Harpers Wine & Spirit Trade News

Home Office reprimanded for "dodgy off-licences" comment

Published: 23 July, 2008

UK: Home secretary Jacqui Smith under fire for blaming "dodgy off-licences" for the rise in under-age drinking.

Houghton wines go out to sea

Published: 23 July, 2008

UK: Western Australia's Houghton winery is taking its samples out to sea as the official sponsor of Houghton rib.

Evans & Tate could be sold by November

Published: 23 July, 2008

AUSTRALIA: Administrators tell growers there are no guarantees of payment for last year's grapes until a new buyer is found.

Swiss village battles to name its wine Champagne

Published: 23 July, 2008

SWITZERLAND: Winemakers from the Swiss village of Champagne have lost a legal battle to attach the town's name to locally-produced wine.

Desperate Greek farmer fights fire with wine

Published: 23 July, 2008

GREECE: (Reuters) Farmer uses wine to quench fierce flames as water runs dry

EU looks to transform wine into biofuel

Published: 23 July, 2008

EUROPE: The European Union (EU) has lodged a notice in its Official Journal (OJEU) to sell unwanted wine to make bioethanol.

Arnie to promote wine on TV

Published: 23 July, 2008

US: California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is to promote the state's wine in a series of TV ads

Children exposed to TV alcohol ads

Published: 23 July, 2008

Alcohol Concern calls for watershed on TV alcohol ads.

Mumbai to axe 200% tax on Scotch whisky

Published: 23 July, 2008

INDIA: Scotch whisky producers win battle to get Mumbai, to drop the 200% tax on imported whisky it imposed in July.

Scientists crack Pinot Noir genetic code

Published: 23 July, 2008

FRANCE: The break-through could lead to improved pest resistance and new wine flavours.

Evans & Tate wines secures new distributor

Published: 23 July, 2008

AUSTRALIA: McWilliam Wines comes to the rescue of troubled Evans & Tate.

Liberal Democrats reveal big rise in women drink driving

Published: 23 July, 2008

UK: The Liberal Democrats is urging the Government to target women following a rise in drink drive offences.

Earliest French harvest on record begins

Published: 23 July, 2008

FRANCE: The harvest in the Champagne region is already under way - one of the earliest French grape harvests on record.

Foster's sells Nurioopta complex

Published: 23 July, 2008

AUSTRALIA: Tarac Technologies has bought Foster's Nurioopta white winery packaging and warehouse complex for an undisclosed sum.

Record amount raised at Penfolds auction

Published: 23 July, 2008

The largest-ever auction of Penfolds wines has raised a record amount, with two rare sets of Grange selling for nearly 125,000.

Government probes into supermarket pricing

Published: 23 July, 2008

UK: Home secretary confirms joint Home Office/Department of Health (DoH) investigation into supermarket discounting.

Absolut owners upbeat despite profit loss

Published: 23 July, 2008

SWEDEN: Swedish drinks company Vin & Sprit, which owns brand including Absolut vodka has seen a fall in profits of 19% despite increasing sales volume.

Australian appellation rejected

Published: 23 July, 2008

Plans to create a new Geographical Indication (GI) called Penola have been thrown out by authorities as "confusing and potentially misleading".

Australia targets India's middle class

Published: 23 July, 2008

AUSTRALIA: Trade minister Warren Truss is urging the country's wine business to harness the opportunity to secure distribution to India's growing middle class.

French export sales rise

Published: 23 July, 2008

FRANCE: The country's wine exports in the first half of 2007 rose 7.5% to 4.16 billion (2.82bn) the Federation of Wine and Spirit Exporters France (FEVS) said.