IXSIR powers through Lebanon challenges to declare healthy vintage

Leading Lebanese winery IXSIR is reporting a “healthy” 2020 vintage, despite the harvest beginning within days of the deadly explosion that rocked Beirut and increasing Covid-19 restrictions.

Cramele Recaș announces €7m investment as it achieves organic status

Cramele Recaș, Romania’s largest winery, has earmarked an investment of over €7m in 2021 as it declares 2020 a “premium” vintage and achieves organic certification for two of its three wineries.

Long Read: Moonshine and fruit wine – a postcard from post-Covid Latvia

Pernod Ricard, Mentzendorff and Lucky Saint alum Hugh Jones upped sticks recently and headed to Baltic capital Riga where he found an emerging drinks industry with parallels to the UK's own. 

Special IXSIR and Enotria tasting organises relief for Lebanon

Etienne Debbané, president and co-founder of IXSIR will be hosting a special tasting on Enotria’s Instagram page tomorrow (Thursday), with 50% of the proceeds going to relief efforts for Lebanon.

Cramele Recas secures Waitrose listing

Cramele Recas has secured its first listing with Waitrose.

Georgian UK wine exports continue to surge

Georgian wine exports to the UK surged, albeit from a small platform, in the first quarter of this year boosted by a quartet of new importers. 

Cramele Recas donates further trio of ventilators and medical equipment

Cramele Recas has donated a further three ventilators and medical equipment to hospitals in Timisoara, Romania, to help frontline healthcare workers deliver the best care in the fight against coronavirus (Covid-19).

Georgian wines up 60% in UK

The National Wine Agency of Georgia has announced a big push on its country’s wines for 2020 after exports rocketed 60% last year.

Furmint February puts climate change in the crosshairs as only three out of ten vintages are good enough for Aszú

The extent to which climate change is impacting the production of styles of Furmint was highlighted at recent Wine of Hungary masterclass, where participants were told that making sweet wines will be the “challenge” for Tokaj over the next decade or even century. 

Spotlight on 2020: Zsuzsa Toronyi, Wines of Hungary UK

As we prepare for the new decade, Harpers will be taking the month of December to look back over 2019 and ahead to what the coming year will bring – hopefully full of revived optimism for both politics and the trade.

Q&A: Philip Cox, founder, Cramele Recas

An innovative Romanian winery has put the country on the vinous map. Andrew Catchpole talks to the iconoclast at the helm

Q&A: Hemant Kotecha, founder/managing director, Myliko Wines

Widely credited as establishing Hungarian wine in the UK, Myliko Wines’ founder and managing director Hemant Kotecha caught up with Jo Gilbert to explain how importing ski jackets from Romania evolved into a pioneering wine business

Jascots adds Loire producer Château Pierre-Bise

Jascots has signed a deal as distributor of Savennières and Anjou producer Château Pierre-Bise.

Romanian group pulls out of LWF as Brexit hits funding

English and Welsh sparkling wine sales hit new record

Sales of English and Welsh sparkling wine rose 6% across the on and off-trade in 2018 compared to the previous year, according to WSTA data released today to coincide with St George’s Day.

Malux to launch Vida at Hungarian tasting

Hungarian food-and-wine wine specialists Malux are gearing up to launch four wines from Szekszard estate Vida at their upcoming trade tasting – including a Kadarka from rare 100-year-old vines.

Polish polish

Poland is setting its sights to become an internationally recognised producer of quality wine, with the number of vineyards doubling over the past four years.

Greek whites having their time to shine

Malagousia, Vidiano, Kidonitsa, Savatiano and Moscofilero may yet be unfamiliar names to some, but arguably they represent the emerging chorus of indigenous Greek white wines ready to take centre stage with Assyrtiko.

Romanian wine sales soar at Waitrose

Waitrose has reported a surge in the popularity of Romanian wine.

Record breaking year for bottles of English and Welsh wine

A record number of bottles of English and Welsh wines were released onto the market last year, according to new HMRC data.