Harpers Wine & Spirit Trade News

Analysis: The impact climate change is having on cool climate wines

Published: 03 June, 2016

The International Cool Climate Wine Symposium delivered fascinating insights into the changes shaping the winemaking world.

Tim Atkin MW: Where does Spain fit in the battle for wine supremacy?

Published: 03 June, 2016

Tim Atkin takes a look at Spanish terrior and where Spanish wines fit in the hieracrchy for supermacy as a top wine producing country.

The Vintner expands sales team to target premium on-trade

Published: 02 June, 2016

The Vintner is expanding its sales team with the appointment of Christophe Papis as the head of on-trade sales as it moves to target the premium restaurant trade for the first time.

Brown-Forman acquires The BenRiach Distillery Company for £281 million

Published: 02 June, 2016

Brown-Forman announced yesterday it has completed the acquisition of the single malt Scotch whisky conglomerate The BenRiach Distillery Company for £281 million.

Convenience sector growth outpaces the market

Published: 02 June, 2016

Within the convenience sector wine sales's growth is outpacing the rest of the wine market and for those suppliers, particularly of New World wines, and retailers with identifiable brands and new formats, the opportunities to capitalise on the sector abound.

VIDEO: Weekend hailstorms ravage parts of France and Italy

Published: 01 June, 2016

Over the past few days severe weather has ravaged wine regions across France and Italy and it is expected to have devastating effects on the 2016 harvest.

Kantar Worldpanel: Premiumisation with discounters own-label products drive growth

Published: 01 June, 2016

Retailers are no longer losing customers to discounters, but they are continuing to lose spend to the competition due to the increase in shoppers' consumption of the discounters premium own-label offerings.

Wolf Blass signs multi-year partnership with Manchester City FC in Asia

Published: 31 May, 2016

Treasury Wine Estates' Wolf Blass brand has signed a multi-year partnership deal to be the official wine partner of the Manchester City Football Club for Asia, Middle East, Africa and Mexico.

Opinion: Logistic providers within the drinks trade need to respond to the changing landscape

Published: 31 May, 2016

As DHL's Tradeteam celebrates two decades in business, managing director James Gill discusses the changing face of the drinks logistics market and the crucial role logistics partners play in working with their customers to address the challenges.

Wine range strategy for M&S focuses on sub £10 range

Published: 27 May, 2016

Garry Brooking, trading manager for Marks & Spencer, and his team of buyers and wine selectors were on celebratory form at the M&S Spring Press Tasting last week, having just knocked Tesco off the top spot for the most own brand medal wins in this year's International Wine Challenge.

The Week That Was: Top news, Q&As and analysis on Harpers.co.uk

Published: 27 May, 2016

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

Analysis: Can Ribera del Duero compete with the Rioja in the UK?

Published: 26 May, 2016

Can Ribera Del Duero can realistically lure consumers in a Rioja-obsessed climate in the UK?

Jerry Lockspeiser: Is wine quality the key to sales?

Published: 26 May, 2016

While everyone in the wine business agrees that product quality is important, how we define 'quailty' may vary. So how do we persuade a buyer to give us a listing?

Aldi trials pop-up stand alone wine shop as part of London Wine Week

Published: 26 May, 2016

As part of London Wine Week and to raise awareness of its e-commerce site amongst consumers, supermarket discounter Aldi has opened a pop-up wine shop in Shoreditch's Boxpark.

Copestick Murray sells remaining 40% share to Henkell & Co

Published: 25 May, 2016

Henkell & Co announced yesterday that they have purchased the remaining 40% share of Copestick Murray.

Wines from Canada gather momentum in the UK

Published: 25 May, 2016

At Taste Canada UK 2016, 34 producers from different territories across Canada were showcasing more than 150 wines with many looking to find importers into the UK.

TWE to relaunch Blossom Hill new packaging with £2m summer marketing campaign

Published: 24 May, 2016

Treasury Wine Estates is launching a new £2 million summer marketing campaign called "Share a Little Loveliness" as part of a packaging redesign for Blossom Hill.

California group In Pursuit of Balance will close its doors at the end of the year

Published: 24 May, 2016

The California group In Pursuit of Balance announced yesterday that it will be closing its doors and hosting its final tasting in San Francisco at the end of the year.

Insights: The rise of the owners club

Published: 24 May, 2016

In the space of just over 15 years, privately funded associations have become a defining feature of the global wine industry. In Europe, they arguably represent a manifestation of the growing dissatisfaction with the inadequacies of regional appellation bodies, which has subsequently encouraged winemakers to take matters into their own hands.

Grandes Pagos de España pressures the Rioja DO to adapt

Published: 24 May, 2016

With the terroir debate raging in Spain, the tasting and master classes in London last week by the association Grandes Pagos de España (GPE) could hardly have come at a better time.