Niepoort declares ‘epic’ 2017 vintage

Winemaker Dirk Niepoort has declared his 2017 vintage port, hailing it as “the best wine I’ve ever done” at a tasting for the trade at Lyle’s in London on Thursday.

Things hotting up for English wine following record-breaking summer

Producers are calling 2018’s harvest the “harvest of the century” after unusually warm climes descended on Britain this summer and autumn.

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

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.

Looking ahead: Ruth Yates, founder and MD, Cork’s Out

With the all-important Christmas trading period underway - and hopefully turning passion into profit for the UK’s wine and spirits operators - we at Harpers are looking ahead past New Year to see what’s in store for the trade in 2018.

Trends of 2017

There has been no shortage of evolution in the drinks world over the past year, providing canny operators with plenty of openings for upping customer engagement. Andrew Catchpole reports

The week that was

In case you missed some of the headlines this week on harpers.co.uk, here’s a review of the top online news, Q&As, analysis and features that we ran.

The week that was

In case you missed some of the headlines this week on harpers.co.uk, here’s a review of the top online news, Q&As, and opinion stories.

Global supply and brand building

With Europe poised to deliver a vintage shortfall, Andrew Catchpole talks to Rabobank strategist Stephen Rannekleiv about the positive effect for brand builders of a general tightening of global supply

The week that was

In case you missed some of the headlines this week on harpers.co.uk, we have put together a review of the top online news, Q&As, and opinion stories.

Looking ahead: James Hocking, director of wine, The Vineyard Cellars

Earliest harvest start on record for Galicia

The usually cool and wet climate of Galicia in the Atlantic reaches of Spain has been turned on its head this year, leaving wine producers to handle one of the earliest, but longest and most peculiar harvests ever recorded.

Looking ahead: Paul Jenkins, Caprice Holdings and The Birley Group

The autumn tasting season will be upon us before we know it, as the trade prepares for the run up to the all-important Christmas trading period.

‘Stable’ global wine inventories likely to tighten in 2017 against backdrop of worldwide value growth

Rabobank’s Q3 Wine Report has revealed that global wine inventories are in the main “balanced to slightly tight”, while bulk wine prices for most varietals are “stable or rising”, with 2017 hail and frost damage in European vineyards likely to further impact on these continuing trends when set against a coming shortfall in this year’s northern vintage.

Majestic Wine ‘past tipping point’ as £1.5m loss offset by rising footfall and sales

Majestic Wine’s full-year reported profit before tax has revealed a loss of £1.5 million, set against a 15.8% rise in sales and 12% growth in the company’s customer base to 825,000 active customers.

New Zealand vintage down 9%

A smaller than expected New Zealand vintage has been forecasted thanks to troublesome weather conditions.