Harpers Wine & Spirit Trade News

Ste Michelle introduces new winemakers for trio of brands

Published: 24 March, 2021

Ste Michelle Wine Estates has introduced new winemakers for three of its leading brands, under the direction of chief winemaker Juan Muñoz-Oca.

MMD ultra marathon fundraiser to raise support for California fires

Published: 24 November, 2020

Maisons Marques et Domaines (MMD) is embarking on a collaborative Ultra Marathon in order to raise funds in support of the US wineries affected by this year’s devastating wildfires.

EU and US renew calls for end to retaliatory wine tariffs

Published: 10 November, 2020

The Brussels-based CEEV (Comité Européen des Entreprises Vins) and Wine Institute of California have renewed calls for a suspension of retaliatory tariffs on wine in response to the trans-Atlantic dispute over Boeing aircraft subsidies.

CWI confirms fewer than 20 wineries physically damaged

Published: 12 October, 2020

The California Wine Institute (CWI) has confirmed that fewer than 20 of the 4,200 wineries in the wine country have reported physical fire damage as a result of 2020 wildfires.

CWI confirms reports of affected wineries but "too soon to estimate impact”

Published: 29 September, 2020

The California Wine Institute (CWI) has confirmed that there have been early reports of wineries that have been directly affected by the current California wildfires.

California Wine country eludes Hennessy fire

Published: 20 August, 2020

California’s wine country has so far been spared the wrath of the latest wildfires, which broke out in the northern part of the state on Monday.

California export drive

Published: 16 March, 2020

Andrew Catchpole reports on the inaugural California Export conference, which drew together a host of wine experts from around the world to explore the opportunities for the Golden State.

Panel discussion: Taste the Trends

Published: 19 February, 2020

Assembling a fantastic panel to peer through the prism of wine to explore upcoming trends promised to be a novel adventure. Especially in front of a knowledge-thirsty, wine-savvy audience. And so it proved when Harpers partnered with Berkmann Wine Cellars at its lively annual London tasting to lead a Taste the Trends seminar, which threw the spotlight on some of the most meaningful and sustainable developments in the wine world today.

West Coast oversupply delivers softer prices as consumer demand falls

Published: 15 January, 2020

Prices for both bulk and grape from California and Washington will continue to ‘drop noticeably’, leading to widespread discounting, according to the annual State of the Wine Industry 2020 Report from Silicon Valley Bank.

Guy Woodward: The irresistible side of climate change

Published: 13 December, 2019

As we flew into her native California last month, my wife was confused. The captain had announced we would be landing in 20 minutes, but looking out the window, she saw an unfamiliar sight. “That’s weird,” she said. “Looks like we’re only just passing over Utah – there’s the salt flats.” Don’t tell me we’ve been diverted, I thought… No, all was on track, and we touched down safely at LAX 20 minutes later. Turns out the vista that had so disoriented my wife was, in fact, the scorched earth of the Golden State, dry beyond recognition.

New West Sonoma Coast AVA to highlight ‘best Pinot Noir’ in USA

Published: 07 November, 2019

With the official rubber-stamping of a new West Sonoma Coast AVA just weeks away, its vintners have been in London promoting what they describe as “California’s Cote d’Or”.

Soda Rock winery destroyed as wildfires continue to sweep Sonoma

Published: 28 October, 2019

The historic Soda Rock winery in the Alexander Valley has been destroyed in the current Cali wildfires, which has seen the closure of several major wineries since the fires started last Wednesday.

Golden State pushes affordability message with £50+ tasting

Published: 30 September, 2019

California Wines staged the second of its annual Collectible California tastings at the US embassy late last week, in what the organisers described as “probably the most expensive California tasting ever put on in London” in terms of bottles opened and poured.

Sustainability: a transatlantic conversation with California Wines

Published: 13 August, 2019

Harpers and California Wine Institute hosted an insightful and far-reaching seminar at London’s Design Museum, delivering the core message that the wine world is well-placed to better engage consumers in supporting the true costs of advancing sustainability. Andrew Catchpole reports

Wine can drive sustainability agenda, but thinking needs ‘generational change’

Published: 12 July, 2019

Consumers need to get behind the agricultural sector to support the true costs of sustainability, but while the wine industry is well-placed to advance this message, there is still a long way to go.

Q&A: Justine McGovern and Damien Jackman, directors, California Wine Institute UK & Ireland

Published: 21 June, 2019

Ahead of a joint Harpers-California Wine Institute session on sustainability (details below), Andrew Catchpole catches up with the team fronting the Golden State’s wines

Sangiovese - can't travel, won't travel?

Published: 14 June, 2019

It’s long been held that the variety behind Chianti Classico is incapable of adapting to anywhere beyond Italian shores, but Australia’s ever resourceful producers are proving this wrong.

America's frontier wine states

Published: 29 April, 2019

Americans may believe size is important, but there is far more to the nation’s wine than just what comes out of California, as Norman Miller discovers

Californian wine under £20 boosts UK sales

Published: 09 April, 2019

US wine exports to the UK have seen a slip in value but a rise in volume, thanks largely to a growth in buyer interest in a previously difficult-to-source section of the market.