The international wine trade has united today to pay its respects to the legendary Lebanese winemaker, Serge Hochar, of Château Musar, who died over the new year.
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Nick Oakley of Oakley Wine Agencies on the growth of Portuguese wines in 2014, and how he'd like to sell more to independent merchants.
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Outspoken independent merchant and Harpers' blogger Stephen Forward of Essentially Wine picks out Naked Wines, Oddbins and Borough Wines as ones to watch in 2015.
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Matthew Hennings of Hennings Wine Merchants, says the trade must continue to fight against those intent on 'dumbing down' wine to the consumer with 'whopping discounts and lousy wine'.
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Anita Jackson, UK director for Wines of Chile, says 2014 got off to a tough start, and tips Chile for further organic and sustainable innovations for 2015.
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David Frost, Scotch Whisky Association chief executive, reflects on the Scottish referendum and the increased investment in the sector, while hoping for an improvement in sales in 2015.
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Ted Sandbach, managing director of independent wine merchant the Oxford Wine Company, talks about plans to open a new wine bar in 2015, and how deep supermarket discounting is still a serious challenge for independents.
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Jerry Lockspeiser, chairman of Off Piste Wines and serial wine industry entrepreneur as well as Harpers columnist, gives his thoughts on why 2015 may be a "crossroads year" for the retail trade, and how we are still "failing to inspire" wine drinkers.
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Doug Wood, owner of Scottish independent merchant WoodWinters, lets off steam about supermarkets, credit control and 'parasitic internet-only' retailers, while looking forward to lots of Christmas presents from staff.
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John McLaren, UK director of the Wine Institute of California, on how the UK has changed to become a fresh land of opportunity for Californian producers, how it's in a 'holding pattern' with grocers, and why he 'may scream' if he's told to 'engage with consumers' again.
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Neil Anderson, marketing director at Kingsland, considers how and why brands need to think more about consumers for the year ahead, and reckons companies should be looking to those outside the category for inspiration.
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November's Wine Vision conference brought together the great and the good of the wine world - and focused on everything from how the brain ventriloquises taste to the need to "drag more consumers into the category".
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Giles James, UK business development manager for New Zealand's Mission Estate, talks about Kim Kardashian breaking the internet, why provenance is a major opportunity, and why Noble Inns is one to watch.
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Hal Wilson, managing director of independent merchant Cambridge Wine Company, gives us the low-down on opening a new wine bar, Cahors wines making a comeback and why he's watching this space with Philglas & Swiggot.
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John Osborne, managing director of the PLB trading division at Bibendum PLB, talks about the 'year of transformation', how retailers must adapt to the changes in how consumers shop and further supplier consolidation into next year.
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Julian Dyer, general manager for UK & Europe at Australian Vintage, talks about McGuigan breaking into the Top 5 global wine brands in the UK, consolidation in the supply sector, and why he's back the WSTA's Drop the Duty campaign.
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The new wine 'face' of BBC's Food & Drink programme Joe Wadsack fills us in on Balkan wines, presenting on the Beeb and why London's on-trade margins are 'taking the mick'.
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Miles Beale, chief executive of the Wine & Spirits Trade Association, says the industry's progress against the Responsibility Deal is something to shout about. Meanwhile he's gearing up the pre-Budget Drop the Duty campaign and planning to engage with government after 2015's General Election.
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Pierpaolo Petrassi MW, head of beers, wines and spirits at Waitrose shares his thoughts on grocery retail's decline, his inspiration from the team at Waitrose and why we should all be watching Amazon.
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Bernard Fontannaz, founder of Origin Wines, talks about the 'game-changing' supply base consolidation and what 2015 has in store in his review of the year.
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