Jerry Lockspeiser: Five keys to success in 2025

Every year like millions of others in the UK I submit a self-assessment tax return. I don’t personally complete the forms but send all the relevant information to my accountant who processes it and submits the document.

An educated approach at Oxford Wine Company

Andrew Catchpole catches up with the team at the energetic and expanding Oxford Wine Company.

Guy Woodward: Beware the wine cliché

Happy new year! Allow me to begin 2025 with a question. And I want your instinctive, unvarnished response. Tell me… what were your feelings about the warm, personal greeting with which I opened this column?

Five minutes with Paul P John

Andrew Catchpole catches up with Paul P John, founder of the Goan-based Paul John distillery, on his recent visit to London.

Producer Q&A: Damien Malejacq, Tutiac

Jo Gilbert sat down with Damien Malejacq, marketing and communication director at Tutiac, which is now the largest volume producer of white and rosé wine in Bordeaux.

Buyer’s Spotlight: New perspectives on Rioja

Jason Millar gets a new take on how the region can balance out its affordable offerings with more premium expressions.

Jerry Lockspeiser: More sex please, we’re British

We need to be innovative to solve the many challenges facing the UK wine trade. Well, more sex might just be the answer. This could be very good news, being not only pleasurable but without cost to anyone’s business.

Soapbox: Michael Karam on wine’s political power

Tim Atkin MW: Can you taste terroir?

My scientific credentials are embarrassing. I struggled to get a C grade in Physics with Chemistry O-Level in my teens. By dint of rote learning and conversations with winemakers, not to mention a thrilling, all-day visit to a bottling plant, I managed to bluff my way through paper two of the Master of Wine exam about the production of wine. I have a half-arsed understanding of things like pH, sulphites and oxidation, some of the building blocks of wine analysis. Where geology is concerned, I know the difference between sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic rocks. But that’s about it.

Five minutes with Talal Madi, Ixsir

Over a preview of Ixsir’s 2024 vintage, the Lebanese winery’s CEO shares some insights with James Bayley.

Producer Q&A: Tamara Roberts, Ridgeview Wine Estate

As this Sussex winery heads into its 30th year, Andrew Catchpole catches up with one of the pillars of the modern English wine scene. 

Jerry Lockspeiser: When the going gets tough the 'authorpreneurs' get going

Billy Ocean’s song “When the going gets tough, the tough get going” immortalised the phrase attributed to 1950’s Texas American Football coach John Thomas. Despite its macho connotations – or perhaps because of them – it has since been used as a motivational tool in a variety of contexts outside sport, including business.

Buyer’s Spotlight: Prosecco’s next move

Jason Millar finds there is a likely solution to the confusion around the identity of DOCG wines.

Profile: H2Vin and Alliance Wine

The merger of H2Vin with Alliance Wine will play up the strengths of both companies, creating new opportunities across the board. Andrew Catchpole meets the drivers behind the business.

Profile: Cliff Roberson partners up

Jo Gilbert caught up with legendary wine trader Cliff Roberson to talk about a roster of new projects.

Guy Woodward: Why wine investment is the scourge of the wine world

If there’s one wine headline guaranteed to have me reaching for the eye-roll emoji (to be honest, there are several, though never in this fine publication, obvs), it’s the ‘Fine wine index soars as investors toast bullish market’ type of thing.

Jerry Lockspeiser: Seriously, are you ok?

Yes, are you ok? How often do we ask our work colleagues that? Many of us spend more time working than any other single activity, including sleeping – if not physically AT work, then working somewhere. So it seemed highly appropriate that the World Federation of Mental Health set the theme for World Mental Health Day 2024 as being about the workplace.

Five minutes with Patrick McGrath MW

Over a sneak preview of the recently disgorged (and as yet to be released) Domaine Evremond Classic Cuvée – the joint sparkling venture in Kent between Champagne Taittinger and its UK agent-importer Hatch Mansfield – Andrew Catchpole catches up with Hatch’s Patrick McGrath MW, who explains the inspiration for this ambitious project.

Producer Q&A: Cyril Brun, Ferrari Trento

Jason Millar catches up with native Champenois winemaker Cyril Brun to assess his impact on the sparkling wines of Trentodoc’s market-leading Ferrari Trento.

Buyer’s Spotlight: Cap Classique

These sparklers may still be a small sector, but Jason Millar says it’s time to call attention to them.