Harpers Wine & Spirit Trade News

Looking ahead: Elise Mérigaud, La Dame de Pic

Published: 21 July, 2022

With the first half of 2022 already history, Harpers asked key trade figures to highlight the current challenges, ongoing trends and opportunities.

Jerry Lockspeiser: Lessons from the Tory leadership – are we heading into disaster?

Published: 21 July, 2022

Oh dear, perhaps it was always too much to hope for. The embarrassment of the country being led by a self-serving clown has finally timed out, but the opportunity for serious politics to be rehabilitated looks certain to be missed.

Calls for action on business rates as inflation reaches 40-year high

Published: 20 July, 2022

Mounting pressure is being placed on the government to ease the ‘financial fragility’ of the hospitality sector during its upcoming review of business rates, as businesses continue to suffer rising supply chain costs and runaway inflation.

English wine comes of age at the UK’s wine ‘BAFTAs’

Published: 18 July, 2022

English and Welsh wine appears to have entered a new era of maturity, as ‘newcomers’ to the scene continue to rake in accolades alongside more established names.

Economic crisis worsens for Lebanon as harvest approaches

Published: 07 July, 2022

Lebanese winery IXSIR has called on exporters to help boost sales of its products abroad, as the country continues to fight ongoing crippling inflation and energy shortages.

Bibendum and The Drinks Trust partner up to develop wine skills

Published: 06 July, 2022

Bibendum and The Drinks Trust have partnered to offer free wine training as part of a joint initiative to train and educate the next generation of drink industry professionals.

Jerry Lockspeiser: Does the Bank of England know what it is doing?

Published: 06 July, 2022

Way back when I studied economics at university, I also studied sociology. It struck me then that the way economics is taught is deeply flawed. To call it a science, even a social science, doesn’t make any sense. Unlike scientific study of the cosmos or gravity discovering immutable laws, economics seeks to explain how and why humans do certain things.

Harpers' new Top 25 Sommeliers in the UK revealed

Published: 04 July, 2022

As the on-trade bounces back, Harpers is delighted to unveil its new annual list of the best somms in the UK.

The drinks trend casualties in the cost-of-living crisis

Published: 30 June, 2022

As we hover on the edge of a possible recession, with inflation reaching a 40-year year high in June, it’s no surprise that UK consumers are tightening their belts.

National Hospitality Day returns for second edition

Published: 29 June, 2022

A landmark event pioneered in 2021 will return to the UK this year, uniting a diverse cross-section of businesses in the hospitality sector.

Britain’s cities back in growth as spend and inflation rise

Published: 27 June, 2022

Out-of-home food and drink sales are in growth in all of Britain’s 10 biggest city centres, with higher spend-per-visit driving growth rather than footfall.

Friday read: The future looks bright for ambitious Garda DOC

Published: 24 June, 2022

With prices rising for wines from top Italian DOCs and other producers – thanks to high demand and prices coupled with the collapse in sterling – these are tough times for the UK wine trade, with the pressure on margins tougher than ever.

‘Critical’ staff shortages costs hospitality £21bn in trade

Published: 23 June, 2022

Staff shortages in the hospitality industry are reaching critical levels and causing nearly half (45%) of operators to cut trading hours or capacity in order to cope, a new survey has said.

Pernod Ricard’s ‘Responsib'All Day’ returns for tenth addition

Published: 22 June, 2022

Pernod Ricard has partnered with local communities in London and Scotland for the tenth edition of its Responsib’All Day – an initiative set up with the aim of helping to protect and restore biodiversity around the UK.

Liberty celebrates 25 years with greatest hits tasting

Published: 21 June, 2022

Liberty Wines celebrated its 25th anniversary yesterday at its usual spot at the Oval Cricket Ground, where the event took a greatest hits approach to celebrate a quarter of a century in business.

Pop a cork for English Wine Week

Published: 17 June, 2022

The annual English Wine Week celebration returns tomorrow with a fully-fledged programme of events from 18-26 June.

'Chronic' staff crisis continues as vacancy gap widens

Published: 14 June, 2022

New figures have shown how the hospitality sector’s staffing crisis is worsening under growing stagnancy in the job market, as the gap between new job creation and people willing to enter the workforce is widening.

Profile: Vineyard Productions grows a head for wine

Published: 14 June, 2022

Home to ‘creative and collaborative winemaking’, Liam Steevenson’s company Vineyard Productions takes a novel approach to its portfolio. Andrew Catchpole dropped by to discover more.

Treasury bags new format extension as conversation around alt packaging grows

Published: 13 June, 2022

Treasury Wine Estates (TWE) has added a new bag-in-box (BiB) release to its high performing 19 Crimes portfolio, with the launch of its Revolutionary Rosé now available.

London Wine Fair bounces back following Prowein ‘shock’

Published: 13 June, 2022

The 40th live London Wine Fair landed at the Olympia last week – a full three years since its last in-person outing and one month later than planned due to the postponement of Prowein.