Anne Krebiehl compares German Pinot Noir to its Burgundy counterparts

Geoffrey Dean on how Australia's future could well be Orange

When Stephen Doyle, the renowned winemaker at Bloodwood in the Orange region of New South Wales, received a complementary message purportedly from an England cricket team official in early January, he was not sure if it was genuine. An avid cricket fan, Doyle sent a witty response, writing that his wine's "deceptively spicy aromatic movement through the air is likely to bowl you sweetly over". He was pleased to hear from your Harpers correspondent that the individual in question, Colin Gibson, is indeed the ECB's director of communications. 

Douglas Blyde talks to Benoît Liébus about life as sommelier at Crillon le Brave, Provence

Beno&icirct Liébus, chess fan and fast driver, is sommelier at Crillon le Brave, Provence. Crouching at the foot of the Dentelles de Montmirail mountains among the Ventoux's vineyards, the Relais & Châteaux property opened 25 years ago, a cluster of derelict buildings converted into bedrooms.

Q&A with Justin Howard-Sneyd MW: selling wine by consumers' taste preferences

Q&A with Nomacorc's François-Xavier Denis as he makes the case for synthetic closures

Richard Siddle: how we can all play our part and Call Time on Duty

Come the end of the second week of January you have probably had your fill of end of year reviews and predictions for 2014. But if you have not already can I urge you to check out the series of 2 Good, 2 Bad memories for 2013 and 2 Hopes and Fears we ran from a number of key trade figures on Harpers.co.uk during the festive period (see related articles).

?Mark Newton: the inexorable rise of 750ml wine in the on-trade

The last 12 months or so have shown some interesting trends within the on-trade wine category, none more so than the growth of 750ml-bottle purchases at the expense of more traditional by-the-glass options.

How to start a fine-wine Cult

Old-school City high-rollers may never have imagined a time when fine-wine investments would become a common investment vehicle and wines would be traded in the same fashion as high-yield stocks and bonds. But today, investment houses like Cult Wines, run by father-and-son team Philip and Tom Gearing, are making fine-wine investments more accessible to all types of investors as another way to simply round out a financially sound portfolio of assets and investments, with the opportunity to celebrate profits by drinking the very commodity traded - fine wine.

Jason Wilson: S&M, threesomes and dope - the future of wine advertising

The 20 students in my university wine class in Philadelphia gathered around the laptop to chat on Skype with a couple of winemakers from San Luis Obispo, California. My students all recently turned 21 years old, the legal drinking age in the U.S. The winemakers, Brandon Allen and Bo Silliman of SLO Down Wines, are only a few years older than my students, and began their wine business as dorm-room bootleggers back when they'd been underage.

?Interview: Dan Townsend on building fine wine brands at Treasury Wine Estates

The pressure on wine brands to succeed in the UK is nowhere more intense than at Treasury Wine Estates. Richard Siddle asks its UK head, Dan Townsend, how it can succeed with both mainstream and fine-wine brands

Tanners: a national treasure

As Tanners Wine Merchants celebrates 170 years, Bernadette Costello talks to fourth generation James Tanner about its growth from regional merchant to national treasure

Richard Foster on why we should all work to save the great British pub

The inexorable decline of pubs throughout the UK is a much-covered story in both the trade press and in the wider media. But despite the efforts of the likes of CAMRA's Save Our Pubs campaign there seems to be very little that can be done to halt the erosion of an institution that is so admired elsewhere but generally neglected at home. And whilst 4,000 pubs will close this year, the number of new restaurants / gastropubs is still rising. Some would argue that this sharp dichotomy is a reflection of changing consumer habits, which to a certain extent it is, but there is a need to draw breath and consider the future of the pub before it becomes a quirky, old-fashioned rarity.

Panos Kakaviatos explores the world of Dom Pérignon

Champagne may be great to drink anytime, but it is good to know that one need not spend too much on a fine bottle. During a Paris salon earlier this month, I tasted through some lovely bottles of moderately priced non-vintage Champagnes, including Drappier, Piper Heidsieck and Larmandier-Bernier. These and others provide well balanced aromas and flavours of citrus, brioche and a full bodied character, complemented with fine bubbles and freshness.

Douglas Blyde goes on a mission to discover the Médoc

A bottle bigger than a very big man towers over revolving baggage at Bordeaux airport. Around it, sommeliers gather. Bacchanalian worship. They are set to explore the Médoc. Between the Atlantic and river Gironde, 12,000 acres of tropical sea then marsh drained by merchant Dutch in the seventeenth century support tenacious vines. The châteaux with the best hand of land gained lasting recognition from the 1855 classification ordered for Napoleon III's Universal Exposition. It emerged all reds bar one (Haut-Brion, Graves) were reaped from the Médoc. However, in addition to those hallowed bottles (the Grand Cru Classé accounts for 20% of production) this is a land of diversity.

Association of Wine Educator's Marisa D'Vari covers Catalonia

Think Barcelona is in Spain? Technically, this is correct.  Yet during a recent trip to Catalonia's incredibly diverse wine regions I realized that Catalonia is very much its own independent region with its own language, cuisine, and highly diverse wine culture.

Damien Wilson: "Europe, we've got wine in China all wrong"

A phrase you'll never see in a text-book is that entering the market in China is a license to make money. To outsiders lacking the capacity to think holistically, the act of gaining entry to such an immense market appears like a commercial oasis in a global wine desert. To the producer without knowledge of sound marketing practices in their own market, the prospect of opening up the Chinese market to foreign wine deceives as a simple way to parch Europe's 30-year old, wine lake. Sadly, this appeal of wine China is simply a mirage.

Robin Copestick heads home and reflects on his Asian and Australia adventure

In his final account from travelling around Asia and Australia for the last couple of months, Robin Copestick, co-founder of Copestick Murray, reflects on his weeks on the road, what he has learnt and the lessons to be applied in 2014. 

Geoffrey Dean basks amongst the vines and winemakers of Margaret River

After the desert-like 40-degree heat of Perth for the Test match, it was quite a relief to encounter Margaret River's Mediterranean climate with temperatures in the mid-20s. World-class Chardonnays abound there, of course, but Voyager Estate has raised the bar to new heights with its expressions of the varietal.

Damien Wilson and Jérome Gallo look at the importance of business and wine education

On November 15, the Burgundy School of Business launched a new School of Wine and Spirits business at the Chamber of commerce, in Beaune. Although this launch wasn't front-page news in the New York Times, the fact that there is continuing coverage of the topic by the press suggests that there is more to this story than just another series of academic programmes to help prepare a batch of wine professionals.

Alissa Aron assesses the fall out over the impact of microbes on terroir and winemaking

Microbial Mayhem: How the recent media buzz about microbes and terroir could impact winemaking and communication.