Harpers Wine & Spirit Trade News

Buckingham Schenk adds Vinca canned wines to portfolio

Published: 09 November, 2023

UK-based wine importer Buckingham Schenk has announced the addition of Vinca, a range of canned organic wines to its growing portfolio.

Headline Heroes: Revival of the fittest

Published: 18 September, 2023

James Lawrence looks at how Sicily’s winemaking scene is thriving and organic certification is on the increase.

Italy bounces back

Published: 30 May, 2023

Despite another challenging year across the trade, the appetite for Italian wine is as strong as ever in the UK, James Bayley reports.

Hundred-day Sicily harvest promises “excellent vintage”

Published: 04 November, 2022

Sicily’s hundred-day harvest concluded at the end of October on Mount Etna following months of “favourable” weather contributing to healthy grapes and ultimately an “excellent vintage”.

Q&A: Peter Vinding-Diers – the 'viking in the vineyard'

Published: 04 October, 2022

Viking in the Vineyard author Peter Vinding-Diers has had a one-of-a-kind winemaking life. Jo Gilbert catches up with the Danish-born vigneron on his latest venture – a selection of standout Sicilian Syrahs at his Montecarrubo winery.

Nero d’Avola: An ancient grape for a modern era

Published: 26 September, 2022

Jo Gilbert travels to the home of Nero d’Avola in south eastern Sicily to chart the course of a success story.

Benjamin Franchetti: Tuscany can prosper without indigenous varieties

Published: 23 March, 2022

The owner of Tenuta di Trinoro in southern Tuscany has spoken out in favour of international varieties, claiming that, in certain case, indigenous Italian grapes should play a subordinate role to imports.

Q&A: Patricia Tóth, winemaker, Planeta

Published: 27 July, 2021

Presiding over winemaking at the innovative and cosmopolitan Sicilian trailblazer Planeta, Patricia Tóth is one of the island’s biggest champions. Andrew Catchpole asks her about Sicily’s appeal

Bosman claims first with SA wine made from Sicilian Nero d’Avola

Published: 22 February, 2021

Bosman Family Vineyards has partnered with South African celebrity Thapelo Mokoena of Bakoena Brands to launch what it claims to be the first South African wine made from the Sicilian Nero d’Avola variety.

New sustainability drive and HQ announced at ‘virtual’ Sicilia EP event

Published: 20 May, 2020

As Italy began its cautious lifting of lockdown, the annual Sicilia En Primeur event took the form of a virtual global webinar late last week, where organiser Assovini presented to many of those that would have attended the planned conference in Cefalù.

Panel discussion: Taste the Trends

Published: 19 February, 2020

Assembling a fantastic panel to peer through the prism of wine to explore upcoming trends promised to be a novel adventure. Especially in front of a knowledge-thirsty, wine-savvy audience. And so it proved when Harpers partnered with Berkmann Wine Cellars at its lively annual London tasting to lead a Taste the Trends seminar, which threw the spotlight on some of the most meaningful and sustainable developments in the wine world today.

Small harvest in Sicily promises high-quality wine

Published: 25 September, 2019

The 2019 grape harvest in Sicily is down by as much as 30% on average when measured against typical recent volumes, according to the initial report from the Consortium for the Protection of Sicilia DOC Wines.

Sicily channels tourism to boost recognition of diverse DOCs

Published: 13 May, 2019

The 90 Sicilian producers belonging to trade association Assovini are seeking to build upon the ground laid out by the broad Sicilia DOC with greater focus on the 24 DOC that make up the vinous mosaic of Italy’s most extensively planted wine region.

Stoking Sicily's Fire

Published: 13 September, 2018

Sicily’s ever more accomplished yet very individual wines are gaining ground. Andrew Catchpole reports

Premium agenda at Sicilia en Primeur as bottled exports hit new high

Published: 08 May, 2018

Bottlings of Sicilian wine rose 123% in the first quarter of 2018 (vs Q1 2017), reflected in both an ongoing trend to more premium exports and a reduction in bulk sales following the short 2017 harvest.