A month or so ago, I attended two eye-catching, if very different, launches. Both were from Bibendum Wine: the UK debut of former Dom Pérignon chef de cave Richard Geoffroy’s sake; and an unorthodox new English sparkling wine, with the charming name Harlot.
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The news that the duty premium on sparkling wine being sold in the UK has been removed has been met with encouragement from the English and Welsh wine sector.
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Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced the most radical simplification of alcohol duties for over a century by slashing the number of main duty rates from 15 to six, while also cutting the premium on sparkling wine.
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Aldi is introducing a ‘super premium’ wine range, Winemasters’ Lot, in time for the festive season, to complement and build on their Specially Selected selection. The wines will be available from 8 November, available in stores and online.
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Reports from the national press suggest that the premium on sparkling wine duty could be scrapped by chancellor Rishi Sunak in the upcoming Autumn Budget in a move which could bring sparkling wine duty in line with still.
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South Africa’s leading sparkling wine brand in the UK market Graham Beck has launched a new ‘double bill’ named Yin & Yang, as part of its artisan collection.
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Busi Jacobsohn, a sparkling wine producer based in east Sussex, has become the newest agency in the Yapp Bros portfolio.
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Deepika Koushik has been announced as the new winemaker at Plumpton College.
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Wine GB has announced that its annual Trade & Press Tasting is to take place on 7 September at RHS Lindley Hall in central London.
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Gusbourne has signed a deal as an official partner of Goodwood Racecourse, as well being appointed the exclusive English sparkling wine supplier across the Goodwood Estate which includes Goodwood House, the Goodwood Hotel, The Kennels, Hound Lodge and the Goodwood Motor Circuit.
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The Comité Champagne’s executive board has decreed an available yield of 10,000kg of grapes per hectare (ha) for this year’s harvest.
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Jo Gilbert examines whether the past year has helped or hindered the pre-Brexit narrative that leaving the EU would benefit sales of English and Welsh wine
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Wine GB has unveiled the the winners of this year’s awards for which there was a record number of entries and first-time entrants from all over England and Wales.
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Harpers latest free-to-attend webinar, Franciacorta: Adding a Splash of Italian Style, has brought together a great panel to examine what this multi-faceted fizz can add to the modern sparkling wine portfolio.
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Two former senior members of Freixenet Copestick’s I Heart team have joined forces to launch their own mainstream wine brand.
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With sparkling wine in growth in the UK and consumers becoming ever more adventurous in their drinking habits, Harpers is teaming up with Consorzio Franciacorta for a webinar exploring the possibilities offered both by Italy’s foremost sparkling wine and the broader sparkling category.
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James Davis MW will be joining the Henkell Freixenet team in a newly created role from the first week of July.
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Pinot Noir has long had a place in UK winemaking, as part of the classic Champagne varieties and, to a lesser extent, still variants often from select vineyards or small parcels. Now, with an increasingly changing climate helping to ripen and tease out those darker fruits, it could be poised to strike out on its own, as Jacopo Mazzeo surmises.
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Nyetimber has reported a major spike in demand for rosé in 2020 from their south east England vineyards, despite the loss of social drinking occasions often associated with pink wines.
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Nick Lane, who was part of the winemaking team at Dom Perignon, has moved to the UK to join contract-only winery, Defined Wine.
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