Harpers Wine & Spirit Trade News

Shop Rioja back for 2016

Published: 27 June, 2016

Shop Rioja is back for another countrywide promotion in October's edition of Harpers in partnership with Wines from Rioja, and is inviting all UK independent merchants to take part.

Sauvignon remains useful prop for Verdejo to ease Rueda's path into the UK

Published: 20 June, 2016

In the wake of the previous decade's economic fallout, the once-booming Rueda region?like many others in Spain?has enjoyed a slow but steady recovery as it struggles to keep its prices buoyed while pursuing importers, shelf space and list placements

Label launched for Londoners who "can't tell their chardonnay from their sangiovese"

Published: 16 June, 2016

A forward-thinking wine label has been launched to dispel the "myth" that those who don't know about wine can't have good taste.

González Byass launches sherry vermouth for 'conscious' cocktail consumers

Published: 15 June, 2016

Sherry-makers González Byass are hoping to snare new customers in the on-trade with the launch of a new sherry vermouth based on a recipe from the 19^th century.

Cava aims to climb to the "top of quality wine pyramid" with premium classification

Published: 14 June, 2016

The CRDO del Cava (Cava Regulatory Board) has announced the launch of a new premium category for Spanish sparkling wines that is designed to create distance between low and high quality Cavas.

Customers "lapping up" fresh Spanish whites with New World influences

Published: 10 June, 2016

Members club the Wine Society is seeing strong demand for Spanish wines thanks to a revolution in winemaking pushed by a new generation of vine aficionados.

Q&A: Guillermo de Aranzabal, president, La Rioja Alta

Published: 06 June, 2016

Armit Wines' La Rioja Alta is known for its 890 and 904 wines - key years in the founding of the original winery. Harpers.co.uk caught up with the winery's fifth-generation president to find out what the Rioja label means to his business.

Rioja a double-edged sword for premium brands

Published: 06 June, 2016

As one of the primary regions in the world's third largest wine producing country, the Rioja label carries a huge amount of weight in the on and off-trade worldwide - and especially in the UK, where its easy-to-drink reputation has made it a stalwart on British supermarkets shelves.

Tim Atkin MW: Where does Spain fit in the battle for wine supremacy?

Published: 03 June, 2016

Tim Atkin takes a look at Spanish terrior and where Spanish wines fit in the hieracrchy for supermacy as a top wine producing country.

Q&A: Julio Sáenz, La Rioja Alta, S.A.

Published: 27 May, 2016

La Rioja Alta, S.A., has been making wine since it was founded by five families back in 1890. We chatted to Julio Sáenz, winemaker at the premium vineyard since 1996 and technical director since 2005, about how their wines and the winemaking have evolved.

Analysis: Can Ribera del Duero compete with the Rioja in the UK?

Published: 26 May, 2016

Can Ribera Del Duero can realistically lure consumers in a Rioja-obsessed climate in the UK?

Gilbert's Grape: One night in Rioja

Published: 24 May, 2016

As a wine journalist, I have been told I can expect to see hundreds of barrel rooms and vineyards in the course of my new career.

Insights: The rise of the owners club

Published: 24 May, 2016

In the space of just over 15 years, privately funded associations have become a defining feature of the global wine industry. In Europe, they arguably represent a manifestation of the growing dissatisfaction with the inadequacies of regional appellation bodies, which has subsequently encouraged winemakers to take matters into their own hands.

Grandes Pagos de España pressures the Rioja DO to adapt

Published: 24 May, 2016

With the terroir debate raging in Spain, the tasting and master classes in London last week by the association Grandes Pagos de España (GPE) could hardly have come at a better time.