Harpers Wine & Spirit Trade News

UK cocktail market passes £600m

Published: 16 October, 2019

UK spirits lovers drank £604m of cocktails in the last year, according to the latest quarterly Mixed Drinks report from market analysts CGA.

Friday read: How top end Prosecco can stay relevant in the face of ever changing consumer demands

Published: 11 October, 2019

Harpers sets out on the Prosecco trail to look at the region’s industrial expansion and to work out what a sustainable future looks like for the chronically popular Italian fizz

Pernod Ricard consolidates business in France

Published: 03 October, 2019

French giant Pernod Ricard is consolidating in an effort to cut costs after it emerged that sales in France have fallen by €60 million (£53.4 million) over the past two years.

Championing Chile

Published: 25 September, 2019

There have been plenty of emerging highlights, but Chile stills needs to push its premium offerings says Andrew Catchpole.

March of the crèmants

Published: 18 September, 2019

Over the past decade, the UK sparkling wine market has increasingly become a tale of two sparklers.

Treasury Wine Estates (TWE), the Australian owner of leading brand Penfolds, has shed some light on why it decided to call time on its distributor in China – and why setting up on its own steam has been key to growth in the country.

TWE sets sights on being “part of the fabric of China”

Published: 15 August, 2019

Treasury Wine Estates’ chief executive Michael Clarke revealed the company’s ambitious plans for China yesterday.

Half of China's middle class population drinks imported wine

Published: 01 August, 2019

Despite falling wine import volumes, China continues to mature as a market, according to the latest country report from Wine Intelligence.

UK overtakes Spain as biggest market for Brockmans Gin

Published: 05 July, 2019

Gin continues to boom for Brockmans here in the UK, which is now the brand’s top market thanks to a recent push into the supermarkets.

March of the mixers

Published: 01 July, 2019

The premium mixers category is becoming a crowded market, but is there just too much going on in the way of flavour, asks Kate Hawkings.

Market frustrated at pricing of Bordeaux 2018

Published: 28 June, 2019

Traders have found the release of Bordeaux’s 2018 vintage “perplexing” and “frustrating”, according to a report from Liv-Ex.

On-trade is moving with the times, say suppliers, as Jamie’s and other well-known faces disappear from the high street

Published: 07 June, 2019

The tired, middle of the road, mid-market section of the on-trade is falling away to make way for new, more innovative concepts, suppliers have told Harpers.

Old world wines dominate on-trade in China, new research shows

Published: 31 May, 2019

Wines from France and Italy dominate the on-trade in China, according to the first in-depth research into the Chinese on-trade market.

Luvian’s St Andrews' Archie McDiarmid blogs from Sauvignon Blanc Celebration in Marlborough

Published: 12 February, 2019

The major focus of the final day of Sauvignon 2019 was ‘Pursuit’ – both of new customers and of new styles – as New Zealand looks to broaden the appeal of its hero grape without losing the affection of the millions of customers worldwide who have super-charged the country’s remarkable growth as a winegrowing power.

Aussie backstop will safeguard Australian wine exports post-Brexit

Published: 22 January, 2019

Australia will continue to trade with the UK, its biggest export market by volume and third by value, on its current terms post-Brexit.

HMRC now issuing two new distilling licences a week as gin continues to soar

Published: 18 January, 2019

Those expecting to see gin fall from its pedestal will have to wait a little longer.

Fine wine more stable than gold as Burgundy drives record high for investment market

Published: 13 December, 2018

Burgundy thrived, Bordeaux consolidated and wine investment proved more stable than gold, according to the Liv-ex annual summary of the 2018 market, described as “a record breaking year”.

Looking ahead: Andrew Johnson, Woodwinters

Published: 13 December, 2018

Tumultuous political times are offering an interesting backdrop to our latest Looking Ahead series.

Global wine markets: China shines as Brexit Britain picks up wooden spoon

Published: 13 November, 2018

The second annual ProWein Business Report looking at the attractiveness of international export markets for wine has placed China in pole position for the first time.

Rhône coops chase cru margins to balance tough market

Published: 22 August, 2018

Rhône Valley cooperatives are on a mission to premiumise their offering, as market pressures mean they can “no longer compete with the New World at £3 a bottle”.