Halewood Wines & Spirits not dialling down wine despite ramping up spirits

Liverpool-based wine and spirit producer Halewood Wines & Spirits has denied it is slowing down its wine business after several moves this year to boost its international spirits profile and selling off its “loss making” Romanian wine arm.

Tim Atkin MW: Wine is never a one man band

Naked partners with Garçon to launch ‘customer-acquisition’ initiative

Naked Wines has joined forces with Garçon Wines to launch a customer-acquisition initiative.

Le Cordon Bleu to launch new wine and beverage certificate

Le Cordon Bleu will launch a new certificate in wine and beverage studies in March 2019.

New website to revamp the world of fine wine

A new fine wine website launching in February 2019 will “redefine the way consumers experience and purchase fine wine” according to its founders.

Majestic wine sales fizz over Christmas

Majestic Wine enjoyed a merry Christmas despite the “challenging market backdrop”.

BWS enjoys strong festive build up as general grocery sales slump

Shoppers visited supermarkets more often in the run up to Christmas, but sales slumped to half the level of growth returned last year, according to Nielsen.

Berkmann expands its Australian Portfolio

Berkmann Wine Cellars is now the exclusive UK agent and distributor of Victorian producers Yarra Yering and Domaine Tournon.

Armit Wines makes another round of appointments

Armit Wines has announced three new hires to its sales and marketing teams.

The Wine Society teams up with Johnston Logistics

The Wine Society has hired Johnston Logistics to bolster its storage and distribution operations as its membership numbers continue to grow.

Spotlight on 2020: Doug Wregg, Les Cave de Pyrene

As we prepare for the new decade, Harpers looks back over 2019 and ahead to what the coming year will bring – hopefully full of revived optimism for both politics and the trade.

Harpers Wine Stars opens to array of new countries

Harpers Wine Stars is poised for further growth this year as the competition opens to an array of new countries.

Château Castera expands distribution via Exel partnership

Château Castera has expanded its UK distribution via a new partnership with independent Scottish online retailer Exel Wines.

The week that was

In case you missed some of the headlines this week on harpers.co.uk, here’s a review of the top online news, analysis, opinions and features.

Bibendum appoints new head of technical

Bibendum has appointed Carmel Kilcline MW as its new head of technical as Stephen Walder retires.

KFWE puts sparkling in the spotlight

Kosher Food and Wine Experience London (KFWE) has announced that all things sparkling will be a key element of this year’s show for the first time.

Wines from Spain turns focus on biodynamic and organic

Wines from Spain has revealed it is adding a green twist to its annual tasting this year with a planned focus on the country’s organic and sustainable winemaking.

Will UK ‘bottle-ists’ ever accept wine in a can?

Rowena Curlewis, CEO of drinks design specialist Denomination, urges winemakers to stop bottling it and embrace new packaging formats and sizes

WSET introduces global education week as part of 50th anniversary activity

The Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) has announced the launch of its first global ‘Wine Education Week’ as part of a programme of activity planned to mark its 50th birthday.

Waitrose predicts key drinks trends for 2019

Mezcal, canned and Greek wine are among the top drinks trends set to dominate the industry this year, according to Waitrose.