Harpers Wine & Spirit Trade News

Indie collaboration

Published: 02 October, 2024

With costs up and margins squeezed, Andrew Catchpole assesses the pros and cons of sharing on smaller shipments of wine.

Lebanon round table: East meets West

Published: 22 March, 2023

Inviting curious trade palates to taste and discuss Lebanese wines for the UK market, co-hosts Andrew Catchpole and Harpers Lebanon Report author Michael Karam unearthed a wealth of enthusiasm for the country’s engaging offer.

On-trade: Not an open and shut case

Published: 08 March, 2023

While the number of venues closing seems scary, there are still new ones opening up. James Bayley talks to George Sandbach about an enigma.

Ups and downs of Christmas trading

Published: 20 January, 2023

Celebrating the return of a ‘normal Christmas’ offered up much-needed sales for indies towards the back end of 2022, though overall performance was impacted by the spread of late sales and location. Jo Gilbert reports.

The Oxford Wine Company marks 30 years with portfolio tasting

Published: 11 November, 2022

Billed as the '30th Anniversary Tasting’, The Oxford Wine Company (OWC) will host its largest-ever portfolio tasting next month featuring 18 wineries, some of which have been on OWC's books for three decades.

Brexit: Counting the cost

Published: 17 May, 2021

Far from fading away, the ‘B’ word still greatly troubles indie merchants, as Andrew Catchpole reports.

Port: Weathering the Covid storm

Published: 24 November, 2020

The UK remains at the forefront of the premium Port category, with sales of late-bottled vintage (LBV), quality white Port, aged tawnies, single vineyard and classic vintage ports, all remaining resilient through Covid. A nation of consumers stuck at home, looking to indulge, appears to have been largely positive for the quality end of UK Port sales. Built on a long-standing relationship with the UK, sales at Symington Family Estates are up 10% by value and 9% by volume compared with this time last year.