France is experiencing a wine glut and will pay winemakers to destroy the surplus, in order to protect prices. It pains me to think of all that fancy wine being dumped, but the really unbearable part is that everyone who reads the story makes the same bad joke: “Why don’t they give it to me? I would drink it LOL.” Excruciating. Almost as bad as some of these newsletter introductions.

The lowdown

• 🍷 France receives EU support to pay winemakers to dump wine surplus, rip up vines and leave land fallow.

• 🏡 Shares in Chinese property developer Evergrande plunge more than 80% after trading suspension is lifted.

• 💨 Goldman Sachs sells financial planning unit in continued move away from consumer banking.

Featured story

Instacart files for IPO

Grocery delivery platform Instacart is preparing to go public on the Nasdaq ($) after nixing IPO plans last year.

Instacart secured Norges Bank (the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund) and VC firms including TCV, Sequoia, D1 and Valiant as cornerstone investors. These investors are set to purchase around $400 million of Instacart's stock.

Reuters makes the case that Instacart’s delivery business, if valued similarly to Domino's Pizza, could be worth around $12 billion. The company's advertising segment might be valued at $5 billion based on Alphabet’s sales multiple giving a total enterprise value of $17 billion. This is a lot less than its valuation in 2021 of $39 billion but valuations are not where they once were. Unless you’re in AI of course ($).

The content we're consuming today

• Schroders: With cash earning 5%, why risk money on the stock market?

• Odd Lots podcast: Why Tractor Supply is one of the most interesting retailers on the planet.

• NY Times: Paid Late, or Never: Painters, Builders and Brokers Hit by China’s Property Crisis ($).

Off-balance sheet items

• ‘Happiness’ is a cute(/depressing) short video about a rodent's unrelenting quest for happiness and fulfillment. I probably shouldn’t be sharing a video like this so early in the week – just promise me you won’t quit your job after watching it.

The bottom line