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The week that was

Published:  16 February, 2018

In case you missed some of the headlines this week on harpers.co.uk, we have put together a review of the top online news, Q&As, and opinion stories.


Top Stories: The organic and sparkling wine sections of the trade showed some real buoyancy this week, especially English sparkling, with Sussex’s Rathfinny estate and French Champagne house Vranken-Pommery Monopole making moves to increase their offering in this growing slice of the sparkling market.

Meanwhile, South Africa’s on-going drought problem continues to cast a shadow on the Cape’s wineries.

And there was a historic change in the leadership team at leading New Zealand winery Villa Maria – where owner Sir George Fistonich is stepping down as CEO to concentrate on his duties as a global ambassador for his lifelong brand.



Analysis and Insights: The panel discussion at our annual Think Rum event shone a spotlight into this fascinating and growing category, delving deeper into the premium possibilities – which you can read about via our report on the link below.

And as Cape Town’s water crisis approaches Day Zero rationing, we assessed the impact of the drought on South Africa’s wine industry.


People and Opinion: Harpers regularly hears from industry insiders and those with their fingers on the pulse of the trade and this week was no different.

Columnist Guy Woodward talked us through why we should all just embrace low-alcohol wines, while we also continued our meet the buyers odyssey, this week with Andrew Shaw, group wine buying director at Conviviality.