Harpers Wine & Spirit Trade News

Oxford Wine Company set to open second cafe

Published: 08 April, 2015

The Oxford Wine Company is launching a second wine café in Oxford.

Jose Cuervo's Dons of Tequila global bartender competition kicks-off

Published: 07 April, 2015

Last week Jose Cuervo launched its Dons of Tequila competition, which provides the winning bartender the chance to harvest their own agave crop in Mexico and blend their own labelled tequila.

Moët launches annual sommelier of the year competition

Published: 07 April, 2015

Moët has launched its annual Moët Sommelier of the Year competition.

Chris Galvin and Fred Sirieix's "dream come true" to have cameo role in new James Bond film

Published: 01 April, 2015

Award winning chef Chris Galvin and his general manager, Fred Sirieix, at London's Galvin at Windows have had a dream come true with a surprise cameo role in the new James Bond film, Spectre.

Douglas Blyde enjoys a trip to Dickensian London and the delights of The Chancery

Published: 01 April, 2015

Referencing the area's law firms, "The Chancery" comes into focus halfway down Cursitor Street. It is a slice of London immortalised in arguably Charles Dickens' greatest work, "Bleak House", featuring: "Sol's Arms Tavern", "Krook's Rag and Bottle Shop", and, perhaps most evocatively, "Coavinses Sponging House" (a temporary debtor's prison).

Free Run Wines adds first Aussie winery to portfolio

Published: 31 March, 2015

Free Run Wines is adding its first Australian wine producer, Morambro Creek to its portfolio from next month

Bancroft wines restructures and strengthens the team as profits rise 10%

Published: 31 March, 2015

Bancroft Wines is restructuring to create four wine divisions dedicated to its key sales channels.

Coravin targets in home use as it starts to builds a Nespresso-style community

Published: 30 March, 2015

Coravin, the gadget that allows you drink wine without opening the bottle, is looking to broaden its reach in the UK through as it targets in-home users.

Online wine merchant Swig targets on-trade as it appoints its first brand ambassador

Published: 27 March, 2015

Swig, the independent online merchant is ramping up its focus on the on-trade after appointing a new brand ambassador.

ACS criticises new health report and calls for positive measures to support the high street

Published: 27 March, 2015

The Association of Convenience Stores has called for more support for the high street in response to yesterday's Royal Society for Public Health's report.

Atherton to open London wine shop and tapas bar

Published: 26 March, 2015

Jason Atherton is opening a new wine shop and tapas bar in Marylebone in June.

New on-trade campaign to highlight Aussie premium wines

Published: 26 March, 2015

A series of Australian themed wine events will be held in ten of London's top restaurants next month, as part of Wine Australia's new on-trade campaign.

AG Barr sees profits boosted 10%

Published: 24 March, 2015

Soft drinks manufacturer AG Barr saw a 10% boost to its pre-tax profit to £41.9m, with turnover up 2.7% to £290.9m in the 12 months to 25 January.

Why English wine's Litmus Wines is on board with Branson's South African hotel venture

Published: 23 March, 2015

English winemaking consultants Litmus Wines recently teamed up with Richard Branson's private hotel collection Virgin Limited Edition to launch a new joint-venture wine business in South Africa's Franschhoek region. Litmus' founder and director John Worontschak, and VLE's managing director, Jon Brown, talked to Harpers.co.uk about the venture and what it will mean for the Surrey-based business.

Fever-Tree's revenue soars 49%

Published: 23 March, 2015

In its inaugural financial year results as a publicly traded company, Fever-Tree beat analysts expectations and saw revenue grow by 49%.

Mathias Camilleri named UK's Chaîne des Rôtisseurs Young Sommelier of the Year

Published: 23 March, 2015

Last week Mathias Camilleri from the Medlar was named UK's Cha&icircne des Rôtisseurs Young Sommelier of the Year.

Tom and Ed Martin head to Suffolk to open their first pub outside London

Published: 20 March, 2015

Tom and Ed Martin, who have been building up an impressive range of pubs across London as part of their privately-owned ETM Group, are now set to venture outside the capital and head to Lavenham in Suffolk to open their first rural pub, The Six Bells.

Richard Branson's South African hotel launches new wine joint-venture with English winemaking firm

Published: 19 March, 2015

Richard Branson's luxury hotel collection, Virgin Limited Edition, has joined forces with an English wine consultancy firm, Litmus Wines, to launch a new wine business.

Budget 2015: Chancellor cuts duty on cider and spirits by 2% and wine duty frozen

Published: 18 March, 2015

The Chancellor George Osborne has today cut the duty on cider and spirits by 2%, frozen duty on wine and cut beer by a penny a pint for the third year running in his last pre-election Budget.

Prowein 2015: Bibendum PLB uses fair to showcase new multi-channel strategy

Published: 18 March, 2015

The recently combined Bibendum PLB company was able to showcase its new business strategy to the international wine industry at this week's Prowein with 120 of its producers taking part in the show.