Harpers Wine & Spirit Trade News

Buyer’s Spotlight: Patient Picpoul

Published: 04 August, 2026

While some trade commentators like to write about the death of appellations and the inability of European wine laws to challenge the agility of New World brands, I have just three words: Picpoul de Pinet. A runaway success in export markets, Picpoul de Pinet has become a household name in the UK, rising up the ranks to full AOC status in 2013. Still a staple of pub wine lists and ubiquitous in seafood restaurants, Picpoul successfully poached Muscadet’s customers in the 21st century.

Friday Read: Climate inversion – learning from the New World

Published: 26 June, 2026

There is an assumption embedded deep within the wine trade, self-evident to many, that Europe teaches and everyone else learns. In the 20th century, techniques, philosophies, and, of course, grape varieties, radiated outward from Europe's historic heartlands to newer wine-producing regions seeking legitimacy and guidance. The New World innovated, certainly, but Europe remained the reference point. It was a largely one-way flow of knowledge. And the hierarchy was seldom questioned.

Soapbox: Defining ‘fine’ wine

Published: 25 July, 2025

With his Le Grand Vin de Stellenbosch Cabernet Sauvignon 2022 scooping two IWC trophies, Origin Wine MD Bernard Fontannaz muses on the perception of such New World stars