Harpers Wine & Spirit Trade News

Organic age split

Published: 23 July, 2008

Young people are far more receptive to organic wine, according to the director of Millsime Bio, the organic wine fair held in France last week.

Kiwi producers proud of diverse climate

Published: 23 July, 2008

New Zealand's unique climatic conditions may protect its wine industry from the threat of global warming, a leading producer said at the country's annual trade tasting last week.

White Grange' to be bottled with screwcap

Published: 23 July, 2008

Penfolds Yattarna - dubbed white Grange' - will be bottled under screwcap for the 2004 vintage, released in May.

Scotland wins the World Cup of Sherry

Published: 23 July, 2008

The chef and sommelier at the Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh have won the International Copa Jerez 2007. Sous chef Kevin Sutherland and sommelier James O'Donnell created a food and Sherry menu, beating teams from the US and Spain in the process. Their winning menu included a dish of sauted Keltic scallops, chestnut puree, apples and smoked bacon lardons with Hidalgo La Gitana Manzanilla. The judging panel included award-winning chef Heston Blumenthal, who praised the duo's original and inspiring' dishes.

NZ chief predicts growth slowdown

Published: 23 July, 2008

The New Zealand wine industry's major growth phase is over and with that will come consolidation, says the head of the country's 1,300 grape growers and winemakers.

Finding its niche

Published: 23 July, 2008

Is Uruguay poised to become a major New World player in the UK market? Well, no. Even though the UK has been an important market for Uruguay historically, production is so small compared to other New World suppliers that major' is not a word ever likely to be used in the same sentence as wines of Uruguay'.

The Interview: Katie O'Brien, General manager, Juniper, Altrincham

Published: 23 July, 2008

Katie grew up on the east coast of Scotland. Her father ran hotels in Elgin and Fochabers, near Inverness, and insisted she do anything but catering. So Katie failed her Highers and went to work at the Golf View hotel in Nairn, which she describes as one long drinking party'. She worked in the bar, and in the kitchen on her days off because she wanted to learn and learn quickly'. She moved to Nunsmere Hall, near Chester, where she met Paul Kitching, then left for Hambleton Hall in 1992, working there for three years and driving up to see Paul on her days off. She helped set up Juniper with Kitching in 1995, before leaving to work for Nico Central in Manchester, returning to head the front-of-house and manage Juniper in 2001.

What's hot, what's not

Published: 23 July, 2008

Come January we're all prone to speculation about what the new year will bring. It's not that we're bored with our favourite wines, it's more that - as wine lovers - we know there's a great big world of wine out there, and I, for one, want to know about new wine styles. As a wine professional, I also want to know what innovations other people are putting into practice, so to find out, I canvassed opinion from a range of people: suppliers, restaurant wine buyers - both top end and middle market - and pub operators too.

Competition Commission slams supermarkets

Published: 23 July, 2008

The next phase of the Competition Commission's probe into the grocery industry will focus on competition at the local level, where it most matters to consumers', the chairman, Peter Freeman, said when outlining the watchdog's preliminary thinking'.

Inaugural Wine+ gets thumbs-up from trade

Published: 23 July, 2008

Wine+ organiser FreshRM is hailing the inaugural show last week a success, despite attendance levels being affected by bad weather, including high winds which disrupted road and rail travel last Thursday.

Oz prepares for poor 2008 harvest

Published: 23 July, 2008

With water allocations again reduced and the 2007 grape harvest down 20% on last year, Australia's winemakers are predicting a dire 2008 vintage.

New Zealand pulls out of Vinexpo

Published: 23 July, 2008

There will be no generic presence from New Zealand at this year's Vinexpo fair in France - for the second time in three events.

Chinese wines from Bibendum

Published: 23 July, 2008

Two new Chinese wines are to be launched by Bibendum, with Austrian winemaker Lenz Moser involved in the project.

Vinexpo and IWSR

Published: 23 July, 2008

Vinexpo is fully booked and has been since November, according to chief executive, Robert Beynat.

Southern US states come to town

Published: 23 July, 2008

The Southern US Trade Association's
inaugural UK tasting will present wines from 10 wineries across Texas, North Carolina and Tennessee on 25 January. The event takes place at Strictly Hush in Mayfair from 11.30am to 3.30pm. The wine industry in these states is growing fast from increased domestic demand: in North Carolina, the number of wineries has doubled to 60 since 2003, while Texas is now the fifth-largest wine-producing state in the US. Contact Madeleine Waters (01225 832237; madeleine@watershedcommunications.com) to attend the tasting.

Use your Buddy, mate

Published: 23 July, 2008

The revolutionary Tasting Buddies system will be used at the Australia Day Tastings in London on January 31 and 1 February - the first time a generic body has used the software at a show.