Harpers Wine & Spirit Trade News

Sussex winery launches with two vintages

Published: 03 November, 2020

New boutique Sussex vineyard Artelium has launched with two sparkling vintages created by winemaker Dermot Sugrue.

Profile: John Timothy, The Portman Group

Published: 14 October, 2020

Health rose to the top of the agenda at the beginning of 2020 in a way we’ve never seen before. Jo Gilbert speaks to the face of alcohol responsibility in the UK about meeting this challenge

Tim Atkin MW: A year that changed wine

Published: 13 October, 2020

‘Never A Dull Moment’ is the title of a wonderful book about what its author, David Hepworth, calls “rock’s golden year”. 1971 was indeed an annus mirabilis for music, witnessing the release of landmark albums by David Bowie, Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones, Elton John, Pink Floyd, Marvin Gaye, Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Yes, The Who and Rod Stewart. For Hepworth, 31 December 1970 marked the end of the Sixties – 12 months late, in one sense – and the start of something very different. It was a turning pint, a line in the sand.

New indie Christmas campaign for Bordeaux

Published: 07 October, 2020

Bordeaux Wines UK has inveiled a new Christmas campaign aimed at independent wine merchants.

New Covid clampdowns wreck hospitality recovery

Published: 05 October, 2020

The introduction of new government restrictions to tackle the Covid-19 crisis has wreaked havoc on the nascent recovery in the UK’s hospitality industry, acording to the latest survey from the Coffer Peach Business Tracker.

Long Read: London Cocktail Week – Let’s have a bar crawl while we still can

Published: 01 October, 2020

Hugh Jones lost his job this year after shortly after arriving at a new company right at the start of the pandemic. Feeling less than enthused about the situation and his looming annual Stoptober attempt, he was about to throw in the towel of sobriety for London Cocktail Week, which starts today. But after speaking with organisers, he discovered they are pulling out all the stops to this year to make sure as many people can get involved as possible – to blow off steam while also supporting London’s embattled on-trade.

Robust retail demand reverses fortunes at Diageo

Published: 29 September, 2020

Drinks giant Diageo has revealed that its outlook for the first half of the fiscal year 2021 has “improved since the year-end”, reversing a moribund earlier forecast for a year that has been rocked by Covid-19.

Liberty Wines apprentice scheme opens

Published: 16 September, 2020

Applications are now open for the apprentice scheme run by London-based importer and wholesaler Liberty Wines.

Wine GB 2020 awards announced

Published: 08 September, 2020

Hattingley Valley Wines has won the Supreme Champion trophy for its King’s Cuvée 2014 at the 2020 Wine GB Awards, which were revealed in a virtual ceremony today.

English wine exports double

Published: 08 September, 2020

Exports of English wine more than doubled in 2019 while sales overall rocketed 70%, according to the latest data from Wine GB released today.

Low and no sales on the rise

Published: 07 September, 2020

Sales of low- and no-alcohol drinks are up 30% year-on-year in the off-trade, with consumer spend on alcohol-free spirits hitting £5.4m, according to data from Nielsen.

Mud House pushes outdoors lifestyles in new global campaign

Published: 11 August, 2020

Leading NZ wine brand Mud House has launched a new global campaign titled ‘Taste the Adventure’.

Beer is the big post-lockdown winner as pubs lead on-trade recovery

Published: 03 August, 2020

Out-of-home drinks sales are continuing to nudge upwards after the end of lockdown, with pubs and beer in most demand so far, it has emerged.

Ramón Bilbao targets organic certification for vineyards

Published: 23 July, 2020

Spanish producer Ramón Bilbao has begun the three-year process of converting its Rioja and Rueda vineyards to organic production methods.

Deliveroo and Majestic tie-in expands following lockdown growth

Published: 09 July, 2020

Deliveroo and Majestic Wine have announced another major expansion to their delivery partnership, taking the number of participating stores from 83 to 137.

Alcohol to not rebound globally until 2024

Published: 26 May, 2020

It will take five years for the global alcohol category to get back to pre-Covid health, the IWSR has predicted, with double digit declines expected to the hit the category this year.

All systems go for pink Prosecco

Published: 22 May, 2020

Prosecco DOC Rosé has now been enshrined in Italian law, meaning the trade can expect to see the first official ‘pink Proseccos’ hitting shelves in 2021.