Richard Siddle: are we seeing a return to the good (ish) old days...

Major drinks firms back Harpers call to get producers behind Call Time on Duty campaign

Direct Wines, Matthew Clark and Bibendum are just three of the big name UK wine companies that have got behind the Harpers initiative to get as many wine producers as possible to back the Wine & Spirit Trade Association-led Call Time on Duty campaign and make the government aware how damaging its on-going alcohol duty strategy is on the UK drinks industry.

Industry experts lined up to offer advice in specialist workshops at Wine Buyers Forum

Those attending the first Wine Buyers Forum taking place in Windsor next month will be able to take part in a wide ranging series of trade workshops as well as organise meetings with key suppliers over the two day event.

Bodegas Muriel to target independents with its Rioja wines through Moreno Wines

Spanish producer, Bodegas Muriel, is looking to strengthen its distibution in the independent sector after signing an exclusive agreement with Moreno Wines having already built up good distribution in the multiple off-trade through Off Piste Wines. 

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Brazilian wines are all set for mainstream distribution across the UK ahead of the World Cup

Wines of Brasil is looking to galvanise support for its wines in the UK on the back of this summer's World Cup with new marketing and promotional campaigns.

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Lindsay Oram tries to unravel the complexities of Austrian winemaking

Lindsay Oram looks at the complexities of the increasingly complex Austrian winemaking system in the latest AWEsome opinion piece from a member of the Association of Wine Educators. 

Bibendum to stop its annual tasting in favour of smaller channel specific events

Bibendum has no intention of ever running again the kind of large scale annual company tasting it has become so well known for in the trade and will instead run channel specific smaller events around the country.

New African importer looks to distribute premium European wine across the continent

Africa Wine Merchants, a new specialist wine importer based in Cape Town, is looking to bring premium European wines to key emerging markets across Africa.

Argentina, Chile and South Africa team up again at ProWein

Following their tasting tie up last September in London the generic bodies of Argentina, Chile and South Africa are teaming up again to present their wines under the banner of Wines of the Beautiful South at this year's Prowein trade fair in Dusseldorf in March.

Copestick Murray latches on to World Cup fever with launch of Brazilian Moscato

Copestick Murray hopes to tap in to World Cup fever early with the launch of a new sparkling Moscato sourced direct from Brazil which is the latest brand in the award winning I Heart wine portfolio.

Anna Greenhous on the latest attempts to make sake accessible to a mainstream audience

Last week there was a screening of "Discovering Sake", a short film shown originally in three minute bite-size chunks on The Discovery Channel.  The presenters Sam Harrop MW and Japanese sake expert Ken Ohashi took the viewers on a voyage of sake discovery. Travelling across Japan, they met brewers and trade professionals who explained, amongst other factors, the impact of water and rice, timing on the production process, sake styles, sake's history and place in Japanese culture.

Bibendum chief slams all in the trade yet to support Call Time On Duty campaign

Michael Saunders, Bibendum's managing director, has spoken out strongly against those in the trade that have yet to get behind the WSTA-led Call Time on Duty campaign.

UK launch for German wine-infused gin

German distillers are to target the UK market with a Riesling-infused gin.

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Helen Savage on the perils of studying for the MW and the art of tasting

It's hard to pass the MW practical paper. Last year only 16% of the candidates managed it and I wasn't among them. I failed miserably.

Mike Paul on the lessons and warnings English sparkling wine can take from the success of Prosecco

At the recent International Sparkling Wine Symposium held at Denbies I was facilitating a session on the way forward for English fizz and made a throwaway comment that for all its success producers should be wary of seeing Prosecco as a role model. I noted that, while it has certainly captured the imagination of a large swathe of the wine market, I doubted that many consumers could name individual brands or are aware of the difference between DOC and DOCG Prosecco. This implies that they will tend to be drawn to the cheapest Prosecco that they find acceptable. It would be fair to say that my comment was not universally popular with  Prosecco producers in the room.

Jacob's Creek marks new brand imagery with Fiano and Sangiovese wines

Jacobs Creek has unveiled its first major brand review since it was launched in 1976 that looks to reinforce its history, provenance and sense of place with consumers.

Q&A with Guillaume Deglise, chief executive, Vinexpo

Richard Siddle talks to the new chief executive of Vinexpo about his plans for the Bordeaux event and how he has found moving over to a show organiser from the Champagne sector.