Harpers Wine & Spirit Trade News

Kleine Zalze tops Platter’s gongs

Published: 13 November, 2020

Stellenbosch producer Kleine Zalze has been named Top Performing Winery of the Year in the latest annual Platter’s South African wine guide.

Freixenet returns to TV screens

Published: 12 November, 2020

Freixenet has unveiled a new commercial aimed at showcasing its sparkling range as well as its Italian still wine collection launched earlier this year.

Calabria acquires three wine brands from Henkell Freixenet

Published: 12 November, 2020

Calabria Family Wines has acquired a trio of Australian wine brands – Deakin Estate, La La Land and Azahara, from Wingara Wine Group [part of Henkell Freixenet], for an undisclosed sum.

Guy Woodward: The language of wine needs to change

Published: 12 November, 2020

What’s the point of tasting notes? Who are they actually for? Who reaps the benefit, for example, of reading that a wine has notes of “gentian, elderflower, seaweed, mussels, salt spray, chicken stock, sage, fennel, peach kernel, lemon, alkali and wet stone”, as David Schildknecht’s highly attuned nose detected in the 2004 Riesling Steinriesler of Nikolaihof Wachau?

Brits set to mix up Christmas drink choices

Published: 11 November, 2020

Brits are gearing up to throw out the festive rule book this Christmas with new research showing a shift in festive consumer drinking trends.

UK overtakes US as biggest export market for Bordeaux dry whites

Published: 11 November, 2020

The UK has overtaken the US as the biggest export market for Bordeaux dry white wines for the first time after years of the CIVB (Bordeaux Wine Council) focusing on promoting the region’s whites to Brits.

Harpers Reassessing Ribera webinar to explore evolving face of region

Published: 10 November, 2020

Join Harpers’ editor Andrew Catchpole, Tim Atkin MW, plus a panel of leading winemakers and trade buyers to discover how Ribera del Duero is hitting the sweet spot with its new styles of wines at our Reassessing Ribera webinar on Tuesday 17 November at 3pm.

BWS supermarket sales rise 15%

Published: 10 November, 2020

Supermarket sales of beer, wines and spirits (BWS) rose 15% in the four weeks to 31 October as the category remained one of the fastest growing ahead of packaged grocery (11%) but behind frozen (16%).

C&C Wines expands Italian and Spanish portfolios

Published: 10 November, 2020

Carson & Carnevale Wines (C&C Wines) has been appointed the UK agent for Chianti Classico winery Tenuta Villa Trasqua and Ribera del Duero’s Bodegas y Viñedos Monteabellón.

Wines of Germany reveals Retailer Partnership Fund winners

Published: 06 November, 2020

Wines of Germany has revealed the 14 winners of its £65k Retailer Partnership Fund, who will all receive financial support for the promotion of the country’s wines to consumers.

TWE opens ecommerce platform to trade

Published: 06 November, 2020

The Winery Collection, Treasury Wine Estate’s (TWE) ‘luxury’ e-commerce platform, has launched a new trade portal, offering exclusive access for wine merchants and independents.

Wine Paris & Vinexpo Paris postponed until June

Published: 05 November, 2020

In light of the ongoing health crisis and after consulting with industry representatives, Vinexposium, the world’s leading organiser of wine and spirits trade events, has made major changes to its schedule for 2021.

Second lockdown sounds ‘death knell’ for the ‘Ditch

Published: 05 November, 2020

Hanging Ditch, one of Manchester’s foremost independent businesses, has been forced to close due to the ongoing stress of the pandemic.

Occitanie raises profile with online films

Published: 03 November, 2020

The Occitanie region of France is about to be much better known in the UK.

OIV gears up to launch digital transformation strategy

Published: 03 November, 2020

The International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) is gearing up to implement a digital transformation strategy spurred on by the pandemic having highlighted ecommerce as “an extraordinary determinative to more traditional distribution channels”.

Tring Winery packs a postable punch

Published: 03 November, 2020

Alex Taylor and Jamie Smith of Urban Craft Wines at Tring Winery are sending innovation out the door, as Andrew Catchpole reports

González Byass releases rare 1878 vintage

Published: 02 November, 2020

González Byass has released an ultra-limited-edition Pedro Ximénez – with just 78 bottles for sale.

Beale: 'The threat of VI-1 forms is still very real’

Published: 28 October, 2020

The WSTA has warned that the threat of VI-1 forms is still "very real", saying that the policy, not just the timing, still needs to change.

UK helps Australian wine exports hit highest level since 2007

Published: 28 October, 2020

Global Australian wine exports were up 4% to $2.998bn in the 12 months to September 2020, with all of its top-five export markets showing growth including the UK, according to Wine Australia’s latest export report.