People & Opinion - Harpers Wine & Spirit Trade News

Producer Q&A: Marchese Lamberto Frescobaldi, Marchesi Frescobaldi

Published: 25 June, 2024

The Italian wine company has been working on a unique rehabilitation programme for inmates of Gorgona prison. By James Bayley.

Jerry Lockspeiser: Are we getting the most from our marketing spend?

Published: 24 June, 2024

I like to consider myself an open minded, flexible kind of guy. But when I ran businesses I could sense the shutters coming down every time we had a management discussion about how much to spend on marketing.

Buyer’s Spotlight: The field blend

Published: 20 June, 2024

Jason Millar flags the joy of the unknown in a post-varietal world.

Profile: Vineyard Cellars talks taking stock at Stockcross

Published: 18 June, 2024

With a new shop opening at Vineyard Cellars, Joe Rubin-Broad is adding yet more strings to his bow.

Tim Akin MW: Playing for laughs

Published: 13 June, 2024

At first sight, it looked like a PR disaster. Sir Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats, was filmed falling off a paddleboard into Lake Windermere five times. He’s a middle-aged bloke with a paunch and no sense of balance. Politicians do all sorts of silly things by mistake – members of the public can ambush them too – but Sir Ed’s aquatic pratfall was deliberate. He’s done a number of similar things campaigning for July’s general election.

Soapbox: Pushing back on neo-Prohibition

Published: 11 June, 2024

Tony Edwards decries the ‘relentless official demonisation of alcohol’, which is at odds with much medical evidence.

Five minutes with Pablo Vega Puyol, Morandé Wine Group

Published: 04 June, 2024

Andrew Catchpole asks Pablo Vega Puyol, people & sustainability manager at Morandé Wine Group, why waste management is important and how smaller producers can best implement their own programme.

Producer Q&A: Antonio Capaldo, Feudi Di San Gregorio

Published: 28 May, 2024

Campania icon Feudi di San Gregorio’s old vine project has landed the 2024 Old Vine Hero Award for Research. Jason Millar catches up with the estate’s president to find out more.

Jerry Lockspeiser: Does pay equal worth?

Published: 21 May, 2024

Every Monday an email newsletter entitled “Ten things you didn’t know last week” drops into my inbox. It comes from leadership development consultancy TEN led by William Montgomery, a former naval officer and head of strategic change at Lloyds TSB. The newsletter reveals pertinent facts reported in the media about recent societal trends, providing bite sized topical insights into the world in which we do business.

Buyer’s Spotlight with Jason Millar: Cirò

Published: 21 May, 2024

Jason Millar focuses on the Calabrian DOC, highlighting the recent Cirò Revolution tasting in London.

Profile: The shapeshifting Canned Wine Co

Published: 16 May, 2024

With quality canned wines firmly on the rise, Andrew Catchpole visits one of the most innovative in the business.

Guy Woodward: Why all producers should consider 0% abv wines

Published: 14 May, 2024

It has, I admit, taken me rather a long time to take 0% alcohol wines seriously. I’ve long been sceptical about their quality. But I’ve finally got my head around their importance. Why? Because I’ve managed to navigate that key stumbling block that trips up many a middle-aged man – the fact that I am not the target market.

Soapbox: Answering the anti-alcohol lobby

Published: 09 May, 2024

Andrew Catchpole argues that the trade needs to take a firmer stance against the growing anti-alcohol lobby.

Jerry Lockspeiser: Could this be the next big trend in wine?

Published: 30 April, 2024

On trend Londoners or visitors to the capital may be lucky enough to experience the culinary and vinous delights of a Noble Rot restaurant, of which there are now three. They were birthed from the eponymous Noble Rot Magazine, a pandoras box of wine and food articles that somehow manages to be smoothly accessible, irreverently funny, and slightly nerdy at the same time.

Five minutes with Andrew Maidment, Zacal

Published: 30 April, 2024

Andrew Catchpole catches up with an ex-Wines of Argentina marketing director now launching his own mezcal to the UK, Zacal.

Producer Q&A: Jaime de la Barra, Santa Rita Estates

Published: 25 April, 2024

This leading producer, with labels spanning Chile and Argentina, has been harnessing innovation and sustainability to drive forward its already premium positioning in South America’s wine world. Andrew Catchpole discovers more with Jaime de la Barra, winegrowing director at Santa Rita Estates.

South America report: Importers’ Shout

Published: 18 April, 2024

Jo Gilbert quizzes UK importers on the burning questions surrounding Chile and Argentina.

Buyer’s Spotlight with Jason Millar: Portugal needs a boost

Published: 16 April, 2024

When I first visited Lisbon in 2014, I was able to get an Airbnb in Bairro Alto for €20 a night and there was only one cool wine spot in town. Now there’s an official Wines of Portugal tasting room on the waterfront, a decade of tourism has transformed the country and contemporary wine bars are as easy to find as bacalhau.

Soapbox: The case for concentrate

Published: 11 April, 2024

Mark Lansley, CEO at Broadland Drinks, argues that concentrates can be good for carbon, cost and consumer choice and thus, ultimately, the wine trade.

Profile: A new era for Fells

Published: 09 April, 2024

Fells’ new MD catches up with Jo Gilbert on the company’s past, present and future, including its secret weapon.

As one of the longest-standing agent importers in the UK, Fells has a history that is almost very nearly unique. Like Mentzendorff, its biggest competitor, Fells happens to have been founded in 1858, before going on to represent the interests of a leading Port house.