Soapbox: WSTA's David Richardson on the battle for the high seas

David Richardson, regulatory & commercial affairs director at the WSTA, speaks to Jo Gilbert about a ticking timebomb of worldwide container shortages and haulier delays which threaten to put the kibosh on wine’s global recovery from the pandemic

LWC branches out

Since acquiring HC White & Co, LWC Drinks is so much more than a wholesaler. Lisa Riley hears how the drinks merchant is trying to get its message across

Tim Atkin MW: Rioja's power struggle

Imagine being a voter in Liverpool Walton or South Holland and The Deepings. In the first of these constituencies, the Labour Party received 86% of the ballot in the last general election; in the second, the Conservatives got 75%. Under our first-past-the-post system, the results are as predictable as the lunar cycle. Supporting any other party is a waste of graphite.

Five minutes with Kit Ellen, Exton Park

Kit Ellen, MD at Hampshire’s Exton Park, distributed in the UK by Bancroft Wines, talks to Jo Gilbert about the winery’s intriguing shift in focus to ‘reserve blends’, a new standard-bearer for the wines based on its 10-year library of reserves.

Q&A: Randall Grahm, Popelouchum

The original freewheeling California innovator talks to Andrew Catchpole about his new venture and an endless quest for terroir

Jerry Lockspeiser: Why claiming wine is good for health is bad for business

The wine trade can be a wonderful place to work. Yes, we have had our share of stresses and strains since Covid used its airmiles. True, people running wine businesses can spend more time with PnL spreadsheets and cashflow projections than they do with the latest vintage from Chateau Marvellous. But overall, the balance sheet for working with wine is very strong.

Guy Woodward: Why we need underdogs

The European Super League was always doomed to failure. Think about it from a wine perspective. It would be like a region – in France, say – initiating a system whereby its châteaux were ranked purely on the basis of how much their wines cost, maybe put into mini ‘divisions’, and then this classification being set in stone in perpetuity, regardless of any change in quality on the part of either the incumbents’ wines or those of any would-be challengers. Surely it would never last…

Into the unknown with Ross Carter, The Drinks Trust

Lisa Riley meets with Ross Carter, whose short tenure as CEO of The Drinks Trust so far has taken him through a turbulent and unprecedented time.

Five minutes with Mickaël Alborghetti

The co-founder of ethical Bordeaux wine distributor Ethic Drinks, grandson of a Burgundian winegrower and son of an environmental activist, tells Lisa Riley the story of the start-up

Jerry Lockspeiser: What business must learn from the European Super League fiasco

The fiasco over football’s proposed European Super League (ESL) has echoes for business everywhere. The issues raised by this failed venture should seep into the nooks and crannies of ancient wine cellars and waft into the boardrooms of drinks corporations across the globe.

Independents roundtable: Creating stronger supplier relations

Looking ahead to a receding pandemic, our recent How to Forge the Best Relationship with Suppliers round table explored how suppliers and merchants can best work together to ensure that the needs of old, new and evolved channels of business can be best capitalised upon and maximised. Andrew Catchpole rounds up the key takeaways

Q&A: Charlie Holland, Gusbourne

From the ‘baptism of fire’ of his first, unexpected vintage in Australia, to heading up one of England’s top wine estates, Charlie Holland, head winemaker and CEO at Gusbourne, fills Andrew Catchpole in on the story so far.

Tim Atkin MW: Valuing our old vines

Call it serendipity, call it fate, but there are times when events and conversations seem to align. You go for months without thinking about something and then it’s everywhere, filling your inbox and your brain. Spooky, possums, as Dame Edna Everage once put it.

Jerry Lockspeiser: When wine meets running

The wine trade’s more physically active members will be familiar with the Marathon du Médoc, probably the wine world’s best-known attempt to reconcile the irreconcilable – running 42.2km (26.2 miles) while drinking lots of wine. Twenty-three glasses of Bordeaux’s best to be precise.

Headline Hero: Martin Kaiser, Doña Paula

Martin Kaiser, director of viticulture and winemaking, Doña Paula

Headline Hero: Jaime de la Barra, Santa Rita Estates

Jaime de la Barra, director of winegrowing, Santa Rita Estates (covering Chile and Argentina)

Headline Hero: Santiago Ribisich, Grupo Avinea

The director general of Grupo Avinea, owner 
of Bodegas Argento, reveals 
what ethical winemaking means to him and 
the part it plays in the group’s long-term plans

Headline Hero: Anne Bousquet, Domaine Bousquet

The owner of Domaine Bousquet talks all things organic and why Tupungato was the right fit for this style of winemaking

Q&A: Germán Di Cesare, Trivento

Trivento’s chief winemaker outlines his vinous philosophy and what he hopes 2021 has in store

Vineyard tour with Argento's Juan Pablo Murgia