People & Opinion - Harpers Wine & Spirit Trade News

Q&A: Sam Owens, founder, Thirsty Cambridge

Published: 24 August, 2020

With his iconoclastic and straight-talking approach, Sam Owens walks Andrew Catchpole through life as a moreishly modern indie

Q&A: Emily Roux, co-owner, Caractère

Published: 18 August, 2020

The youngest scion of the Roux clan talks to Jo Gilbert about family expectations, restaurant no-shows and how to avoid divorce when working (and living) with your significant other during a pandemic

Talking team QB

Published: 13 August, 2020

Insight and innovation are threaded through Quintessential Brands’ DNA. Andrew Catchpole catches up with James Lousada and Neil Anderson to find out more

Jerry Lockspeiser: Why I will never be late again

Published: 10 August, 2020

I had called a meeting – I think it was to discuss innovation. We were maybe eight people, all key players in their roles, and me, the boss. The meeting was due to start at 11am, but I was finishing another important task and I did not make it until 11.15, maybe 11.20. I made my apologies and we got underway.

Soapbox: Five steps toward wine industry diversity

Published: 05 August, 2020

Black wine professional Magnavai Janjo urges the trade to swap discomfort for progressive conversation and sustainable steps towards greater inclusivity.

Julio Sáenz, winemaker, La Rioja Alta

Published: 04 August, 2020

As La Rioja Alta celebrates its 130th anniversary, and with the release of its second ever Viña Arana Gran Reserva (2014) in August, Andrew Catchpole catches up with Julio Sáenz for taste and talk over his most recent trio of Gran Reserva wines.

Profile: Miles Beale in the thick of it

Published: 29 July, 2020

The WSTA’s Miles Beale talks Andrew Catchpole through life at the trade’s lobbying body during extraordinary times

Tim Atkin MW: Have we learnt from Covid-19?

Published: 27 July, 2020

After months of lockdown and the return to a palimpsest of normality – who would have guessed six months ago that weekend supplements would run features on how to choose the most flattering face masks for summer? – it’s understandable that the so-called Oxford vaccine has been greeted with such enthusiasm. AZD1222, developed by the university’s Jenner Institute and the drug giant AstraZeneca, certainly looks promising, even if it produces mild side effects in some users.

Q&A: Marcelo Papa, Concha y Toro

Published: 16 July, 2020

Andrew Catchpole speaks with CyT’s technical director about climate change, driving Chile forward and balancing innovation with commercial reality

Jerry Lockspieser: looking in the rear view mirror at 30 years in wine (part 2)

Published: 03 July, 2020

In my last post I reflected on the big societal trends that created the context I worked in as a wine entrepreneur over the last 30 years. I continue here with the big trends within the world of wine itself.

Jerry Lockspieser: looking in the rear view mirror at 30 years in wine (part 1)

Published: 30 June, 2020

In part one of Jerry Lockspieser’s latest two-part column, our ever-insightful columnist looks at how the ‘world outside wine’ has changed and the ramifications this has had over time on the business of wine.

Joe Fattorini: Zoom Rhetorica

Published: 29 June, 2020

Aristotle would have been great on a Zoom call. And he’d have spent the last few months bickering his wine merchant for old wooden cases too.

Waking up to the whiteness of the trade

Published: 25 June, 2020

I was invited to write this blog following an email I sent Harper’s editor Andrew Catchpole expressing my disappointment over the magazine’s silence on race and diversity in the UK wine industry in light of the global Black Lives Matter movement following the murder of George Floyd.

Q&A: Des Gunewardena chairman and chief executive, D&D London

Published: 23 June, 2020

After bumping up its US expansion via a new 11,000 sq ft bar, restaurant and cafe concept in New York’s new Hudson Yards shopping mall, hospitality group D&D has had much to keep it on its toes over the past 18 months. Jo Gilbert catches up with its chairman and chief executive about fighting Covid-19 on either side of the Atlantic.

Joe Fattorini: Sell the sizzle

Published: 16 June, 2020

“Don’t sell the steak, sell the sizzle” is one of the great maxims of copywriting, but it leaves a bitter taste today for those of us involved in the on-trade. We’re not selling steaks, or sizzle.

Soapbox: Stephen Finch on the 2 metre barrier to trade

Published: 08 June, 2020

Asking for rational trade-offs, Vagabond’s Stephen Finch voices the on-trade’s concern over the economic impact of shut-down and the 2 metre distancing rule.

Guy Woodward: Hawking luxury during a pandemic

Published: 05 June, 2020

Around the world, many governments have excelled in recent months, quickly imposing rigorous, e ective measures, and pu ing to one side economic and ideological concerns for the greater good. Others, by contrast, have focused on massaging the facts to suit their narrative and clinging to a preconceived agenda in the face of a gathering storm.

Sturges steps down from Jeroboams

Published: 02 June, 2020

London wine merchant Jeroboams is to have a new chief executive, with encumbent Hugh Sturges leaving the role at the end of June.

Q&A: Eduardo Alemparte, Viña Santa Rita

Published: 02 June, 2020

Just ahead of handing over the reins as director of viniviticulture to Jaime de la Barra at the historical Maipo estate Viña Santa Rita, Eduardo Alemparte explained the allure of a benchmark Chilean region.