There should be great opportunities for Portugal in the UK, but despite the fact that the country's winemakers have started to make great red wines and decent whites, it has yet to fulfil its potential. At this month's 50 Great Wines of Portugal event there was more interest than ever before - the wines had run out by 4 pm - and the event will move to a bigger venue next year.
Wines of Portugal has announced that it will focus its marketing on the UK on-trade in 2007, after latest sales figures showed an increase of 32% by value.
The Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) has teamed up with a number of generic bodies, including Australia, New Zealand and Chile. It will now have a stand at shows such as the Wines of Chile consumer show and the Wines of Portugal event at the end of March.
The sale of Whyte & Mackay, the leading independent whisky distiller, will be finalised this week, Harpers understands.
Chilean wine group San Pedro has parted company with Buckingham Vintners, naming Les Grands Chais de France (LGCF) as its new UK distributor. LGCF will now take responsibility for the Chilean brands 35 South and Castillo de Molina, as well as its Argentinian label Finca La Celia.
Two members of the Harpers writing team have won scholarships at the WSET Awards of Excellence for the second year running.
The famous Valpolicella house of Allegrini, run by oenologist Franco Allegrini and his marketing manager sister Marilisa, has expanded once again in Tuscany. After establishing the Poggio al Tesoro estate in Bolgheri several years ago, they have now purchased a 15-hectare property in Montalcino, in what is said to be one of the choicest sites available, half of it, it seems, already planted to Brunello. It is rumoured that Leonardo Locascio, head of Allegrini's US importers Winebow, is also involved.
Read more...After Puglia, Piemonte and Sicily, Lamberto Edoardo and Massimiliano Vallarino Gancia have chosen Tuscany as the next location for their expansion programme.
The co-operative cantine of Friuli Venezia Giulia will bottle the whole of their Tocai Friulano' production before 31 March, and thus will commercialise their 2006 vintage wine under the name which they claim is theirs by right'.
New Zealand wine exports hit a record high in 2006, increasing 30% by value compared with the previous year.
Gerard Basset MW, who co-founded the Hotel du Vin restaurant chain, is to open a new hotel in the New Forest, Hampshire.
California producer Fetzer, which regularly highlights its organic and sustainable side, has been named a 2007 Brand With A Conscience.
California producer E&J Gallo had the fastest-growing wine sales of any company in the UK last year, achieving 23.9% growth.
Florence Boube-Legrand is the new export manager of generic body Inter Rhne, following the departure of Franois Drounau last month. Her role will include looking after the UK market, and the promotion and communication of Ctes du Rhne wines. Boube-Legrand has worked at Inter Rhne for three years, and has covered central and northern European markets, as well as parts of Asia, and will continue to do so in her new role. She said: It is very exciting to have the opportunity to work on a mature market such as the UK, where Ctes du Rhne wines are already established and successful. Ctes du Rhne is currently the number one AOC in the off-trade and I'm looking forward to the challenge of maintaining and strengthening this position in 2007.'
Read more...Sauvignon Blanc from Touraine, Sancerre and Pouilly-Fum are undoubtedly the most successful of the 2006 wines from the Loire Valley, combining ripe fruit balanced with acidity.
Beam UK, owners of Sherry brand Harveys, is spending around 1 million this year in an attempt to persuade consumers to chill the product before they drink it.
The six candidates for the International Wine & Spirit Competition's Communicator of the Year have been announced, and they include regular Harpers contributors Sarah Jane Evans MW and Jamie Goode.
New Zealand's wines are now up there with the best, according to influential international wine commentators attending a recent run of wine conferences in New Zealand. And there wasn't a Sauvignon Blanc in sight. This wave of what is some of the greatest praise received by the industry was prompted by the Pinot Noir 2007 conference held in Wellington, and the associated symposia on Aromatics in Nelson and Syrah in Hawkes Bay.
Margaret River winery Evans & Tate, which has been in the midst of takeover talks, has launched its new X & Y range in the UK.
Britain's third-largest supermarket group, J Sainsbury, is on bid alert following the announcement from a consortium of private equity groups that they are in the early stages' of a possible takeover bid. City analysts believe that to be successful a bid would have to be above 11 billion.
