Harpers Wine & Spirit Trade News

Dom Perignon winemaker moves to Kent

Published: 08 December, 2020

Nick Lane, who was part of the winemaking team at Dom Perignon, has moved to the UK to join contract-only winery, Defined Wine.

Prosecco in the pink with parallel rosé trends

Published: 17 July, 2020

A sizeable uplift in rosé wine sales is forecasting a rosey outlook for ‘Pink Prosecco’ which is due to land on British shelves and in ice buckets as of January 2021.

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.

McKeon parts with Accolade

Published: 04 May, 2020

Accolade Wines has confirmed that Ade McKeon, the company’s regional MD for Europe, will be leaving the company.

Coronavirus could kickstart "radical change in stagnant" wine trade, tech entrepreneur predicts

Published: 01 April, 2020

The coronavirus (Covid-19) crisis could kickstart radical change in the wine trade, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur has predicted.

New group CFO for Quintessential

Published: 24 February, 2020

International spirits producer Quintessential Brands has appointed Alex Pollard as its new group chief finance officer.

Vivino to launch new personal match rating

Published: 17 February, 2020

Vivino is due to launch a major new feature to its wine-rating app which will usher in a new phase of ‘personalisation’ to its business model, Harpers can reveal.

Friday Read: Why we shouldn’t be grubbing up bush vines

Published: 07 February, 2020

“Don’t grub up bush vines!” was the resounding advice from Pedro Ballesteros MW at the new Barcelona Wine Week this week, where he cited Catalan Garnatxa producers as examples to follow in the need for a new approach in viticulture to tackle climate change.

Silicon Valley entrepreneur to double capacity at Burgundy’s largest monopole

Published: 24 January, 2020

Chateau de Pommard, the Burgundy estate owned by American businessman Michael Baum, is undergoing a major winery upgrade in order to help launch the seven terroirs and soil-types of its walled vineyard Clos Marey-Monge into key markets.

Friday Read: The Wild West of cannabis law

Published: 10 January, 2020

Look at any predictions for 2020 and beyond, and odds are that you will see the word ‘cannabis’. Looking back to 2019, a few key things set the tone for the next decade. Constellation Brands led the charge for the gold rush by buying an ever-bigger stake in Canadian cannabis producer Canopy Growth, with other companies clambering to get a piece of what has been called the next .com bubble.

Guy Woodward: The irresistible side of climate change

Published: 13 December, 2019

As we flew into her native California last month, my wife was confused. The captain had announced we would be landing in 20 minutes, but looking out the window, she saw an unfamiliar sight. “That’s weird,” she said. “Looks like we’re only just passing over Utah – there’s the salt flats.” Don’t tell me we’ve been diverted, I thought… No, all was on track, and we touched down safely at LAX 20 minutes later. Turns out the vista that had so disoriented my wife was, in fact, the scorched earth of the Golden State, dry beyond recognition.

Expansion helped insulate against climate challenges, says top Burgundy estate

Published: 13 November, 2019

Things have been tough in European vineyards over the past few years, with Burgundy appellations some of the worst hit in terms of frost damage in 2016 and 2017.

Wines and spirits instrumental in creating the future’s “creative community hubs”

Published: 07 November, 2019

Wine and spirits stores will be at the forefront of community bonding over the next decade, as retail finds new and inventive ways of keeping customers coming back for more.

Friday Read: Hide’s Julia Sewell on NZ setting benchmark for land custodianship

Published: 18 October, 2019

New Zealand Winegrowers’ Sommit 2019 gave 16 international somms the chance to explore 200 years of winemaking from Northland to Otago.

Changing of the guard at Taittinger

Published: 16 October, 2019

Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger is to step down as president of the eponymous family-owned Champagne house at the end of 2019.

Millennials vital to health of the wine sector over next five years, says new research

Published: 15 October, 2019

A new definitive report into the drinking behaviours of millennials (born between 1980 and 2000) has put to bed concerns that younger drinkers are completely abandoning wine in favour of craft beers or spirits – or even eschewing alcohol completely.

Top tier rum gets a boost with new Bacardi barrel-aged expression

Published: 10 October, 2019

Bacardi is focusing its energy on its premium range with a new barrel-aged golden sipping variant, adding fire to a category that is quickly on the rise.

Climate change hits Champagne harvest

Published: 27 September, 2019

Global warming cost Champagne over 10% of its potential harvest this year, the Champagne Bureau has revealed.

Italian wine poised for big growth on Liv-Ex

Published: 26 September, 2019

The price of Italian wine on the secondary market still lags behind its critical reputation, according to a new report from fine-wine trading platform Liv-Ex. But that could be changing.

Amathus's inaugural tasting puts spotlight on ambitious plans to double its wine portfolio

Published: 13 September, 2019

Amathus Drinks held its first stand alone tasting of recent times this week to highlight what has been a major push into the wine category for the traditionally spirits-led company over the past few years.