Peer recommendations and traffic building search tools are vital for online wine sales

Bernadette Costello reports on the growing importance of online recommendations and why it is vital you find ways to convince search engines to drive more traffic to your website

ProWein: What the trade thought of the 2014 show

Last month it seemed like the entire UK wine trade had decamped to Düsseldorf for ProWein. The Harpers team was there to find out what key trends emerged and why the show is now so important.

Gareth Morgan discusses the drawbacks of older vintages being absent in wine classes

Gareth Morgan, a wine educator, is concerned over the obvious absence of older vintages in wine classes for the public.

Morgenrot launches bee-saving wine at M&B

Manchester-based importer Morgenrot has teamed up with Mitchells & Butlers to launch Planetbee, a South African Chenin Blanc, which is donating money from each sale to safeguard the bee population.

Viñalba launches Malbec and Cabernet blend

Argentinian wine brand Viñalba has launched Reservado Fifty 50, a blend of Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Stevens Garnier to add major brand every six months

Stevens Garnier is on the look-out for major old world brands, and plans to boost its portfolio by adding one every six months.

Laura Clay impressed by 'frank' Ribera del Duero judging

Laura Clay is impressed by the straightforward way the Ribera de Duero evaluates its wines. If only en primeur could be this easy...

Naked Wines' bond-funded fine wine is ready

Pressure on wine shipments mounts as US ports still deadlocked over contracts

Strike threats at western US sea ports are ongoing, with wine logistics experts predicting major problems for those who have not planned ahead.

Get your five a day with new vegetable cocktail range

Those struggling to get through their five or seven fresh vegetables a day might want to try a new range of vegetable cocktails from mixologist Thomas Weinberger of Barschule München.

Obituary: Seckford Agencies' Sue Whelan dies

Sue Whelan, sales manager at Seckford Agencies until her retirement in 2010, has lost her brief battle with pancreatic cancer.  

Bordeaux wine sales to UK grow 14% in 2013

Bordeaux wines have grown 14.2% by volume and 18.6% by value in the last year, according to figures collated by market research firm IRI.

Beautiful South Tasting scaled back

The Beautiful South Tasting, organised by the generic bodies representing South Africa, Chile and Argentina, is to scale back its 2014 event.

Chilean wine exports to UK fall by one third in 2013

The UK is still the second largest export market for Chilean wine, but volumes have plummeted by 34% in the last year, with value down 17%.

New Generation Wines to distribute Guerrieri Rizzardi wines

New Generation Wines has signed a deal to become Italy's Guerrieri Rizzardi's exclusive importer and agent in the UK.

En primeur: rapid campaign to unfold, but no demand

Following the surprising early release price of Pontet-Canet last week at €60-a-bottle - the same as 2012 - sources in Bordeaux say that the campaign will be very short, with many wines releasing prices by next week.

Have we made an (April) fool out of you?

Just in case you have not realised, but we thought it was only fair to own up and admit a couple of the stories on today's news feed are not quite what they seem.

Les Dauphins becomes a million bottle brand in the UK and around the world

Les Dauphins, the Rhone brand from Cellier des Dauphins, is now selling over a million bottles in the UK and a million bottles around the world as it continues to expand in to new countries.

Bees could help speed up the ageing of wine finds new research

Two of England's high profile Masters of Wine have announced a radical new method of accelerating the ageing of wine - with the help of a hive of bees.

MW students to be voted either "in" or "out" by final BBC Voice-style judging panel

Final year Masters of Wine students will have to face the wine trade's equivalent of the BBC's The Voice in order to stand a chance of being accepted in to the Institute of Masters of Wine.