brilliant buys will enhance your daily life, and won’t blow a hole in the budget.

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The typical British barbie is a clash of strong flavours. Try these versatile wines for a bank holiday cookout

No one likes a barbecue more than a winemakerand in my experience, no one does a barbecue better, either. From Barossa and Mendoza to Stellenbosch, Corbières and Rioja, the vineyard barbie, braai or asado is the epitome of wine-country cooking. Meat and fish over a smoking fire of vine cuttings is almost always the centrepiece of any end of harvest party or visitor hospitality.

Little thought goes into the question of which bottles to drink on these occasions, given the obvious answer: the host’s own wines. Happily, this will usually work on the same “what grows together, goes together” principle that applies to so many classic wine and food matches. It would be hard to devise more perfect combinations than, say, tiny, tender lamb chops with softly mature tempranillo from Rioja or Ribera del Duero; a bursting, sweetly spiced morcilla black pudding and a charred and bloody slab of bife de chorizo (sirloin) steak with a fragrant, sweetly ripe, structured malbec from the Uco Valley; or an impossibly plump tiger prawn tinged with chilli, garlic and citrus with a startlingly limey draught of ocean-cool, bone-dry Clare Valley riesling.

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