Tim Atkin MW: Can we really believe it when a wine is awarded 100 points?

What's the definition of a 100-point wine? Depending on who's handing out the numbers, a cynic might say it's something you can't afford and don't want to drink anyway, but the question deserves a more considered answer. Scores are an increasingly big deal in the wine world, relied upon by merchants, auction houses and investors as a short hand for buying and selling wine. They are even used by real consumers from time to time.

Q&A: ?Nick Tatham MW wine development manager for Continental Wine and Food

Q&A: Agustin Trapero, head sommelier at Michelin-starred Launceston Place

Q&A: Bruce Perry, sales director, Eaux de Vie

Vente-privee.com to launch wine flash sales in the UK

The growth of flash-sales sites looks set to hit online wine retailers as French giant vente-privee.com prepares for its UK wine launch.

Trade divided over this year's 'en primeur'

No one has officially sipped a single glass of the 2013 Bordeaux en primeur campaign and it is already one of the most controversial vintages in living memory. Gemma McKenna explains why

Bibendum's Michael Saunders: "Why wine isn't enough..."

Sourcing and selling wine at Bibendum is the day job; it stands out from the competition by what it can tell its customers about their own businesses. Managing director, Michael Saunders

The French Revolution

Without ever having really gone away, French wine is making a huge comeback. Where did it all go right? Andrew Catchpole investigates

Q&A: ?Nish Kotecha, Director, Myliko Wines

Manchester-based, family-owned importer, Myliko Wines saw 16% growth in 2013. Nish Kotecha talks to Harpers about Myliko's new South African partner, KWV, bulk-wine and its plans for 2014.

Q&A: Brent Marris, Winemaker, Marisco Vineyards, Waihopai Valley, Malborough, New Zealand

The man behind multi-award-winning brand The Ned talks to Harpers about the factors behind its runaway success

Portugal: searching for an identity

It might not be top of the charts when it comes to sales, but there are few wine countries with as much untapped potential as Portgual. Richard Woodard reports

Countdown to SITT Spring 2014

Independents looking to seek out the latest wine gems are gearing up for the spring Specialist Importers Trade Tastings, which get underway on February 24 in Manchester and February 26 in London.

Windsor 2014 event to launch with average wine buyer budget of £2.2 million

A growing number of prominent wine buyers and producers are set to participate in The Wine Buyers' Forum, Windsor 2014, the first of a new kind of event, organised by the publishers of Harpers.

?New Zealand: it's not all about Sauvignon Blanc

The UK remains central to New Zealand's wine-export strategy as it looks to widen its appeal across all channels of the market. Ahead of this month's generic UK tasting, Anne Krebiehl looks at its opportunities in 2014

?Mark Newton: the inexorable rise of 750ml wine in the on-trade

The last 12 months or so have shown some interesting trends within the on-trade wine category, none more so than the growth of 750ml-bottle purchases at the expense of more traditional by-the-glass options.

Review: Beard to Tail, Shoreditch, London

The Beard to Tail in Shoreditch is a new favourite, as a lover of all things grilled and whisky. The restaurant, which opened in late 2012, boasts a great selection of grilled meats, including some of the best ribs around, and an impressive list of rare whiskies and ryes.

How to start a fine-wine Cult

Old-school City high-rollers may never have imagined a time when fine-wine investments would become a common investment vehicle and wines would be traded in the same fashion as high-yield stocks and bonds. But today, investment houses like Cult Wines, run by father-and-son team Philip and Tom Gearing, are making fine-wine investments more accessible to all types of investors as another way to simply round out a financially sound portfolio of assets and investments, with the opportunity to celebrate profits by drinking the very commodity traded - fine wine.

Wine retailing: turning stores into entertainment destinations to compete with online

To stop losing sales to the internet, high-street outlets must become destinations, offering as much theatre as wine, reports Glynn Davis

Country report: re-inventing Australia

Despite a difficult few years, Australia's winegrowers have been finding more and more reasons to be cheerful - even before the Ashes.

Jason Wilson: S&M, threesomes and dope - the future of wine advertising

The 20 students in my university wine class in Philadelphia gathered around the laptop to chat on Skype with a couple of winemakers from San Luis Obispo, California. My students all recently turned 21 years old, the legal drinking age in the U.S. The winemakers, Brandon Allen and Bo Silliman of SLO Down Wines, are only a few years older than my students, and began their wine business as dorm-room bootleggers back when they'd been underage.