Harpers Wine & Spirit Trade News

Australian UK wine exports continue to rise

Published: 29 April, 2021

Australian wine exports to the UK continued to rise in the last 12 months, with both value and volume in double-digit growth.

Vineyard area edges back to Europe as Spain and France rise and China's growth slows

Published: 21 April, 2021

Vineyard surface area saw some subtle yet far reaching shifts in 2020, with China falling into third place behind Spain and France as EU plantings stabilise and China's plantings slow.

Q&A: Lenz Moser, Château Changyu-Moser XV

Published: 16 March, 2021

The Year of the Ox, denoting hard work, positivity and honesty, seems an apt time for the fruits of Lenz Moser’s work in China to shine. Andrew Catchpole tunes in

Tim Atkin MW: China’s risky moves

Published: 04 February, 2021

“Don’t trust them,” says Leon Panetta, a rueful former US defense secretary interviewed in BBC documentary China: A New World Order, “that’s the bottom line.” It’s advice the Australian wine industry and now, apparently, the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET), would have done well to heed.

Opportunities abound

Published: 27 January, 2021

The likelihood of a free trade agreement between the UK and Australia has led to optimism among many wine producers that new possibilities lie ahead. Andrew Catchpole reports.

Lawmakers line up worldwide to protest China’s Oz wine tax

Published: 02 December, 2020

A group of over 200 MPs and other legislators from 19 countries have launched a campaign against China’s swingeing new tariffs on Australian wine.

Oz wines hit with huge Chinese import taxes

Published: 30 November, 2020

China has imposed taxes of up to 212% on imports of Australian wine.

South Australia targets emerging Asian markets following China uncertainty

Published: 24 November, 2020

A South Australian program has been launched to help open up access to markets in Japan, Malaysia, South Korea and India in the wake of continued uncertainty around shipments to China.

Uncertainty continues over Oz wine exports to China

Published: 10 November, 2020

Confusion continues over a potential block on Australian wine imports by China in response to ongoing tensions between Canberra and Beijing.

Global online buying frenzy levelling out

Published: 11 August, 2020

The extraordinary upward curve in online wine and spirit sales appears to be flattening, suggests the latest data from Wine-Searcher.

China’s economic crisis to benefit wine longer-term

Published: 05 August, 2020

The double whammy of an already slowing economy compounded by coronavirus could accelerate consumer demand for reliable and legitimate wine brands in China.

Chinese market remains bullish despite suffering Australian exports

Published: 29 May, 2020

China’s relationship with wine during coronavirus had changed for the better, according to Wine Intelligence, allaying fears that lockdown had had a negative affect on the wine category.

Wine and whisky investment bounce back in China

Published: 15 April, 2020

Global trader BI Fine Wine & Spirits has reported that its volume sales of high-end wine and rare whisky to Asia jumped 25% in March as Chinese buyers returned to the market.

WSET fast-tracks investment for online delivery and digital learning

Published: 14 April, 2020

In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, The Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) is fast-tracking investment plans to bring forward online delivery of all its qualifications.

Friday Read: Wine ecommerce - learning from China

Published: 06 March, 2020

China has become the world leader in wine ecommerce and there is much we could learn, writes Emilie Steckenborn, founder of the Bottled in China Podcast.

Chinese wine volumes predicted to fall 20% due to coronavirus

Published: 04 March, 2020

The Chinese wine market could contract by 20% or more and many businesses will fail as a result of coronavirus, two industry experts have said.

Friday Read: Hidden in the Shadows

Published: 28 February, 2020

The realisation first occurred in Ho Chi Minh City, after a charming waitress at 'The Garlik' restaurant produced a concise wine list. The restaurant was full of middle-class Vietnamese – and a handful of tourists – most of whom were drinking wine. I observed a similar scenario one week later, at Riedel's bar-cum-restaurant in central Bangkok. The sommelier was proselytising the virtues of white Burgundy – one of the many bottles contained in a wall-mounted enomatic machine - to a young Thai couple. I left the restaurant convinced that due to the media's powerful China obsession, the potential of these cultures to love wine was being grossly underreported.

Diageo slashes 2020 expectations in wake of global volatility linked to coronavirus

Published: 30 January, 2020

Spirits giant Diageo has cut its sales expectations in global markets for the coming year, with the likelihood that the recent viral outbreak in China could further impact sales in 2020.

Randall moves into Australia’s Riverland

Published: 14 January, 2020

The Randall Wine Group (RWG) has acquired its first vineyard in Australia’s Riverland, marking the latest target in a string of acquisitions aimed to fuel its sales in China.