Diageo has struck a deal to back Pernod Ricard in its acquisition of Allied Domecq. In return it gets to purchase Bushmill's Irish whiskey and is highly likely to get Allied's New Zealand wine brand Montana, in a combined deal worth more than 500 million.
Read more...The International Wine & Spirit Competition will be holding its Showcase Tasting Day on Wednesday, 20 July 2005 at the Watermen's Hall in the City of London. The tasting will take place from 11am to 6pm.
Read more...Kilchoman is the first distillery to open on Islay for more than 100 years. The distillery brings the total number on the island to eight (not counting Port Ellen, which stopped production in 1983).
Read more...Vilafont, the first-ever South African/Californian joint wine venture, has used NASA technology first employed during the Cold War.
The majority of Bordeaux's First Growths have released their en primeur prices for the 2004 vintage one third lower than in 2003 - around €88 per bottle, ex-ngociant. According to the UK trade, however, demand for this large and classic' vintage remains well down on the much hyped 2003.
Read more...Australia's rapid rise through the ranks to become the top supplier of still wine to the UK has been the most dramatic story of the past decade. Precocious, confident and dismissive of tradition, Australia seemed to gain market share without even trying. Now, with maturing markets at home and abroad, falling grape prices, profit warnings from Perth to Sydney and numerous boutique wineries operating on the edge of bankruptcy, are the good times for Australian wine over?
Read more...Portugal has tough challenges to face in the UK market. A generic brand needs to be built, price points need to be pushed higher and the treasure trove of indigenous varieties needs to be exploited without confusing the consumer. But with the recent formation of the Association of Portuguese Wine Importers and a firm commitment from The Portuguese Trade and Tourism Office (ICEP) and its partner ViniPortugal to concentrate more resources on the UK market, there is every chance the wine industry can meet those challenges head on - particularly if they exhibit the same verve and enthusiasm that inspired us during Euro 2004.
Read more...Harpers contributor Jamie Goode is replacing Jonathan Bracey-Gibbon as wine columnist for the Sunday Express. His first column will appear on 10 July.
Read more...Port continues to buck the trend for fortified wine in the UK, posting good growth, particularly at the premium end. But can this most traditional of products remain relevant in today's tough wine market?
Read more...Bronco Wine Company - famous for producing Two Buck Chuck' - is launching a $3.99 Napa Valley range.
Read more...Simon Thorpe MW is leaving Waitrose to join Western Wines. He leaves later this year after eight years in the wine buying department of the John Lewis Partnership grocery multiple.
Wine sales in the Irish Republic are booming at a time when the beer market has slumped, with a reported unprecedented' drop of 11.5% in the first four months of this year and a 9% fall in 2004.
The KWV Black Empowerment project launched last year has been completed, with 25.1% of the company's shares now belonging to the Phetogo consortium.
Read more...Australian wine producers and exporters must beware complacency, according to Graham Cranswick-Smith, the head of Cranswick Estate before it merged with Western Australian producer Evans & Tate.
The winner of the Maison Coquard Beaujolais Design a Label' competition, run in conjunction with Harpers and Coquard's UK agent D&D Wines, was announced last week.
Californian wine pioneer Robert Mondavi has been honoured by the government of France as a chevalier of l'Ordre National de la Lgion d'Honneur (Legion of Honour).
Read more...If the 2004 edition was all about the new excitement that surrounded the Chilean wine industry and its hopes that it could increase its standing in the UK, then this supplement is a celebration of how those hopes have been realised.
Read more...The South African wine industry has come a long way in the past decade, emerging from international obscurity to become one of the wine world's major players.
Read more...Harpers drew a packed house at last month's LIWSF to debate how wine brand-owners can make the most of their marketing budgets. In the second part of our coverage of the event, Harpers presents the reaction of our panellists and the audience to the specially commissioned consumer research presented by Wine Intelligence and outlined in last week's issue
Read more...Diageo managing director Paul Walsh was the tenth high-profile trade figure to be accorded the honour of making the WSET's annual lecture. His speech, delivered on Wednesday 1 June, focused on what the wine and spirits industries could learn from eachother, but, prompted by a number of questions from the floor, Walsh also held forth on such key trade issues as discounting and distribution, the quality of Blossom Hill and, inevitably, Diageo's take on the Allied auction.
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