Harpers Wine & Spirit Trade News

Indigo Wine adds new producers to portfolio

Published: 21 October, 2021

Indigo Wine is adding a range of new producers to its portfolio, spanning some of the wine world’s most distant regions.

UK in ‘good growth’ for Pernod Ricard

Published: 21 October, 2021

Pernod Ricard has revealed it has seen a very ‘dynamic start’ in all regions for the first quarter of FY22, with robust demand and strong shipments ahead of the festive season.

RTDs continue to grow boosted by hard seltzers and FABs

Published: 19 October, 2021

The market for ready-to-drink (RTD) alcohol products continues to show traction and demand from consumers, according to a new study from IWSR Drinks Market Analysis.

Long Read: Who do you think you are talking to?

Published: 14 October, 2021

Simon Huntington, former head of ecommerce at trade merchant and retailer Roberson Wine, looks at some of the difficulties faced by companies who have diversified into online retail and outlines how by trying to talk to everyone, they risk being heard by no one.

Investment shortfall highlighted as PM tells hospitality to fund its skills and pay gap

Published: 06 October, 2021

The hospitality sector is expected to invest in funding the sector’s skills and pay gap itself, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has signalled.

Brits hoover up Portuguese wine as loss of tourism shows the “Portuguese don’t drink Port”

Published: 29 September, 2021

As the biggest consumers of wine per capita globally, it might be expected that domestic sales of Portuguese wines would have fared well over the course of the pandemic, where drinkers globally were largely turned onto local vinous offerings.

Seltzers: Hard at work

Published: 23 September, 2021

The big news from the US is that hard seltzers’ meteoric rise is finally levelling off. Jo Gilbert looks at the category’s trajectory in the UK and how it is piggybacking off the success of canned products.

Long Read: What to do about fortified wines' straitened market?

Published: 23 September, 2021

Jacopo Mazzeo looks at what regions such as the Douro and Jerez are doing to survive in a market increasingly hostile to fortified wines and explores whether these efforts are effective. Port, for instance, is heading in two diametrically opposed directions: simplification and (extra) premiumisation, with new categories that span from youth-friendly RTDs to Tawny 50yo and White 50yo. Sherry meanwhile, has just changed a number of its regulations and now embraces unfortified wine.

Fine wine becoming a ‘regular luxury’ for British consumers

Published: 08 September, 2021

A recent survey commissioned by fine wine merchant Bordeaux Index suggests that the pandemic has led to a surge of interest in fine wine buying – either for immediate consumption or longer term investment.

South Korea gains ground on the US as premier global wine market

Published: 07 September, 2021

South Korea is becoming an increasingly important destination for wine exporters, according to a recent study commissioned by Wine Intelligence.

Long read: Are hard seltzers over before they really began?

Published: 02 September, 2021

Richard Horwell, owner of specialist food and drink marketing and branding company Brand Relations, anticipates a hard year ahead for a fledgling drinks trend.

Robinson sells JancisRobinson.com

Published: 31 August, 2021

Jancis Robinson has sold JancisRobinson.com to Recurrent Ventures, for an undisclosed sum.

Long Read: No more spirit of fair play for American whiskeys

Published: 05 August, 2021

The Government is currently considering levying a 25% tariff on US wine imports reaching the UK. But there is another long-suffering category in American whiskey, which was left out of a recent revision and five-year suspension on tariffs for spirits travelling between the US and Britain. Greg Mefford, international sales director at spirits maker Luxco, looks at the implications for a popular category.

Govt considers 25% tariff on US wine imports

Published: 28 July, 2021

Trade Secretary Liz Truss is considering introducing a 25% tariff on US wine imports as part of an ongoing trade conflict caused by Donald Trump imposing a 25% tariff on US steel imports in 2018.

Trivento takes the top spot for Argentine wine

Published: 22 July, 2021

Concha y Toro's Trivento is celebrating becoming the leading Argentine wine brand in the world, with sales of over US$256.2m a year according to a new report from the IWSR.

Majestic heads North for the first time in almost a decade

Published: 12 July, 2021

Majestic Wine has put an end to almost decade-long hiatus in investment in the north of England with a new store opening in the historic market town of Knutsford.

Soapbox: Bordeaux’s cold war

Published: 08 July, 2021

Château Bauduc owner Gavin Quinney ponders an intractable issue for frost-impacted producers up against the strictures of Bordeaux

WSTA calls for return of ‘zero for zero' Bourbon tariffs while warning about wine duties

Published: 07 July, 2021

The Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA) has submitted a response to the government’s consultation on damaging US tariffs, calling for the swift removal of tariffs on US whiskies.

Guy Woodward: Content conundrum

Published: 01 July, 2021

A new TV channel was launched last month. And I’m not talking about the ‘anti-woke’ news channel GB News. No, prepare yourself instead for something far more worthy and cerebral; 67pallmall.tv made its debut (admittedly on the members’ club’s own website, rather than a satellite TV network) with 18 hours of wine-related content every day.

Bordeaux en primeur report 2020

Published: 17 June, 2021

Is 2020 another top Bordeaux vintage and what are the chances of a strong en primeur campaign after the success of the 2019s? Gavin Quinney, our man in Bordeaux, reports