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The Interview: David Baker

Published:  23 July, 2008

Brandyclassics, Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire
Interview: Anastasia Edwards
Photography: Tristan Newkey-Burden

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Wine sales boom

Published:  23 July, 2008

Wine consumption in the UK has risen by almost a quarter in the past five years, according to research group Mintel. This 23% uplift in consumption contrasts sharply with former wine-drinking stalwarts Italy, France and Germany, which have seen consumption drop 2%, 6% and 11% respectively.

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King of Beaujolais' faces fraud investigation

Published:  23 July, 2008

Joseph Berkmann has angrily denied allegations that Georges Duboeuf topped up his best wines with inferior ones.
The chairman of Berkmann Wine Cellars, the sole UK agent for Duboeuf, issued a statement refuting the allegations, and claimed that national newspaper reports were based on inaccurate' stories in the French press, which had ubsequently
been withdrawn.

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La Gitana for Mentzendorff

Published:  23 July, 2008

Bodegas Hidalgo-La Gitana, the Sherry house responsible for La Gitana Manzanilla, has joined the Mentzendorff portfolio in an exclusive arrangement.

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It's a rap

Published:  23 July, 2008

Standing on the banks of the tranquil river Charente by Chteau Courvoisier in Jarnac, who would have thought that the fortunes of the Cognac category could have been turned around by a handful of American hip-hop artists? After years in the doldrums, along with the likes of whisky, adrift while the white spirits - vodka, white rum and tequila - continued their seemingly inexorable rise, Cognac finally received the sort of ringing endorsement that money just can't buy - not even with the big budgets of LVMH (Hennessy); Seagram, now Pernod Ricard (Martell); and Allied Domecq, now Fortune Brands (Courvoisier).

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PLB buys L&T

Published:  23 July, 2008

PLB Group, the own-label wine specialist, has bought wine company Lane & Tatham for an undisclosed sum.
East Sussex-based PLB - which has tried hard in recent years to increase its presence in the branded-wine sector - now moves into fine wines for the first time. Lane & Tatham will continue to run as a separate business, operating as the fine-wine subsidiary of the company.

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New WoA MD ready to prove he's worth it

Published:  23 July, 2008

The new managing director of Wines of Argentina (WoA) is Fernando Farr.
Farr has a marketing background, and worked with L'Oral for nearly eight years, both in Argentina and abroad. He replaces marketing manager Bernardo Hoffmann.

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Cinema for Hardys

Published:  23 July, 2008

Hardys, the UK's number-one off-trade wine brand, is set to launch a new cinema advertising campaign later this month under the Best Wine Under The Sun' campaign positioning launched at the end of 2004.

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Ice wine for Hallgarten

Published:  23 July, 2008

Hallgarten has taken on the agency for one of Canada's leading Icewine producers, Pelee Island Winery in Ontario.

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Screwcap wines akin to alcopops'

Published:  23 July, 2008

Philosopher, writer and composer Roger Scruton has heavily criticised screwcapped wines, claiming they reduce wine to an alcopop'.

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Triple-distilled Islay malt from Bruichladdich

Published:  23 July, 2008

Islay distillery Bruichladdich is to launch an 84.5% abv whisky - the first triple-distilled Islay malt for more than 300 years.

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Highbank for IVINI

Published:  23 July, 2008

IVINI Ltd, the specialist importer and wholesaler of wine to the UK on-trade and independent retailers, has added the Highbank 2001 Coonawarra Red to its premium-wine portfolio.

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Collache leaves Sopexa UK

Published:  23 July, 2008

Sopexa UK's managing director Franois Collache has left the promotions group after nine years in the role.

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Unwins boss tries to rally troops

Published:  23 July, 2008

The new owner of Unwins, DM Private Equity, has sent a morale-boosting letter to all staff, in a bid to improve the multiple specialist's fortunes.

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Platter's five-star wines announced

Published:  23 July, 2008

A total of 11 wines have been awarded the coveted five-star rating in the 2006 John Platter South African Wine Guide.

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Nielsen to include three Ms' data

Published:  23 July, 2008

Leading marketing information gatherer AC Nielsen is to include full EPOS data from Majestic, Morrisons, Marks & Spencer, and Unwins for the first time.

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BVI ceases trading

Published:  23 July, 2008

Wine investment company Bordeaux Vintners Ltd, trading as BVI, has ceased trading. Tim Dunton, the sole director, wrote to investors on 22 July telling them that not all the wine they had paid for was available due to the failure of one of his suppliers.

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Port family sues over stolen' land

Published:  23 July, 2008

The British Government is being sued for 14 million by a British family which made its name in the Port trade.

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Festival-goers prefer English fizz to Champagne'

Published:  23 July, 2008

The organiser of the English Wine and Regional Food Festival claims that top English sparklers like RidgeView and Nyetimber are equal to if not better than the best Champagnes.

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Hungary like the wolf

Published:  23 July, 2008

Hungary is the most significant producer of wine among both new EU states and the next-round hopefuls, Bulgaria and Romania. Even though the country has only 87,000 hectares (ha) of vineyards, compared to just under 90,000ha of Vitis vinifera in Romania and a similar area in Bulgaria, its wine production dwarfs that of its neighbours at some 4.8 million hectolitres in 2004 (Romania produced around 3.4 million hl and Bulgaria just 1.4 million hl in the same year). In spite of this, Hungary's reputation as a wine-producing nation has fallen off most consumers' radar (if it was ever really there).

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