The 2006 New Zealand harvest is the largest ever, with the figure of 185,000 tonnes beating the previous record, set in 2004, by 11%. Sauvignon Blanc accounted for around half the total, at 96,000 tonnes.
Read more...As reported in Harpers last month, South African producer KWV has bought a stake in NMK Schulz, a distributor in the Cape that handles wines such as Simonsig and Warwick, and also Stella Artois and Grolsch.
Read more...A report by action group Greenpeace claims that Champagne vineyards could be at risk following the reopening of a radioactive waste dump in the region.
Read more...A decade ago, cider had hit rock bottom. A new drinks category had emerged: the alcopop. Brands like Two Dogs and Hooch quickly made inroads into the market, and cider was the main casualty. By the turn of the millennium, alcopop sales had overtaken cider for the first time.
Read more...Port producer Symington Family Estates is currently in discussion with Beam Global Spirits & Wine regarding taking over production from rival house Cockburn's.
Read more...Constellation Brands has finally completed its C$1.22 billion (590 million) acquisition of Canadian company Vincor - with both shareholder and court approval now given.
Read more...An Australian grape grower representative has asked the federal government for a AUS$60 million bailout to prevent up to 40% of growers going out of business in the next two years.
Read more...Tuscan promise from Richards Walford
The highlight from the Richards Walford table will be the latest releases from Monte Bernardi, Panzano-in-Chianti in Tuscany. The estate was taken over two years ago by brother and sister team, Michael and Jennifer Schmelzer. Jennifer will be in London to present their 2004 Chianti Classico, 2003 Sa'etta IGT (100% Sangiovese) and 2003 Tzingana IGT (45% Merlot 42% Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc and 13% Petit Verdot. Richards Walford's range is primarily from northern Italy and its selection will also include new wines and vintages from Lombardy, Tuscany, Piedmont and Veneto.
Tables 53 and 54
France and South Africa are the big losers at Threshers since the introduction of its buy-two-get-one-free' offer.
8 May-19 June
Sotheby's - Regional Wine Course Spring Term - 34 New Bond Street, London W1A 2AA. Contact Sotheby's Wine Department on 020 7293 6423.
By Jack Hibberd
Christian Delpeuch has controversially stepped down from his position as president of the Conseil Interprofessionnel du Vin de Bordeaux (CIVB) in protest against the inertia shown by various groups in dealing with Bordeaux's problems.
There must be some Alan Sugar-type management byword that nice men (or women) don't make it to the top. At the risk of sounding like a Martyn Lewis acolyte (he was the BBC News presenter who complained that there were not enough nice' stories in the news), Peter Jackson, the new boss at FGL Wine Estates Europe, the merged business of Foster's Beringer Blass and the Southcorp portfolio, defies many people's belief that you have to be nasty and Machiavellian to succeed corporately.
Read more...Five-and-a-half months after the Buncefield Depot explosion on 11 December, WaverleyTBS has moved back to Hemel Hempstead.
Read more...Oddbins' managing director, Jacques Duley, is leaving the high street retailer with immediate effect.
Paul was born in Sunderland, and moved to Liverpool when his father joined the Blue Star line as a merchant navy sea captain. He lived all over the world, as his father was stationed in various ports, then returned to catering college in the UK, followed by a spell working in the kitchen of a restaurant on the Wirral. After it was bought by the brewery Greenalls, he left to work in upstate New York for a chef agency. He came back to England for his first head chef position at Wincham Hall in Cheshire, and then became executive chef at the Philharmonic Hall in Liverpool in 1995. While eyeing up the London Carriage Works building he met the man who had bought it, Dave Brewitt, and joined as chef proprietor. They opened the restaurant and attached Hope Street Hotel in December 2003, and still retain control of the Philharmonic kitchen.
Suppliers include House of Townend, Boutinot, Rodney Densem, Laurent Perrier, Justerini & Brooks, Playford Ros and Inverarity Vaults.
Taittinger Champagne is set to return to the ownership of its founding family in a deal worth in excess of 600 million (410 million).
Read more...Women of Wine is holding its annual summer party at Vivat Bacchus in Farringdon, London, on 21 June. Both men and women can attend, with tickets priced at 20 for members and 30 for non-members.
Read more...Sounds simple enough. You're a wine producer, you want to break into the UK market and you're heartily fed up with the big, bad multiple retailer. He hogs all the margin while you practically have to mortgage your winery and sell your grandmother just to get a listing. Then fund a 2 price-off.
Read more...A Vergelegen Chardonnay from South Africa (9.49, Majestic) and a French Old Vines Grenache Noir from Marks & Spencer (5.49) are the top scorers and among the best buys in the Consumers' Association's Which? magazine On Test: Wines for Barbecues'.
Read more...When faced with the juggernaut that is Champagne - complete with the biggest marketing budgets in the wine world, ultra-slick PR teams and profit margins that would make most producers dance naked through their vineyards - it is easy to forget that more than half the fizz drunk in the UK doesn't hail from northeast France.
Read more...
