"Soil is dirt." I'm sure the Californian producer Bill Jekel was being deliberately provocative when he entered into a well-publicised debate about terroir with Bruno Prats of Château Cos d'Estournel at the end of the 1980s, but he was also articulating a position that was widely held in the New World at the time.
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Christopher Cooper has worked in the restaurant scene for over a decade, but it all prepared him to launch his own drinks start-up. Here are some of the lessons he learned along the way.
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Ahead of this month's profile piece in an exclusive interview with Harpers, Mike James, wine buying director of Aldi UK, talks with Angela Mount about his buying strategy and what he looks for in potential partners that has helped him succeed.
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Our final look back at 2015 is from Clare Griffiths, commercial director for Concho y Toro UK which saw an impressive performance for 2015- which may be tough to beat. But looking ahead Griffiths is most excited about continuing the work her team has been doing in 2016 by focusing on building strong brands that deliver value in the UK market.
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As we all ease our way into 2016 and we have a few of our final thoughts as the year begins from John McLaren, UK director of Wines Institute of California. Californian wines have done incredibly well in 2051, but McLaren sees consumers which buy from supermarkets as a challenge ahead in 2016.
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Ted Sandbach, managing director and owner of the Oxford Wine Company, looks back at an exciting 2015 with opening of another Wine Cafe and figures are up with his wholesale business. He is looking forward to enjoying the Great Escape over the Christmas break, but looking to 2016 Sandbach sees more consolidation ahead for the industry.
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Anita Jackson, UK director of Wines of Chile, looks back at a successful 2015, with volume and value figures up over the previous year. She was particularly pleased with the success of the innovative Mercado Andino tasting in 2015. But over the Christmas period she looking forward to putting her feet up and enjoy a little down time before 2016, where she sees the biggest challenge ahead is getting consumers to trade up in their wine purchases.
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Bernard Fontannaz, founder of Origin Wine, looks back at an overall positive 2015 and is excited about the sustainable future he is building for his company. He had a year full of expansion and is looking forward to more innovation in 2016.
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For founder of Red Squirrel Wine, Nik Darlington, 2015 was a year of tremendous growth. Next year Darlington is looking forward to getting his wines even further around the UK. He sees that in 2016 the way forward, although challenging, will be through building a loyal and sustainable customer base.
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Dan Townsend, general manager of Europe for Treasury Wine Estates, saw 2015 as very strong year at TWE and thinks that the reverse takeover of Matthew Clark by Conviviality "has the potential to be a real game changer in terms of the UK trading landscape." Townsend is most excited about the opportunities that lay ahead in 2016, but sees Duty as one of the toughest challenges that trade faces next year.
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Sarah Abbott MW has her fingers in many pies, including running her own events company Swirl and helping clients like the Turkish Wine Alliance promote their wines in the UK. While 2015 was a brilliant year for her, she is looking forward to 2016 and helping wine producers in countries that face huge political and economic pressures promote their wines in the UK as wine in these countries is a symbol of defiant hope. But 2016 will also have challenges and she worries about the uncertainty of the UK remaining as part of the EU.
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Miles Beale chief executive officer of the Wine and Spirits Trade Association, celebrated the 'best budget outcome for almost 20 years' in 2015. Looking ahead, Beale is gearing up to to make the case for a 2% duty cut and fairer treatment for wine in 2016.
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The Harpers team would like to wish all in the drinks trade a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year as we pirouette into the seasonal festivities and look ahead to a successful 2016.
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From the 1 January 2016 HMRC will introduce the Alcohol Wholesaler Registration Scheme (AWRS) to tackle alcohol fraud. Cindy Dorrington of Bivonas Law asseses the implication for the trade.
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Andrew Maidment, the head of Wines of Argentina in the UK said 2015 was another great year with growth of 26% compared to 2014. Looking ahead though Maidment sees 2016 as year to continue to focus on the end drinker, but will be following the discount retailers next year.
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Robin Copestick of Copestick Murray looks back at Stoke City football and how healthy the UK wine trade was in 2015. Although 2015 was good- "2016 will be better still."
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Hambledon Vineyard has announced plans to to increase the estates's production facilities in response to growing demand of its award-winning English sparkling wine.
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The European Court of Justice has ruled that the Scottish Government's case for minimum unit pricing [MUP] for alcohol could be in breach of free trade laws if tax-based measures could deliver a fairer and equally effective result with regard to protecting public health.
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Last month the average British household spent £188.41 on out of home leisure, which is a decrease of £5 (2%) year-on-year and a £17 (8%) decrease compared to October according to the Greene King Leisure Spend Tracker.
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The celebrated Roger Jones of Michelin-star restaurant The Harrow at Little Bedwyn had a great 2015 with sales up 20%! He
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