After nine months of research and PowerPoint presentations on issues surrounding wine retail - multiple vs. independent, expectations of the consumer, making not just a sale but an experience - I now find myself in the thick of it, though it was not the destination I initially envisioned when I decided to pursue a career in the wine industry.
Read more...
I've just read "Antifragile", Nassim Taleb's thought provoking sequel to "Black Swans". At one point...
Read more...
Erin Smith looks at how Adam Boita keeps an iconic brand such as Absolut fresh in consumers' minds through the use of limited editions and other innovations
Read more...
OK, launching a new website is perhaps not quite as big a leap of faith as jumping into space from 24.26 miles up from earth, and hopefully we are a little more assured of success than our intrepid friend, Felix Baumgartner, but it is, in our own little way, an important day in the history of Harpers Wine & Spirit.
Read more...
Ruinart, the oldest house creating Champagne (1729), chose to promote its ties with art via a tour of works at Masterpiece. The annual London fair coincided with the launch of "upcycling fan", Piet Hein Eek's bespoke bottle case at the Ruinart Salon. The tactile, chimney-like casket is re-imagined from humble packing crates.
Read more...
Over lunch at Le Pont de La Tour, Douglas Blyde meets Napa's mountain winemaker
Read more...
Douglas Blyde catches up with Jeremy Rockett, marketing director of González Byass, over a chilled copita at the...
Read more...
Asia's first Master of Wine, communicator for Wines of Germany and wine consultant to Singapore Airlines, Korean-born Cho Lee talks...
Read more...
I'm a great fan of Hunter Valley Chardonnay and Shiraz. The better recognised wine regions of South Australia and Victoria (Barossa, McLaren Vale, Clare, Yarra, etc) quite rightly get a lot of accolades; however, I love the punchy Chardonnay and earthy Shiraz you get from the Hunter.
Read more...
My favourite wine is MontGras Carmenère Reserva from the Colchagua Valley (Enotria/Waitrose; £8.99). I used to buy it a lot before I started working at Harpers, at which point I thought that even knowing the name of that varietal was well sophisticated.
Read more...
With operations in the UK, US and Australia, Naked Wines' Rowan Gormley and Eamon Fitzgerald look at further growth with Richard Siddle
Read more...
The line between the wine shop and the wine bar is becoming increasingly blurred, as D&D London's new retail outlet illustrates. Matt Walls reports from the New Street Wine Shop
Read more...
The newest addition to Bo London's team is Cedric Beaumond, previously head sommelier and wine manager at what he describes as the "relatively comfortable" Savoy Grill.
Read more...
The self-dubbed 'Demon Chef', Alvin Leung does not do anything by halves, as Douglas Blyde discovers while delving...
Read more...
Anne Krebiehl catches up with the new wine team at Harrods and hears how the double act are looking to turn customers' heads in the wine aisles
Read more...
Jamie Walker, EWG's commercial director Laura Heywood meets the distributor's commercial director to hear about the company's plans for the future
Read more...
Three years ago a trip to ProWein in Düsseldorf was very much a foreign affair. While there was still a strong British delegation, it was swamped by visitors from around the world - but not any more. For many in the UK wine trade, ProWein has become the most important show of the year.
Read more...
Here John Humphries gives his personal account of what it's like to get your hands dirty and take part in the Vendage...
Read more...
There has never been a better time to go out for a steak in London and you would struggle to find a place superior to Hawksmoor. Dominic Midgley discovers the chain is as proud of its drinks offer as it is its rib eyes and sirloins
The world according to ... Justin Howard-Sneyd MW, founder of The Hive Wine Consulting
Read more...
