Setting out to discover the renewed dynamism and diversity in Spain’s flagship DO, Harpers teamed up with Wines of Rioja to host an indie merchant buying trip to the region. Andrew Catchpole reports.
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Hallgarten & Novum Wines has been purchased by Coterie Holdings, joining Lay & Wheeler, bonded warehousing Coterie Vaults and wine lender Jera in a growing fine wine portfolio.
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The Wine Society CEO Steve Finlan calls out the government’s lack of engagement with the hard-pressed UK drinks trade.
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Armenia has a thriving wine industry, as Jacopo Mazzeo discovers, but faces an uphill battle to establish itself on the world stage.
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My late friend Michael Cox, who ran Wines of Chile’s UK office for more than a decade, had a great line about so-called “icon” wines. “Is that one word or two?” he would ask with a raised eyebrow. The pun works best in English, but the marketing strategy it points fun at is pretty much universal. Wines promoted as “iconic”, especially
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Their culinary prowess is widely known, but now the Basques are looking to boost their wine credentials with the creation of a €15 million wine and drinks university campus.
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In last month’s article for Harpers, I considered the potential for huge disruption in the UK wine trade from new rules that will allow the blending and processing of wines imported in bulk. They raise the possibility of making drinks that have all the taste and packaging characteristics of established wines while not being subject to the historic restrictions for making them.
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Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has quelled fears of a second duty rise this year in this afternoon’s Autumn Budget, by announcing a freeze until August next year.
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Aulis’s Charles Carron Brown irons out the mistakes commonly made in approaching a somm, helping to bag the wine a diner wants, rather than the one the somm wants them to drink.
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Plumpton College has been awarded the highest National Honour in education, a Queen’s Anniversary Prize for its work in wine education and wider impact on the English and Welsh wine sector.
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Jo Gilbert gets clued up on Roberson’s latest venture – the first of its kind platform, which promises to offer consumers the chance to buy English wine, direct from producers, at vineyard prices.
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Jo Gilbert visited the White Hart pub & restaurant in East Sussex to find out how the venue is looking to become a hub for English wine.
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Wanderlust’s Richard Ellison talks Andrew Catchpole through his journey into wine.
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Much has been made of the potential of Italian whites beyond the near ubiquitous Pinot Grigio. But few conversations have centred on an arguably more important question – namely, is there a contender to take a place with the top white wines in the world?
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In many ways, alcohol seems to be ahead of the curve when it comes to sustainability agendas. Wine producers around the world work on nature’s front line and are among the few sectors to have successfully high recycling rates globally via glass. Spirits have been at the forefront of experiments with alternative formats and zero waste projects.
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Harpers and Imbibe Live are delighted to announce that Isa Bal MS is to head up the revived Sommelier Wine Awards competition (SWA).
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Many years ago I was asked to act as a strategic consultant to a Chilean wine business. They wanted help with reformulating their strategy, first to achieve break even, then to reach sustainable profitability. The business was 100% targeted at export markets, with the UK a key priority.
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First time visitors to this year’s Wines of Chile annual tasting in London could be forgiven for thinking that this is a country in a permanent state of evolution, often operating at the fringes of established viticulture to drive a rolling agenda of innovation.
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Bordeaux winemaker and British expat Gavin Quinney says UK duty is ‘even crazier’ than we first thought.
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Midway through 2023, Harpers is taking stock of yet another turbulent year for the drinks trade, with plenty of highs and lows, so far. We begin to round off our series with Harriet Kininmonth, wine trading director at Bibendum (C&C Group), to find out how the year has gone so far, and what the remainder may bring.
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