Harpers Wine & Spirit Trade News

50 Best Indies 2025: The full list

Published: 10 January, 2025

Once again we reveal our 50 Best Indies, highlighting the most dynamic merchants in the wine and spirits world.

Inflation survey: squeezed in the middle

Published: 13 January, 2023

With inflationary pressures bearing down and the cost of living crisis biting, Harpers invited indies to respond to our Dealing with Price Inflation survey, to build a picture of how merchants are coping and what increases are being introduced. Andrew Catchpole rounds up the feedback.

Personality and value from winning indie wholesaler Lea & Sandeman

Published: 18 July, 2022

In last month’s edition of Harpers, we unveiled our annual Top 50 Drinks Wholesalers. In 10th place on that list was Lea & Sandeman, the independent wine merchant with a penchant for grower-led, artisanal wines from around the world.

Wines for the Times independent merchant survey

Published: 22 June, 2022

Despite inflation galloping away and the cost-of-living crisis biting – not to mention shipping issues and related costs – recent pandemic-boosted trends suggest that consumers have become more adventurous and premium in their wine-buying habits.

The weighty burden of alcohol’s rising costs

Published: 30 May, 2022

When chancellor Rishi Sunak announced his proposed changes to alcohol duty in the October Budget, he described them as the “most radical simplification of alcohol duties for over 140 years”. Under the present system, there are three duty rates on wine – one for still wine, a slightly higher one for sparkling wine and an even higher one for fortified wine.